All Quiet on the Western Front Review

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Netflix trailer: https://youtu.be/qFqgmaO15x4 


    All Quiet on the Western Front was released on Netflix October 28, 2022. The war drama takes place in Germany during WW I and follows the main character Paul Baumer. Paul is 17 years old and decides to fight for his country with his friends. Paul and his friends are all excited to join the army but they all soon realize how terrifying war is. 

   First off, this film has great cinematography. The shots are very detailed and shows the gruesome elements that surrounded the soldiers. There is one shot that shows the complete destruction of what was once a forest but is now covered with bomb shells, trenches, and bodies. There are other scenes in the movie that showcase the peace and calm of snowfall on the other side of the battlegrounds where there is no war. I believe this was signifying how there was two complete opposite sides of the war and also signified how war can destroy something so beautiful in a short amount of time. 

    While this film showcased great cinematography, there were some people not happy with the historical accuracy of the film. They were comparing it to the first film in 1930 and the book. There were some added scenes that were not in the book and they added scenes that weren't from the Western Front. People also believed that the overall film being 2 hours and 30 minutes was too long and could have been a half hour shorter. I agree with some of these claims but I also think that some of the added scenes were nice because it gave the audience a chance to see what others were doing that were not directly on the battlefield. 

    Overall I really did enjoy this film and while it was depressing and sad to watch the horror of war I
think the message behind the film was to showcase these horrors and prove that wars do not solve issues. It causes more casualties to the people that are fighting, while the ones who declare the war are not effected and are calling all the shots.     





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