Blu-ray Review: ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Joins Remastered Universal Collection

Submitted by BrianTT on February 21, 2012 - 3:50pm

CHICAGO – It has been an AMAZING year for catalog Blu-ray releases already and the Universal 100th Anniversary Collection promises to be one of the most important and essential series of 2012. Already this year, “Notorious,” “Rebecca,” “Annie Hall,” “Dead Poets Society,” “Wings,” “Shakespeare in Love,” and much more have joined the format. Universal kicked off their series, which will eventually include “Jaws” and “E.T.- The Extra-Terrestrial,” with “To Kill a Mockingbird” last month and continue it this month with the beloved “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Why should young audiences care about an 80-year-old war movie? Not only does the film hold up remarkably well but it is an incredible experience when one consideres the context of its time. They didn’t make anti-war movies then like they do now. And war was a distant, horrible thing in 1930 that people didn’t see every night on the evening news. For many, “All Quiet” was their first look into the atrocities of combat. It’s stunningly powerful now but imagine if you could see it freed from the context of the current time, one in which images of war dominate everything from TV to video games.

Digitally remastered and restored from high resolution 35MM original film elements, “Western Front” hasn’t looked like this in your lifetime…or your dad’s. And Universal’s 100th Anniversary packaging is wonderful with a hard, book-like case including a Blu-ray and DVD version of each film and a booklet with some fantastic archival material. You’re going to want to collect every single one.

All Quiet on the Western Front was released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 14, 2012
Photo credit: Universal

Synopsis:
Relive the drama, conflict and power of one of the most influential anti-war films ever made - All Quiet on the Western Front. Universal’s first Best Picture Academy Award® winner is now available in its original glory with a digitally remastered picture restored by the Library of Congress. Follow a group of idealistic young men as they join the German Army during World War I and are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat. The hard-hitting, timeless masterpiece returns with stunning visual enhancement to its deserving place in film history!

Special Features:
o Introduction by Turner Classic Movies Host and Film Historian Robert Osborne
o Rarely Seen “Silent” Version Presented by the Library of Congress
o 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics
o 100 Years of Universal: Academy Award Winners
o Pocket Blu
o D-Box Motion Code Enabled
o BD Live Enabled
o Digital Copy Of Feature Film

“All Quiet on the Western Front” stars William Bakewell, Slim Summerville, John Wray, Lew Ayers, and Louis Wolhelm. It was released on Blu-ray on February 14, 2012.