All Quiet on the Western Front

War is hell in this brutal adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's landmark German novel set during the First World War. The book has been filmed twice before, most notably in 1930, but this is the first version by a German director, Edward Berger. The film instantly establishes its antiwar message by portraying the expendability of young soldiers, whose uniforms are torn from their corpses and gruesomely recycled for the next wave. Into this nightmare steps Paul (a committed Felix Kammerer), who lies about his age to enlist with friends. They're hailed as future heroes by their nationalistic headmaster, but later find that they're merely cannon fodder. Berger stages the film's battle scenes in ways both epic and intimate, reaching new levels of horror with each charge across the blasted landscape. Heightening the sense of a generation tragically lost, Berger also captures moments of beauty and comradeship, plus tantalising glimpses of the life the youths should be living. Remarque's novel is a classic, and Berger more than does it justice.