All Quiet on the Western Front won best picture in 1931 at the 3rd Academy Awards. Not a lot of best picture winners go down in history as a classic but this one does. It is one of the best war movies of all time. It has a very anti-war message and shows the horrors of trench warfare during WWI. It follows the life of a soldier from when he firsts enlists to his death. In the beginning he is very gung-ho. Excited to go and fight for his father land. But once he gets there he soon realizes that war is hell. He watches as most of his friends die and has to deal with the mental anguish of having to kill a man with his knife.
The movie is pretty graphic for its time. It was made before the production code was strictly enforced and the director and the studio wanted it to be an accurate portrayal of war. While not bloody you do see some guy get blown up and see his hands still holding on to some barbed wire.
The sound was pretty amazing also. While there was no background score the sounds of the bombs and machine guns felt realistic. Even scared my dog a little and I have watched other war movies with her before without a problem.
Its the movies place in history that I find interesting. First of all its one of the few movies about WWI. Most war movies take place during WWII or after. This is one of those rare war movies made between the two world wars. The social response to the movie was interesting too. In Germany it was banned by the Nazi's because of its anti-war message and in the United States it was protested because it portrayed the German enemy as sympathetic. The best thing about the movie is it still feels relevant. Even after 70 years it still gets it message through. It truly is a classic.
For those of would rather read the book.
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