The beginning of both the movie and the novel start off saying. "This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. [This story] will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells were destroyed by the war...This line is a precursor of what is to come.

All Quiet on the Western Front movie directed by Lewis Milestone and the novel by Erich Remarque tells what happens to a group of German teenagers during World War I. In this novel some very deep feelings come from the soldiers point of view. The story centers around Paul Baumer, the main character. Paul is the protagonist of the novel who changes from a soft young man to a hardened soldier. He and his classmates had patriotically marched off for recruitment, led on by their teacher, Kantorek. However, they soon find that war is not as glorious as everyone thinks it is. The soldiers soo

Overall German casualties during the War were 7,142,558, some 65% of all German soldiers who were mobilized. French casualties were 6,160,800, an astounding 73% of all men mobilized. British Empire casualties were 3,190,235, "only" 36% of men mobilized. U.S. casualties were 350,300, a small 8% of mobilized personnel. Counting all combatants over the entire War, 65 million men were mobilized, 8.5 million killed, 21.2 million wounded, and 7.7 million taken prisoner or missing in action.

The Western Front ran some 300 miles across the face of Western Europe, from Belgium to Switzerland. The front consisted of opposing trenches, sometimes only yards apart. The trench warfare of World War I lasted for three years and took several million lives. The Battle of the Somme, an attack by the Allies trying to break through the German lines, took more than four months. The allies gained only six miles. British and French casualties were 95,675 Britons killed and 60,729 Frenchmen killed. The defense cost the Germans 164,055 soldiers killed.

After reading the book and seeing the movie I thought it would be good to add some helpful background to my comparison between the movie and the book. These are some interesting facts found from many different sources and should help you understand the powerful truth and accuracy that the novel and movie displayed.

Throughout the novel and the movie Paul focuses mainly on trying to stay alive and is constantly worrying whether his friends will survive. There is a strong serious tone present in the novel. The theme of how the war destroyed the generation is brought up many times. In the movie this theme is not brought up as much as in the book. There is struggle with death for the soldiers. There is a struggle to survive, and also to deal with the death of their comrades and those around them. A gr

Some common words found in the essay are:
Paul Baumer, Western Front, British Empire, Lewis Milestone, World War, British French, Overall German, Battle Somme, Belgium Switzerland, Central Powers, western front, quiet western front, quiet western, novel movie, world war, central powers, french casualties, movie paul, british french, war destroyed, german soldiers,
Approximate Word count = 1242
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)