yakster1 Review of All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front (1979 TV Movie)

Worthy Remake/Adaptation

[7/10 · 7 June 2017]

I had seen this when it originally aired on TV in 1979 and just watched it again on YouTube. My impressions have not changed in 38 years. Some of the acting is a bit wooden especially by Thomas and it is still weird that even though the unit is comprised of young Germans, you still hear American and various different English accents amongst them. The other actors like Borgnine, Holm, Pleasence and an under utilized Patricia Neal are very good. However the production values alone make this worthwhile viewing. Life on the Western Front of WWI is vividly captured. Desolated landscape, rats, lice, dead bodies everywhere, shell shock, battle fatigue, PTSD (whatever each generation calls it) and just the shear monotony of life on the front. Unlike "Joyeaux Noel", ( a film I do love) no one has the perfect part in their hair or a clean shaven face, everyone is covered in mud and blood all the time. There are a few acknowledgements to its more well known predecessor like the hands on the barbed wire and Paul's aiding of Kat towards the end. Whereas the original tells the story in a more linear fashion, this one sticks closer to the book where Paul recounts his education and recruitment story in flashback. Still a very powerful anti- war film that can stand proudly alongside the more well known classic.