All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

The critic praises this as a brutal adaptation that does justice to the classic novel, instantly establishing its anti-war message through the recycling of soldiers' uniforms and staging battle scenes that reach new levels of horror while also capturing beauty, comradeship and the tragic loss of a generation.

Berger’s adaptation is a powerful, bleakly honest and visually poetic take on the novel, emphasizing the human cost of war through visceral battles and quiet landscape framing.

The critic praises Berger's visceral and hard-nosed direction, which depicts trench warfare as a futile, repetitive horror machine with stunning production values that rival 1917. The film is lauded as a doom-laden, epic adaptation that powerfully conveys the wretched pointlessness of war.

The critic finds it a powerful, eloquent and conscientiously impassioned German-language adaptation of the classic anti-war novel. The film is praised for its substantial, serious approach and expertly melded battlefield scenes, though noted as perhaps overly conscious of its own classic status.

The critic calls it a jaw-dropping, brutal and brilliant vision that movingly captures humanity amid the horror of the Great War, a leaner and more savage beast than previous adaptations. Smart Spielbergian grace notes and strong craft elevate the battle scenes, though the adaptation cuts too deeply into the book's character elements.

The critic praises the film's visceral realism and the power of its German-language adaptation but criticizes the inclusion of a subplot about the armistice negotiations as unnecessary and a distraction from the soldiers' experiences.

The critic describes a wrenching, visceral adaptation that illustrates war’s bloody repetitiveness through cross-cutting between the front lines and peace negotiations, bringing home the message of all war films in a straightforward way as a tough, accomplished endurance test.

The critic highlights the film's intelligent references and inversions that expand on Remarque’s humanist plea, including the opening sequence tracking a recycled uniform and added negotiation scenes. It follows familiar technical choices from other recent war films but remains a powerful, visceral reminder of war's horrors on a continent again seeing young men sacrificed.

The film is viewed as a procedural and faceless exercise, interesting to observe but lacking originality in its brutality as the latest addition to Netflix’s war film landfill. Berger provides some nuance through the Brühl and Striesow subplot, but the overall result is a workmanlike, war-by-numbers entry that fails to find a harmonious balance.

The remake is handsome and expected, delivering starkly beautiful imagery but adding little new to the anti-war canon beyond familiar points about the futility of conflict.

Berger’s German adaptation is a skillfully made, visceral anti-war film that excels in photography and effects but offers little new beyond reminding viewers that war is hell.

The review finds the film competently made but dull and lacking in dramatic depth or special flair, making its anti-war point repetitively without emotional impact.

The critic finds Berger's adaptation a stunning, honest and devastating German take on the novel that avoids heroic narratives or positive outcomes, instead delivering a brutal yet non-voyeuristic portrait of war's horrors. It singles out the strong newcomer performance by Felix Kammerer, effective contrast between battlefield carnage and serene nature, and added historical elements underscoring war's shame.

The critic calls Berger's film a stark, visceral and urgent German adaptation with a singular purpose of hammering home the horrors of war through grisly detail and strong sound design. It praises the brilliant opening sequence and overall indictment of war while noting some streamlining of the book alongside needless complications.

The critic calls it something special among Oscar contenders and praises its gripping, lived-in quality with strong performances and exquisite cinematography that finds beauty in grim scenes.

The film is a powerful, relentlessly bleak condemnation of war as a horrific waste of life, masterfully shot with the German perspective and a focus on the cycle of death and propaganda.

The critic finds the film a strong and polished new German-language take on the classic novel that proves war is hell. He singles out the technical achievements in cinematography, production design, and score for praise.

The critic calls the film a beautiful yet horrifying new adaptation that reclaims the anti-war story for Germany. He singles out its unflinching depiction of brutality from the German perspective and its visual spectacle.