All quiet on the Western Front (1930) and Attack! (1956).

[Neville]

Things I learned - War movies are addictive.

As you know, I've been watching tons of war films lately. I started with present day, mainstream stuff, but now I'm making my way into more obscure -or classic- movies. Here's two good ones:

All quiet on the western front (1930)

Not knowing the novel in which is based, I was shocked at how well this movie's message feels fresh today, more than 75 years later. It's a great anti.war movie about a bunch of late teenagers that are convinced by their teacher to enlist on WWI. Soon they discober war is not exactly what they were promised. Instead of glory, patriotism and opportunities for heroism soon they are stuck in the front with few food or water, surrounded by filth and rats and risking gruesome death every time they leave their trenches.    

The movie is maybe a bit too long (it's 130 minutes), but Lewis Milestone filmmaking is nothinbg short of fantastic, fresh, inventive and moving things fast enough, even for modern viewers. I was astonished at the sheer brilliance of his camerawork, such in a fantastic series of short scenes that follow a pair of boots (!) which are used by several soldiers in a few days' time.

Attack! (1956)

Another anti-war movie, this one by the early Robert Aldrich. Jack Palance stars as Costa, a sergeant who develops a fixation to frag his superior, captain Cooney (Eddie Albert), who has shown his cowardly in sevaral occasions. Costa is sent to pacify a French village, but once there he is besieged by the enemy and Cooney refuses to help him.

This is a very different film. Although it's as bleak and critic towards the army as, say, "Paths of Glory", Aldrich also inserts some breathtaking action scenes. Palance is great as the lead, while Albert overdoes a bit his coward officer. My favourite character, though, was Bartlett, played by a young Lee Marvin. Barlett is another officer, Cooney's superior, who tries to hide his mistakes and keeps him out of trouble. His speeches justifying his own actions (as well as Cooney's), together with the battle scenes, are good enough reasons to watch the film, although the rest is almost every bit as good.

[ulthar]

Neville Wrote:
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>
> All quiet on the western front (1930)
>
> Not knowing the novel in which is based

Read the book; it is very good.

The first time I tried to read it, though, it gave me nightmares.  Books don't usually do that to me.

I've not yet seen the movie.

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

All Quiet on the Western Front is really an amazing, timeless film.  I was also amazed how mordern and accessable it was.   I consider it a great classic movie just for that reason.
-Ed

[peter johnson]

See the Japanese film "Fires on The Plain" (1952) about the Japanese in early 1945 in the Phillippines, cut off from everything.
The same boot sequence is recreated, only condensed and in a rain-storm.  Seldomn has a homage been so successful.
peter johnson/denny crane

[BoyScoutKevin]

Read the book. Seen the film. Though, I don't remember which one I did first. Both are great. And I think "All Quiet on the Western Front" has some great action scenes as well.

As a piece of trivia, that famous last shot in "All Quiet on the Western Front," that is not Lew Ayres' hand, that is Lewis Milestone's hand. For some reason, and I don't remember why, Ayres was not available to do the scene, so the director, Milestone, stepped in and did it.