All Quiet on the Western Front

** All Quiet on the Western Front – won the Oscar (1930) for best film and best director. A very good anti-war film — from the perspective of some young Germans. I particularly like it because it stars one of the few real heroes from Hollywood, Lew Ayres, who refused to be conscripted into the army during World War II, a decision that virtually ruined his Hollywood career.

This classic film is every bit as good as [its] reputation promises. Often censored in countries whooping it up for war, this is one of the great anti-war films of all time. At the beginning of the film, young German students are encouraged to volunteer in World War I by their professor: 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. Sweet and fitting it is to die for the fatherland.'

This is a first-rate film, based on one of the great novels of the twentieth century. ... this film's message is so timeless and is delivered with such flair that governments preparing for war have sometimes paid it the ultimate compliment—by banning it.

Those of us who oppose the perpetual wars of the state should see it (or see it again) to reinforce our viewpoint. Those who support Leviathan's Total War should screw up the courage to see this significant film and ask themselves these questions: do I really support the state sending my loved ones to meet such a demise?