From the opening pastoral scenes of nature in the French countryside that transition to the bleakness and horror of the trenches and No Man’s Land of the Great War, All Quiet on the Western Front captivates with an unflinching visual style. The idealistic and fresh-faced Paul Bäumer’s (Felix Kammerer) ruddy complexion looks youthful and cleanly scrubbed when he and his friends enlist to fight the allied forces. Soon, their tidy but mended and repurposed uniforms and eager expressions are supplanted by the weary and terrified look of seasoned soldiers and the muck and filth of trench warfare. Paul is befriended by Stanislaus Katczinsky, or Kat (Albrecht Schuch), an older and more experienced soldier who takes him under his wing. A second story arc features Matthias Erzberger (Daniel Brühl), the head of the German delegation feverishly working to secure an armistice as they are suffering massive loses in the waning days of the war. 

The juxtaposition of Erzberger practicing quiet diplomacy and the chaos of battle highlight the stark disparity between the absurd politics of war and the harsh realities of combat seen in the prolonged trench warfare scenes throughout the film. These scenes are utterly harrowing as we see the futility of the conflict through Paul’s eyes. Krammerer’s performance is absolutely gripping as we witness the young Paul transform from an idealistic youth to an experienced soldier just trying to survive. 

The backdrop of war is undeniably ugly but All Quiet on the Western Front is a beautiful-looking film nonetheless. The Dolby Vision color grade is definitely cool with a pale-blue light bathing the lightly snow-covered hills of France in early winter. The grimy look of the trenches is perfectly captured, with every tiny detail of caked-on dried mud on the faces and clothing of the soldiers visible. The picture may seem a little washed-out at times but there just aren’t a lot of bright hues in the color palette of this desolate-looking film. As the soldiers gather before the final battle in a courtyard to be addressed by their general, the texture and color of their varying uniforms and complexions is readily apparent, even in long shots. In a particularly wide shot, the differing gray and green uniforms of the soldiers are subtly different, but easily discernible from the uniformly blue coloration of their helmets. Even the fine details of broken tiles and exposed burned timbers of damaged buildings far off in the background were easily visible. 

As with most streamed films, there was some slight banding and artifacts in low-light situations and in smoky backgrounds but otherwise the picture quality was up to the task of reproducing the superb cinematography. In one particular scene, the blue twilight sky fades to jet black and tiny bright-red embers dance beautifully across the foreground and really popped against complete darkness. A single flare then lights up the sky and casts flowing, ever-changing shadows as it falls slowly to earth with the billowing shadowy shapes filling the wide 2.39 frame with hauntingly beautiful imagery.

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack frighteningly captures the sounds of warfare with plenty of echoing explosions and gunfire all around, but the film starts off much more serenely. The opening scene begins with faint wind and cawing birds in the forest as explosions echo far off in the distance. As the focus shifts towards the battleground, occasional machine-gun fire breaks through the silence and strikes the ground with an alarming whooshing sound. When the camera zooms in further, the character of the sound changes to an even more urgent buzzing as bullets hit the dirt and spray it upwards and overhead, landing discretely and alarmingly in the surround channels. Bass is full and loud but not overpowering, with the overall presentation being extremely well balanced and complementing the excellent sound design. 

All Quiet on the Western Front is Germany’s entry into the Best International Feature category for this year’s Academy Awards but it could likely compete in several of the other main Oscar categories. It is that good. It also happens to look and sound great, providing one of the most satisfying cinematic experiences provided by a movie from a streaming service this year.