Genre: Action / Drama / War Director(s): Lewis Milestone Release Date: 21 April 1930 Movie rating: 8.1

Based on the famous World War I novel of the same name written by Erich Maria Remarque, “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930) is considered one of cinematic classics, as well as one of the greatest epic movies ever made. It was directed by Lewis Milestone and tells the tale of a group of young Germans just out of the secondary school who are pushed into the midst of the biggest carnage the world has seen up to that point. We follow them from the start of the war, just as they are finishing their secondary education, then over to their brief military training, and then all the way to the gruesome battle front. Young man are faced with the horrors of war before they even make it to their positions, and with each passing day we see them suffering one tragedy after another. Some of the soldiers are cracking under the stress of falling bombs and flying bullets, and it leads them all to question the cause of their struggle, as well as the cause of war in general. After the patriotic speeches of their military training they are now cynical and disillusioned with the glory of war, but the battle keeps raging on all around them and the only thing they can do is keep fighting and try to stay alive. One by one, the young man are either killed off or suffer terrible injuries, until there’s not one of them left alive by the end of the film. “All Quiet on the Western Front” was the first movie to win an Academy Award for the best motion picture and the best director.

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