All Quiet On The Western Front (Universal 100th Anniversary Collector's Series) (Digibook) (1930) on Blu-Ray

Actor:           Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray, Ben Alexander, Scott Kolk
Director:      Lewis Milestone
Genre:          Drama
Year:            1930
Studio:         Universal Home Video
Length:        133
Released:    N/A
Rating:          Not Rated (MPAA Rating)
Format:         Blu-Ray

Misc:             Black & White

Language:   English

Subtitles:     English, French, Spanish

DESCRIPTION:

This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality.