To the Max…The Blue Max

As one of the more typical war epics on this WWI films list, The Blue Max portrays a dramatic depiction of air combat set against the rapid shift of modern warfare in the early 20th century. While we do not have the film on DVD, it is available online by searching the library catalog or […]

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Sgt. Alvin C. York, American War Hero

Some five months before the United States entered WWII after Pearl Harbor, Sergeant York (DVD 10210), a biographical film about the life of decorated American solider Alvin C. York, was released. At its heart, the movie resonates a tale of an ordinary man who excels under extraordinary circumstances. Most of the movie deals with the […]

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Suffering in Silence: Johnny Got His Gun

Ok, let’s start out by acknowledging that Johnny Got His Gun (DVD 5654) is probably one of the most subtly terrifying movies that exists and is an incredibly powerful testament to the individual ravages of war. As the rather graphic trailer aptly explains, it is not the story of the millions that have died, but […]

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New Medium, Old Tricks: Animated Propaganda

Today’s entry in WWI on Film isn’t one film. It’s a collection of much shorter films. If you’re an AU student, you can access 20th century film and newsreel clips from the WPA Library and British Pathe. Some of these clips are from WWI, and are basic black-and-white motion pictures. Of course, they don’t have […]

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Do We Really Need to Say It: Westfront 1918

Westfront 1918 (DVD 16017)is one of Media Services’ newest acquisitions, but it’s one of the oldest films we’re reviewing for this series. A contemporary of All Quiet on the Western Front, Westfront explores many of the same themes, like the camaraderie between soldiers and alienation from the home front. Like All Quiet, Westfront is based on […]

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Expanding the Narrative: Testament of Youth

‘War has made masochists of us all,’ or so says Testament of Youth. Originally released in 2015, the movie was something of a disappointment. It barely made back half of its $10 million budget, and it didn’t begin to capture the richness of its source material, Vera Brittain’s WWI memoir of the same name. Still, […]

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Joyeux Noël: WWI 90 years Later

I’ve seen many WWI films in my time, even before we started this blog series, but Joyeux Noel is my stand-out favorite. Like All Quiet on the Western Front, it highlights what united the combatants, rather than what divided them. Joyeux Noel is certainly much more pointed than All Quiet, but it has the benefit […]

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