All Quiet on the Western Front is a WWI movie that is equal parts gory and heart wrenching.

On Oct. 28, 2022, All Quiet on the Western front was released, and I was eager to watch it.

The movie begins following four friends that want to join the army to fight in WWI.  One of the friends, Paul Baumer, wanted to join so badly that he forged his parent’s signature that said he was authorized to go.

As the friends are getting their uniforms Paul Baumer notices that his uniform already had a name on it, so he returns it and the distributor makes an excuse as to why there was a name on it.  The camera then cuts to the floor where there are other name tags that were ripped off.

Early on, the movie sets up how depressing WWI is because Germany was reusing their uniforms from the soldiers that have died.

While watching this movie, I really liked how WWI was depicted and what the life of a soldier looked like. 

At the start of this movie Baumer and his friends are excited to be a part of the war, but you notice as time goes on their mood and morale is dropping.

The film shows how disgusting and horrible the trenches actually were and what it was like to be on the front line. It really shows how bad the life of an average soldier in WWI really was.

Through Baumer, we get to see his perspective as a soldier.  We get to see his reaction to new war technology being used, like when we see either British or French soldiers with flamethrowers and they are using them on the Germans.  

We also see the introduction of tanks into warfare which is just as horrifying as the flamethrowers.  We see soldiers being crushed and killed by the tanks in a very gory scene that adds to the horror of the movie.

The look and fear that we see in Baumer’s face really comes through the screen and gives you an idea of what he is feeling and thinking.

The way that this movie brings WWI to life puts you into the movie like you are actually there, most of the time we can only hear and read about WWI, but this movie gives you a great idea of what it was really like for the average soldier.

Although there is a lot of gore and suffering that makes you want to look away, this movie has been one of my favorite watches of the year.

I rate this movie a 9.5/10.  The accurate portrayal of WWI makes this movie great, the trenches and the look of the battlefield looks like they went back to an actual WWI battlefield. All of the death and destruction that you see is stomach turning but also heart wrenching.