Review of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) by Brady L — 30 Oct 2017

Wow, a movie about PTSD over 40 years before the term was even created. The world as nobody wanted to see it during WWI, a desolate, empty wasteland of death and destruction where no man came out truly the same.

Seen through the eyes of young German soldiers, this film delves into what the war was truly like without pulling any punches. Watching boys barely old enough to drink or even shave get brainwashed by their professor into joining the reserves, then seeing them instantly thrust into the rigors of war, you get a sense of the desperation those in charge felt to win.

This movie moves pretty slow at times due to the fact that there would be days, even weeks, where there was nothing going on in the war. We bear witness to these kids losing their minds as all their world has become is laying in a bunker while the world around them explodes in a seemingly never-ending barrage of bombs and gunfire.

As their resolve is slowly eroded away, we see them start to lose themselves and their friends. Even the main protagonist goes on leave and cannot believe what is left behind in Germany. Nobody knows what is truly occurring on the front lines and that same professor is now getting even younger boys to enlist.

As Paul, played masterfully by Lew Ayres, says to them that it is desolate, lonely and full of despair. He cannot stand to be away from the war for longer then a couple days because he is truly appalled by what he finds back home.

He even comments right before another of his friends dies, there are no lies here, not among us. This is a powerful anti-war film that needs to be seen by everyone.