So much average

Load of rubbish!!

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Blistering performances.

This is a classic war film, or maybe I should say anti-war film. The 1930 version is even better but that doesn't take away from this film at all. Ernest Borgnine is brilliant in this, and Donald Pleasence is also at his best. Can't recommend this movie highly enough.

The battle scenes were how I imagine it was. It's hard to capture the horror, but you could almost feel the fear. The naive people at home is realistic due to propaganda from the state media. To go to all the trouble of this great movie, and then put the wrong armistice date at the end was regrettable. There was still heavy fighting on Oct 11. Nov 11 was Armistice Day.

Patchy remake of the classic Academy Award winning film of the 30's. Delbert Mann's feature fades in and out from the inspired to the flat, and back again. Mostly though, it is the latter of these two levels that it sticks to.Mann, along with screenwriter Paul Monash, was unable to recreate the simple, understated force of Lewis Milestone's anti-war picture. The first movie was years, perhaps fifty years, ahead of its time. The second is merely a reminder of how good the first one was.As the easy going, compassionate Paul Baumer, Richard Thomas does a good job. Cleverly cast in the Louis Wolheim role, and even more eye-catching, is Ernest Borgnine as war-weary veteran Katchinsky. Hopelessly miscast though, is the immensely talented Ian Holm as the heartless Corporal Himmelstoss. Donald Pleasance and Patricia Neal also star.A shame that this, a reasonably good film, had to be overshadowed by its predecessor. John Coquillan photographs Czechoslovakia and some convincing sets very well.Friday, January 29, 1999 - Video

I saw this film at school, and was very impressed. I don't think it is quite as good as Regeneration, one of the few movies when it was better than the book, or as powerful in emotion as the 1930s film. I haven't read the book by Remarque, but my best friend has, and tells me it is very good. Anyway the film is beautifully shot, and truly does have a powerful conveyance of the first world war, with the personification of the guns, and the memorable dialogue. The acting was what made the film. Ernest Borgnine was the star of the film, with a firm but rather fatherly portrayal of the superior, very reminiscent of Osborne in the play "Journey's End". I liked Ian Holm too. But for me, the biggest surprise was Richard Thomas in the lead. His performance was more than decent, though I confess I actually don't like Thomas that much!(I hate the character of John Boy Walton) All Quiet on the Western Front not only shows the physical conditions of WW1 but also the psychological and emotional aspects, that some WW1 literature forget to convey. In conclusion, a thoughtful and harrowing film, though not quite as good as the 1930s classic. 9/10 Bethany Cox.