War, what is it good for? It’s a question that has hounded philosophers, humanitarians, politicians, Fallout protagonists, and more. Throughout history many people at some point in their life have paused to consider whether humanity’s most destructive method of conflict resolution might be more trouble than it’s worth, and some of those people, upon reaching a negative conclusion, have put pen to paper in the form of anti-war books, paintings, and movies. One of the most famous examples of this is All Quiet on the Western Front, a German novel about the first World War that quickly gained a global audience thanks to its powerful, haunting depiction of life on the front lines. The book has been adapted for the screen multiple times, and today’s installment of Magellans at the Movies will be reviewing the latest iteration of this deeply moving tale of human folly. All Quiet on the Western Front as imagined by German director Edward Berger was released in 2022 a few months ago and did quite well for itself with critics and audiences alike, but because Nathan and Elliot are nothing if not attention-craving contrarians they decided to try to ruin everyone’s fun, if you can call a visually grim, graphically violent story from one of history’s most mind-meltingly horrific conflicts that. Over the top, lads!
