All Quiet on The Western Front

The film follows young Paul Baumer, who during World War I enlists in the Imperial German Army with many of his high school friends, after being indoctrinated by their teacher as to the glory and superiority of German culture. After surviving training camp under the sadistic Corporal Himmelstoss (Ian Holm), the enthusiastic young men board a troop train bound for the front lines. Ominously, at the same moment, they notice another train arriving in town loaded with wounded returning soldiers, who are carried off on stretchers. Once at the front lines, they are placed under the supervision of a pragmatic, yet good-natured older soldier, Stanislaus Katzinsky, called "Kat" (Ernest Borgnine). Kat teaches them how to best take cover, how to catch game for food, and other survival skills. The film focuses on the suffering and tragedy caused by war, particularly the horrors endured by the young men serving in it.