All Quiet on the Western Front

Product Description

At the rise of World War I, German patriot Paul Baumer (Thomas) and his friends enlist in the Imperial German Army. In search of adventure and eager to assert the superiority of their nation, the young men endure a brutal training camp and soon find themselves face to face with the full horrors of war when they are sent to the front lines to fight... and likely die. As the conflict rages, Paul grows from an eager boy to a disillusioned man who bears the scars of war on both his body and his soul.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 017153124484
• Release Date: May 1993
• Publisher: Lions Gate Home Entertainment
• Number of Disks: 1
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

The abbreviated life of Paul Baumer

The movie is an honest attempt to portray the story in the book. However, it misses the mark and is highly edited to show evidently what director Delbert Mann and writer Paul Monash (Salem's Lot (1979) (TV)) thought you would want to see and not what Erich Maria Remarque wrote about. Do you remember the scene that Remarque wrote about befriending a cat while enjoying the spoils of protecting the abandoned town? How about the night they crossed the river to meet some girls at their house? The time he faked sick to get off the train and stay with his buddy? No? I wonder why? You are right, movies can’t be the same as books. But the Lewis Milestones, the 1930 classic, comes a lot closer than this 1979 production. It is sort of a distraction to see Johnboy playing Paul Bäumer. Younger viewers at least won’t have that distraction. If this is the only exposure to the story you have, then it is masterful. However, it is only a reflection of the book or other movie versions. If you only taste ersatz coffee, you may still drink coffee, but you will never know what it is like to drink real coffee that does not say "cinnamon crumb cake" on the label.