8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Story of young German recruits in World War I, through their passage from idealism to disillusionment.
Starring: Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, Ben Alexander (I)Drama | 100% |
War | 56% |
History | 46% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.2:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (as download)
DVD copy
BD-Live
D-Box
Mobile features
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
It may as something of a surprise to younger folks who are virulently anti-war and who currently protest against conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but anti-war movements are probably as old as war itself. Many probably associate the idea of “anti-war protest” with the Vietnam War, since that seemed to be the movement that first raised the issue to huge, nightly news consciousness. But even that formulation seemingly forgets an earlier generation’s epochal conflict—World War II—and famous anti-war spokespeople like Charles Lindbergh, or (in a different, and perhaps not applicable, way) Neville Chamberlain. Younger kids especially have probably never even heard of All Quiet on the Western Front in either its original novel form or its first film adaptation from 1930, but in its day, the property was as iconic as anything out there in mass media. Author Erich Maria Remarque (that odd middle name was a self-chosen homage to his mother) had been drafted into the German Army during World War I, where he indeed was sent to the Western Front, was badly injured, and then was returned home. It took Remarque several years to establish his literary career, and in fact many publishers rejected All Quiet on the Western Front, but once the book did appear in 1928 and 1929 (first as a newspaper serial and then in novel form), it was an instant sensation. The book’s anti-war sentiment proved to be problematic for the Nazi regime which would soon sweep into power in Germany, and Remarque’s book were banned by Josef Goebbels. There was in fact a spurious propaganda war against Remarque by the Nazis, who insisted that his “decadent” views were the result of him coming from Jewish ancestry, something for which there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever. But in 1929, anyway, Remarque was a hot property and Hollywood came calling rather quickly, with the Universal film written (including by Broadway legend George Abbott, believe it or not), shot and in theaters not much more than a year later. The film, much like the book, was an instant sensation, ending up winning the Best Picture Oscar (the first non-musical talkie to secure that award) and becoming one of the most legendary motion pictures of the early talkie era.
Let the Universal catalog title bashing games begin! Those who didn't like my recent review of To Kill a Mockingbird may very well be similarly
outraged by this assessment, so if you're in that camp and have blood pressure problems, you may want to skip this
section. (I jest, of course). All Quiet on the Western Front is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p
transfer in 1.37:1 and the results for the most part are absolutely stunning. This film underwent significant restoration to
deal with a huge number of issues, including scratches, tears and perhaps most significantly horrible flicker which was so
prevalent it was almost seizure inducing. For anyone who has seen this film projected theatrically (as I have) or owned
previous home video releases (as I have), the results here are nothing less than revelatory. While there are still several
quite noticeable instances of damage (including a fairly long several second scratch that runs down the left side of the
frame in one sequence, which I was frankly surprised they didn't remove), overall this presentation is blemish free, at least
relatively speaking. But what a change in flicker and contrast! Has the film been digitally manipulated? Absolutely. But
watching this film now with a stable level of light and contrast brings out all sorts of new detail and makes the viewing
experience manifestly more pleasurable. There is one relatively major complaint I have with regard to the DNR and other
digital tools employed here. On scenes with largely white backgrounds, the grain is somewhat "frozen" looking, adding to a
slightly unreal ambience. Things are not waxy or smeared in any way, but this one element may bother even those who,
like me, aren't overly concerned with judiciously utilized digital tools. While these screencaps show that digital sharpening was utilized (as it
no doubt needed to be considering the age and condition of the elements), the haloing is really rather negligible when actually watching the
film.
A couple of anomalies should be noted about this Universal release. First off, this is the first Universal release that I can remember, catalog or
otherwise, that does not have a Main Menu. Instead the film simply starts and you must press the Pop-Up Menu to get other choices. Also,
the disc I received did not load the Chapters Menu properly. Pressing Chapters did bring up a supposed Chapters submenu, but there was
nothing there, i.e., no still frames of chapters to choose, simply the heading "Chapters". It is still possible to toggle through the chapters by
pressing the Skip Ahead button on your remote.
All Quiet on the Western Front's original mono soundtrack is presented here in a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 format and if expectations are appropriately placed, few should have any major complaints about the results. This is one of the first talkies, obviously, and sound recording was in its infancy, and the technical limitations of the technology back then is quite evident throughout the track. Hiss is constant and consistent, burying some of the high end and the entire track has the boxed in, tinny sound that is so prevalent in all of these early talkies. That said, fidelity here is really rather good, taken within its proper historical context. Almost all of the outright age related damage to this track, in the form of pops, cracks and other audio "scratches," has been virtually eliminated and the track sounds like it's been reequalized with quite good results. Midrange is best here, and frankly the low end is almost nonexistent, giving the many explosions the sound more of firecrackers than of shells going off, but considering the age and primitive recording techniques utilized, this track really sounds amazingly spry.
All Quiet on the Western Front has lost little if any of its impact now some 80-plus years after its original release. Is the film dated? Inarguably, especially with regard to some of the overly "indicating" acting styles, but that is a fairly minor qualm when thrust up against this film's towering achievement. Rarely have the horrors of war been so brutally and (as strange as this may sound) poetically rendered. When the film was released, a famous review stated that the League of Nations should dub the film into all available languages and show it in all nations until the word "war" had been erased from the dictionaries. That may sound like hyperbole, but it gives some indication of just how powerful All Quiet on the Western Front really is. Universal has done some spectacular restoration work on this title. Is it perfect? No, but it's darned close, certainly the best I've ever seen this title look and sound. Supplements are a little light on this release (why not a commentary for a film this iconic?), but otherwise this is another "must have" title for any serious collector. Highly recommended.
Includes Silent cut in SD
1930
Includes Silent cut in SD
1930
1927
1957
1962
1987
1980
1977
The Director's Cut | Single-Disc Edition
1981
2-Disc Special Edition
2006
65th Anniversary Limited Edition
1957
1975
1987
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1964
1977
Collector's Edition
1986
2017
9 rota
2005
1961
1998
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1966
1925