Review of The Big Parade (1925) by John W — 16 Dec 2013

Beautifully shot and acted. The story has unfortunately become the archetypical blueprint for most war movies, so it doesn't seem very innovative now although of course at the time it was made it must have been a huge breakthrough.

The influence can be seen all the way down to Saving Private Ryan with scenes of the French countryside from both movies. The battle scene also looks average now, but in 1925 it must have been as technologically innovative as Avatar recently seemed to (most of) us.

Its war scenes definitely influenced many war movies that came after it. It's also a interesting cultural relic to see how Americans viewed themselves and the recent World War generally.