[movies] Just got back from All Quiet on the Western Front and boy did they ever nail the mood.

like it's every bit as bleak and depressing as it should be

It did change some things around from the story and omit others to make it fit into the two and a half hours, but overall I think they still did a solid job.

and holy shit the Saint-Chamond has never been so intimidating

Like this thing was just so goddamned goofy looking, but you definitely don't feel that way staring at the front of the thing with no way to stop it

It did remove the segment where Paul goes home on leave, and while I feel like the movie's weaker for it, I'm genuinely not sure how they could have fit it in without either taking out a bunch of other things or just awkwardly shoving it somewhere into the script and turning it into a 3+ hour movie

Also: You will thoroughly despise this guy before you even make it into the final act, and I cannot help but admire that

Whoever reviewed this for Roger Ebert is also a goddamn moron.

Not for giving it two stars- though I strongly dispute that it deserves a score that low- but because their reasons for doing so are the most vapid and insipid nonsense I've ever read.

Film: <repeatedly shows that German leadership is living in their own little reality, completely disconnected from the horrors of the actual fighting, and even has an actual scene showing the German delegation to negotiate the ceasefire noisily eating full meals in a posh dining car cut between scenes of mud and carnage>

Critic: It's to show that there were "good Germans," which isn't needed

it has all the subtlety of an artillery barrage and this fucking doorknob STILL misses it

Not even a little surprised there was a "but what about the Nazi's point of view?" in response to the movie

That's not to say Storm of Steel has no historical value, but...given the global resurgence in ultra right wing nationalism and fascism in general this is NOT the time

because you know people would then go read his later stuff, and he was definitely a True Believer by the end of it

that's a dumb reason to give it a low score. most of the negative sentiments I've seen about it were about how it cut out important plot beats, especially Paul's visit home, and making the armistice a big part of the ending and having him die just before it comes into effect rather than random misfortune on a random day

yeah. I can at least understand why they went the way they did with the changes, and it doesn't really change the core message at all so I can't be too mad at them for it.

but I can still understand those criticisms for the same reason, they're at least grounded in reality

this critic though is just...I know we watched the same movie, but did he trip and bang his head on the corner of his desk before watching it or what