Netflix All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

[Wayne_j]

Title: All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Genre: Action, Drama, War

Director: Edward Berger

Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanović, Devid Striesow, Daniel Brühl, Moritz Klaus, Sebastian Hülk, Anton von Lucke, Michael Wittenborn, Luc Feit, Andreas Döhler, André Marcon, Tobias Langhoff, Adrian Grünewald, Thibault de Montalembert, Nico Ehrenteit, Wolf Danny Homann, Charles Morillon, Jakob Schmidt, Peter Sikorski, Sascha Nathan, Alexander Schuster, Michael Stange, Joe Weintraub, Daniel Kamen, Markus Tomczyk, Dominikus Weileder

Release: 2022-10-07

Runtime: 147

Plot: Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.

I just got back from seeing a screening of this (Which comes to Netflix on Friday) and it was one of the best movies of the year. It is a war movie that makes people watching it never want to go to war.

I think it has a good chances at Oscar Nominations for International Film and Cinematography.

 

[Josh Dial]

I really wanted to see this in the theatre. It's screening at our favourite theatre, but for some reason it is only being shown in the super tiny room with no Atmos. So we're going to wait and watch it at home a week later. Looking forward to it, though!

 

[Wayne_j]

I really wanted to see this in the theatre. It's screening at our favourite theatre, but for some reason it is only being shown in the super tiny room with no Atmos. So we're going to wait and watch it at home a week later. Looking forward to it, though!

You're lucky, no theater within 50 miles of me has Atmos in any theater.

 

[Old Bones]

Can;t wait for Friday

 

[Bryan^H]

I just read the book last year. Absolutely brilliant. I will watch this.

 

[benbess]

Watching this now on Netflix. Certainly epic. Long ago I saw the 1930 version, and in high school, even longer ago, I saw the good 1979 miniseries version. The cinematography on this is certainly stunning, and of course quite grim.

PS In places the movie does remind me a bit of the current war in Ukraine.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Watching this now on Netflix. Certainly epic. Long ago I saw the 1930 version, and in high school, even longer ago, I saw the good 1979 miniseries version. The cinematography on this is certainly stunning, and of course quite grim.

PS In places the movie does remind me a bit of the current war in Ukraine.

I think I have seen three versions of this. I want to see this new version. I've heard many people think it is one of the best pictures of the year. I know the story pretty well because of all the other versions. In fact I think I watched a version of this within the last year or so. I know it was a color version.

 

[benbess]

Hope you will see it. This is a very intense and difficult to take war movie. The huge scale and beautiful/horrible cinematography really take it to a new level. I think this one stands with the other two versions of this story, although it makes some bold changes as well, esp. during the end. I think it's somewhere in my top ten or so for 2022.

 

[JoeStemme]

Two opposing soldiers are in an isolated section of a vast WWI battlefield. Their main weapons are out of reach. It's mano a mano. The German gains the advantage and uses his knife to attack the allied combatant. A rage fueled by two years of military service fills the German and he plunges the knife into his victim...over..and...over. Moments later, the rage quickly turns into remorse. His fury overtaken by guilt. They may be enemies in war, but, are truly comrades in spirit.

It's a key scene in Edward Berger's forceful version of Erich Maria Remarque's classic novel. The German soldier in question is Paul Baumer (Felix Kammerer). The screenplay adaptation follows Paul from a bright-eyed new recruit to a battle-weary soldier. Paul and a trio of his friends are almost giddy with excitement to join the military, but that joy is rapidly extinguished as soon as they see the realities of service. Fighting for the Fatherland isn't all victories and roses like the propaganda promises.

At one point, Paul and his fellow troops end up defending the German occupied countryside in France. There they indulge in wine, food and even a woman or two. It's a temporary solace which the viewer knows is just a respite from the horrors that will soon consume them. A deceptive idyll.

Paul's journey is contrasted with that of Matthias Erzberger (Daniel Bruhl), a high ranking German official who knows that his side has lost the war and wants to find an equitable peace treaty with the French. Knowing that the Allies have the upper hand, the French negotiators strike a hard bargain. Even with the difficulties of diplomacy (and dealing with an obstinate General of his own), Matthias is surrounded by opulence in contrast to the dire circumstances of the troops.

Berger's direction is steady, while allowing for emotions to peak. James Friend's cinematography has a haunting beauty to it. The Visual Effects are well integrated into the tableaux. Volker Bertelmann's score is a bit more problematic as it calls too much attention to itself at times. It's a rare misstep in an otherwise sterling production.

As impressive as the movie's scope is, Berger never loses focus on the human element - even those on a more collective level. When Remarque wrote his novel in 1929 and the famed Oscar winning film was made a year later, nobody could have fully predicted the events leading up to WWII. One of the script's most significant exchanges comes when Mattias pleads with his French counterparts that the Peace Treaty's terms should not be so one-sided that the vanquished Germans will come to “hate” the peace. And, then there's the sullen-eyed French boy who comes in frightening contact with Paul (a direct homage to the brilliant 1985 film, COME AND SEE). His steely stare evokes both fear and defiance. It becomes a shocking contrast with the poignant, peaceful last image we see of our hero Paul.

 

[Alex...]

 

[Alex...]

 

[Alex...]

 

[Alex...]

 

[benbess]

This one was tough to watch, obviously, but I did think it was quite good. There's been controversy about how much is changed from the original novel, but as we all know many novels get changed when they are adapted into movies.

 

[Joe Wong]

Saw this a few weeks ago… pretty good!

I haven’t read the book, but I understand they left out a section around midway where the lead goes back home and realizes how different things are. I think that would have been a powerful moment.

 

[benbess]

Saw this a few weeks ago… pretty good!

I haven’t read the book, but I understand they left out a section around midway where the lead goes back home and realizes how different things are. I think that would have been a powerful moment.

That's true. But the 1930 version did it that way, as did the 1979 version. I think it's okay that this time they went a different direction.

Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Holm, Donald Pleasance, and Patricia Neal star in the quite effective 1979 version, which I saw on videotape in my class in a class in my high school English class way back then. It's available to watch for free, but with ads, on youtube....

 

[Edwin-S]

This version was good, but the original 1930 version is still the best version, because the memories of the war were still fresh and it shows.

 

[Tino]

Just finished watching it. I have never seen any previous versions. I thought the film was excellent. And well deserving of its praise.

Powerful tragic and heartbreaking. War is indeed hell and this films puts you right in the middle of it.

 

[The Drifter]

Recently watched the 2022 All Quiet on the Western Front on Blu. This was amazing, and a truly superb film. Amazing production values, effects, and cinematography. This is definitely one of the best war films I've ever seen. It was epic in scope, and the battle scenes were truly incredible - as well as being appropriately horrific & grotesque.

I'm a stickler for authenticity/details, and so it was good that this film was in German w/German actors, etc. IMHO this made it more authentic, since the original novel was told from the German POV during WW I.

I've only seen the 1930 version previously. And, though that was well-done - I was somewhat taken out of the story by the actors being obviously American & speaking English with American accents. It didn't have the authenticity that I was looking for in a historical war drama - which was completely understandable, however. I.e., I completely get that given this was a Hollywood production made during this era - it wasn't going to be a German-language film. I also completely understand that it's unfair to compare a film from 1930 to one from 2022. That all being said, I still strongly preferred this latest version.

Still haven't seen the 1979 Thomas/Borgnine version - but have heard good things about this. I will still need to check this out at some point.

 

[bujaki]

I vastly prefer the 1930 and 1979 versions simply because they were very faithful to the novel, whereas the remake took extreme liberties and never bothered to lay the foundations for the camaraderie of the soldiers just before enlisting and during boot camp. Therefore, I was never able to really care for the student/soldiers as they were slowly decimated. I cared about Lew Ayres and his companions' fates; also about Richard Thomas's group.
The new version left me cold, except for the impressive battle effects (undoubtedly aided by CGI). And the ending was so untrue to the narrative as it negated the premise of all being quiet on the Western front when tragedy strikes.
I so wanted to like the new version but was sorely disappointed and can't recommend it over the previous ones.