All Quiet on the Western Front, the 2022 anti-war film, is now streaming on Netflix and has been hailed by fans as the "best war film ever made," with some comparing it favourably to 1917.
The film, co-written and directed by Edward Berger, is based on the 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. It tells the story of a young German soldier, Paul Baumer, who enlists in the Army with his friends, only to have his dreams of returning home a hero shattered by the realities of war.
Award-winning acclaim
Upon its release, the film received widespread praise and was nominated for several awards, including a Golden Globe and a Critic's Choice award. In 2023, it received 14 BAFTA nominations, winning Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Sound.
It was also nominated for nine Oscars, winning four, including Best International Feature Film, Best Original Score, Best Production Design and Best Cinematography.
Critical and fan reception
Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 90 percent rating. One critic wrote: "While All Quiet has fittingly been lauded for its technical achievements–it’s...cruelly intimate moments that allow this latest adaptation of Remarque’s novel to find new resonance and potency nearly a century after its publication."
Another critic said: "All Quiet on The Western Front is a powerful and poignant treatise on the hopelessness of war that unearths newfound splendor in the ravaged battlefields of France."
Viewers have also been effusive in their praise. One wrote: "The best movie about war for me, because it shows the horror of the war, the reality of would probably happen if go to the battle field, you're not going to be special or any divine creature to save you when you get shot. The movie has a great story based on a book with the same title. The actors are awesome, you can see what the characters are feeling without a word, just by their expressions."
Impact and perspective
Another viewer noted: "All Quiet on the Western Front is absolutely devastating—and that is precisely why it works. There are no glorious charges or romantic ideas about warfare here. You watch young men enter WWI filled with excitement and patriotism, only to discover mud, hunger, terror, artillery, mutilation, exhaustion, and death on an industrial scale."
One fan compared it to 1917, saying: "Watching 1917 just before All Quiet on the Western Front gave me a deeper understanding of World War I by showing different perspectives of the conflict. While 1917 captures the experience of British soldiers on the Allied side, All Quiet on the Western Front portrays the German perspective. Together, they show that regardless of which side a soldier fought for, the reality of trench warfare was filled with fear, loss, and unimaginable hardship."
All Quiet on the Western Front is now available to stream on Netflix.
