All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

World War 1 and a young German, Paul Baumer, enthusiastically joins the Army. With romantic notions of war and idealistic dreams in his head he undergoes training and then is sent off to the Western Front. In due course the romantic notions are replaced by the harsh reality of war and he becomes disillusioned with it all.The original movie, made in 1930, was brilliant. Based on Erich Maria Remarque's 1929 novel, it was grim and gritty and probably the first anti-war movie ever made. So good it won the 1931 Best Picture Oscar.This 1979 adaptation is not in the same league. Retains the same plot but doesn't have the same grittiness, feeling quite tame in comparison. Performances also feel quite subdued. Overall, not bad, but not great either.Watch the 1930 version instead.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT is the second adaptation of the famous novel about German soldiers fighting in the trenches during WW1. This one goes for the lengthy epic route and has to be commended for featuring authentic-looking battle sequences on what must have been a tight budget. What I most liked about this film is that most WW1 movies feature the big battles in the middle of the night, using the cover of darkness to hide limitations, whereas all of the big scenes in this one take place in broad daylight and they're all the better for it.An ensemble cast has been assembled in this movie and most of them do a decent job. I wasn't too keen on Richard Thomas's hero, as I found him oddly muted and difficult to root for. Thomas was much better a decade later in the likes of IT and STALKING LAURA (still his finest moment as an actor, I reckon). Still, Ernest Borgnine is fine as the old lag buddy, and Ian Holm has an excellent supporting role as a postman who becomes a conscript. Watch out for Dai Bradley, the kid from KES, all grown up and fighting it out on the battlefield. British viewers may get a kick out of Michael Sheard (GRANGE HILL's Mr. Bronson) playing the father while old-time starlet Patricia Neal is the mother.

I should have known I wouldn't like this movie, because Richard Thomas stars in it. I found "The Waltons" too intensely boring to watch a full episode. My wife and I tried to watch this film on VHS, and made it through his character's college graduation, military training, military service in the trenches, hospital stay and arrival, in what we presume was his hometown when his service ended. We couldn't believe the movie wasn't over yet, so we went to bed and decided not to watch the rest of it. It was just too unbearable.Having graduated from two Boot Camps (U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army), I could relate somewhat to the WWI Nazi version. Fortunately for me, my military combat service was less severe.I'm giving this three stars because it shows the tedium ad nauseam of military service realistically, and because I always enjoy watching Ernest Borgnine's performances.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is the superior 1979 remake of the 1930 classic starring John-Boy Walton (Richard Thomas) as a young German soldier learning the ropes of brutal trench warfare during World War I with the help of his sergeant, played by Ernest Borgnine. Ian Holm and Donald Pleasence are also on hand.The film expertly puts you in the shoes of a young German soldier to show you firsthand what it was like to fight in the trenches of WWI. This is easily one of the greatest war films ever made, very serious, realistic and dramatic with flashes of horrific action.The film was shot in the Czech Republic and runs 131 minutes.GRADE: A