(https://i.imgur.com/ekkDs0t.png)
Studio: MPI Media/Capelight Pictures
Release Date: 5/9/2023
Rating: R
Film Grade: A
The Story: It’s near the end of World War I, but the conflict continues. We meet Paul and his friends as they enthusiastically enlist for service to their country with fresh dreams of heroism and honor. It isn’t long before that blind exuberance is smacked in the face with the reality of war.
My Take: I debated about whether or not to write this one or not. It’s a hard film to watch, but expertly done. It gives the audience a brutal and unflinching look at a grim and gruesome war, and it excels in that portrayal, which makes it challenging to write about.
This is a German production, filled with German actors who are likely unknown to American audiences, but they do an excellent job of giving us relatable characters with genuine camaraderie, facing a horrible situation that they could never imagine. The director did a fantastic job with his young cast.
Production values are top-notch from costumes, set design, makeup, special effects, cinematography, to the sound effects. They all work together to give the viewers a strong feel for the time and conditions.
The only thing that felt off to me was the musical score. While it does contain classical elements that one would expect, it’s also punctuated by a squealing, ominous, modern-sounding “BWAAA WHAA WHAAAAA” distorted organ-like effect that is reminiscent of War of the Worlds, or any sci-fi movie trailer. Not only is it jarring (at first I thought it was a processor decoding error scrambled for the remote control), but it just doesn’t fit the time period. This is a minor point, and not a critical flaw.
Video: The movie is a mixture of tones, primarily drab earthy browns and grays, which are occasionally contrasted with bright colors. I did notice some noise or grain in dark scenes, but it wasn’t distracting, and imagine that it was intentional. I was worried that there might be some banding in some of the scenes featuring fog and smoke, but didn’t find any signs of it. This is a great-looking Blu-ray.
Audio: The disc features an Atmos soundtrack if you select the German language version. If you can’t stand reading subtitles, you’ll be stuck with a DTS-HD 5.1 mix. Don’t do it, or you’ll be missing out on a fantastic use of Atmos, one that actually uses wides(!), along with tops. This one of the best Atmos mixes I’ve ever experienced, with great placement of sound, a full soundstage, and excellent directional cues. Bullets, bombs, planes, and other battlefield sounds are effectively used to pull the listener into the movie.
After watching the film, I went back and listened to just the tops and wides. It was interesting to hear so much dialog coming from those channels. It’s mixed lower than the center channel, so as not to be obvious, but it did add a spaciousness to the spoken parts of certain scenes.
Special Features:
• Making of
• Trailers
• Commentary by Director Edward Berger
Final Verdict: All Quiet on the Western Front is an outstanding war movie, and highly recommended to anyone that likes the genre or is in the mood for a somber, fatalistic look at the ravages of military conflict. The presentation, actors, and production values all combine to create an unflinching look at the War to End All Wars. (Spoiler alert – it wasn’t.)
This movie debuted on Netflix in October last year, so it’s encouraging to see it get an actual physical disc release (there’s also a 4K version available). How they managed to make a movie of this scope and scale for 20 million dollars is mystifying, considering that wouldn’t even raise a Hollywood producer’s eyebrow for a simple, modern comedy.
As outstanding as it is, it’s hard to recommend as a blind purchase, due to the combination of its serious and depressing nature, and brutality. While it would serve as excellent demo material, it almost feels disrespectful to the themes of the movie to use it that way.
My Review System:
JVC DLA-RS420 Reference Series D-Ila Projector with 4K eShift4
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup