Rating: NR
Genre:
War
Release Date: 04/23/2002
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD2
Run Time: 131 Minutes
Flags: Questionable for Children, War Violence
Distributor/Studio: Live/Artisan
Years after directing the classic
Marty (1955),
Delbert Mann became a creator of prestige TV movie projects, none more daunting than his adaptation of
All Quiet on the Western Front (1979).
Richard Thomas stars as Paul Baumer, a teen who, at the urging of zealously patriotic teacher Kantorek (
Donald Pleasence) enthusiastically enlists to fight for Germany in WWI, accompanied by several school chums. After training at the hands of the sadistic Corporal Himmelstoss (
Ian Holm), Paul and his friends head for the front. There, they discover that war is a bloody, deadly business, although they are heartened by the presence of their commander, wily veteran Stanislaus Katczinsky (
Ernest Borgnine). When a French soldier jumps into the bomb crater where Paul has taken refuge one night, he is forced to stab the enemy, then must watch the man die in agony. This incident and the violent deaths of his friends convince Paul that war is a senseless exercise. One of the most respected anti-war novels ever written, the book resulted in the German citizenship of author
Erich Maria Remarque being revoked by the Nazi Party. Though a 1930 film adaptation by
Lewis Milestone was widely beloved by fans of cinema and the source material,
Mann's TV movie was well received, earning a Golden Globe and Emmys for
Borgnine and
Patricia Neal, who played Paul's mother.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
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