A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
Paul Baumer (Richard Thomas) is a young German who, along with his graduating high school classmates, enlist in the German Imperial Army during World War I. Originally thinking war would be a great adventure, Paul and his friends discover exactly the opposite as the war drags on and one by one the members of the class are killed in action until only Paul remains.—Anthony Hughes <[email protected]>
World War I and a young German, Paul Baumer (Richard Thomas), enthusiastically joins the Army. With romantic notions of war and idealistic dreams in his head he undergoes training and then is sent off to the Western Front. In due course, the romantic notions are replaced by the harsh reality of war and he becomes disillusioned with it all.—grantss
WWI, Germany, 1916. Encouraged by jingoistic Professor Kantorek to fight for the Fatherland, idealistic high school graduate Paul Baumer and his patriotic classmates enlist in the Imperial German Army. However, as Paul and his friends march off to the front, eager to risk life and limb for the glory of Germany, the horrors of war shape the soft boys into disciplined troopers, robbing them of their innocence. And as the battle-scarred brothers-in-arms struggle to survive the chaos of trench warfare, disillusioned Paul questions his decision and sanity.—Nick Riganas
Paul Baumer (Richard Thomas), a healthy optimist, graduates during World War I and like his twenty classmates volunteers for the German Imperial Army. Their naives romantic illusion starts turning sour during training in Oldenburg under sadistic Corporal Himmelstoss (Sir Ian Holm), who later proves himself a coward at the front, yet is decorated by Kaiser Wilhelm (Denys Graham), unlike many braver boys. Sensitive Franz Kemmerich (George Winter), the friend whose mother made Paul promise to watch over his mate, is the first to perish in the hospital, where amputations and neglect abound, yet when it's Paul's turn to be treated for a wound, he survives. Many friends perish on the French battlefields or in the trenches: hellholes under shell, and toxic gas-threat, full of mud and corps-picking rats, where veteran Stanislaus "Kat" Katczinsky (Ernest Borgnine) tries to teach the ever younger recruits practical survival skills, although often too late. Even easy killing of enemies becomes gruesome when the boys meet a deadly wounded French soldier and hungry girls face to face.—KGF Vissers
