Watch Westfront 1918 For Free

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

"Westfront 1918: Vier von der Infanterie" or "Comrades of 1918" is a German black-and-white sound movie from 1930, so this one was made shortly before the Nazis came into power. The director is Georg Wilhelm Pabst again, one of the most successful filmmakers of his generation. I don't know any of the cast, but writer Ladislaus Cajda, who adapted the novel here for the film, worked with Pabst on several occasions and has his name attached also to a couple big films from that era. "Westfront 1918" runs for slightly under 90 minutes, at least in the version i saw. i see other runtimes here on IMDb and these may either include lost segments or just fewer frames per second.The movie is about a group of German soldiers during the days of World War I. War is depicted here as something gruesome, something that needs to be avoided at all costs because of the pain and casualties it brings. You can imagines that Hitler and his gang did not like this approach at all as they identified with war as something heroic, something inevitable in order to bring Germany to glory. From that perspective, it is certainly an interesting watch, even if Pabst obviously couldn't know yet what would happen in the next 15 years. Being banned by the NSDAP is quality an attribute that makes a film worth seeing, but sadly it is just the approach that is right and interesting. I cannot say I cared for the story here or for any of the characters in particular. Overall, just not a good watch. Thumbs down.

Inevitable Comparison to the Great American WWI Movie Filmed the same Year, All Quiet on the Western Front, the Lewis Milestone Film is Decidedly Better on just about Every Level. But that Movie is One of the Greatest Ever Made and Director Pabst Version is a Fine Film but not the Complete Composite and Lacks the Grand Scope of the Other.It is Very Interesting for American Audiences though, as it was Made in Germany and from the Defeated Countries Point of View and In Fact it was Labeled Defeatist by the Right Wing there and was Criticized for it. But it is more a Film about the Devastation of War on All Soldiers and Their Respective Countries. Not from a Nationalistic Point of View Per Se.It is a Bleak and Bombastic Movie as One would Expect from the Fine Filmmaker. The Realism is Striking and it is a Down and Dirty Account of a Very Dirty War. What with Trench Warfare and Chemical Bombs. Pabst doesn't Shy Away from any of that and is in Fact Part of the Gut-Wrenching "Charm" and Message of this Movie that was Banned as soon as Hitler came to Power (what wasn't?).Worth a Watch for Film and Military Historians and should be Given a Go even from those not Friendly to Subtitles. The Dialog is Sparse and there is much Social Concern and the Civilian Drama Works as Well as the Military Melodrama.

First off, I am not a film student and was not forced to watch this for a class. I'm a regular Joe (a combat veteran as well), who may have a different take on this film from the other reviewers I have read here (probably a lot cruder as well than the other posts). I watched this on TCM USA and was glad I did. Westfront 1918 is clearly a pioneering war film and would have received a 10 from me except that films of it's contemporary are so superior (All Quiet On The Western Front which in my opinion is in the top 100 films of all time). I enjoyed it more from the technical aspects than so much the war film aspect. I couldn't help comparing it to AQOTWF, which is probably a disservice to Westfront but I have seen the former so many times that I couldn't help it. On the plus side, it was great to watch a pre Nazi war film from Germany, it's amazing the changes that occurred to that nation in a short 5 years isn't it? The use of tanks at the end surprised me as I was thinking to myself that up to that point there had been no tanks (as in all of AQOTWF), and I was thinking that was shortcoming of both films but to it's credit it does have some tanks in it (though no aircraft or observation balloons). I also liked the story overall with the home-front and all the drama involved, although I don't think many in real life would have been as cold as Karl had been for so long to take that bitterness with him back to the front. The show that was put on for the troops was actually entertaining to watch even though it seemed excessively long. This film also would have been edited heavily by the censors for profanity and adult situations which for any movie made in 1930 I give credit to. So take those positive comments of mine and enjoy the film or if you want my whole opinion read on. Westfront to me seemed very crude, done on way too big a scale to be effective as a truly great film. I'll start with the captions on the version I saw. The captions were incomplete, this movie had a lot of singing in it both by the soldiers and in a long show put on for them. There are no captions for these moments so you have about 10-15 minutes of scenes that are not captioned, that seemed like a drawback to me. I started to get more into the technical aspects of the film because the battle scenes seemed totally disjointed and unrealistic. There are dozens and dozens of grenades tossed around in this film, that alone is to me unrealistic as those weigh a good bit and soldiers can only carry a few with them, but than when they are thrown they don't explode. The scenes also drone on forever, this film needed a better editor. Will I watch this film again (a mark of a film I truly enjoyed), probably not. After being pampered to the excellently made All Quiet On The Western Front, as I have, you may reach the same opinion of Westfront 1918; but I am happy I watched this little shown early pioneering war film. Recommended 7 of 10.

Filmed the same year as the American "All Quiet on the Western Front" this is NOT another 'nice boys learn the horrors of war." It is 1918 and this men are long serving vets with few illusions left. The effects are stunning and (one must assume) realistic. The impact of a big screen and large speakers must have shocked contemporary audiences.Many scenes do seem to run on a bit--but no more than other films of the period. As one who does not speak German, I would have wished for more subtitles. If the songs were worth including, they are worth translating.If only for the fact that it was one of the first films banned by the Nazis, it's worth a viewing.