All Quiet on the Western Front lives up to the hallowed status of the classic novel it was based on, and unflinchingly shows and condemns the absolute brutality of war that couldn't have come at a better time. There are sequences here that will blow you away, and I'm not talking about any of the battle sequences. On an emotional level, this is a stomach churning watch. You understand the terror and tragedy seeing these men kill for the first time and how unwilling they are to do so. The more the war goes on, the more pointless it becomes. If the main takeaway is that war destroys the human sprit, All Quiet accomplishes everything it was supposed to do, and then some. As a companion piece, I think Full Metal Jacket works well alongside this.
Review of All Quiet on the Western Front
