Paths of Glory
 | Directed by Stanley Kubrick Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris MGM (Video & DVD), 1957, DVD Customer Rating: 126 reviews Recommend |
|---|
Safe in their picturesque chateau behind the front lines, the French general staff passes down a direct order to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas): take the Ant Hill at any cost. A blatant suicide mission, the attack is doomed to failure. Covering up their fatal blunder, the generals order the arrest of three innocent soldiers, charging them with cowardice and mutiny. Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, rises to the men's defense but soon realizes that, unless he can prove that the generals were to blame,nothing less than a miracle will save his clients from the firing squad. A compelling masterpiece from world-class director/writer Stanley Kubrick and screenwriters Calder Willingham and JimThompson, Paths of Glory is a blistering indictment of military politics and "an unforgettable movie experience" (Newsweek).
Stanley Kubrick had already made his talent known with the outstanding racetrack heist thriller The Killing, but it was the 1957 antiwar masterpiece Paths of Glory that catapulted Kubrick to international acclaim. Based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb, the film was initiated by Kirk Douglas, who chose the young Kubrick to direct what would become one of the most powerful films about the wasteful insanity of warfare. In one of his finest roles, Douglas plays Colonel Dax, commander of a battle-worn regiment of the French army along the western front during World War I. Held in their trenches under the threat of German artillery, the regiment is ordered on a suicidal mission to capture an enemy stronghold. When the mission inevitably fails, French generals order the selection of three soldiers to be tried and executed on the charge of cowardice. Dax is appointed as defense attorney for the chosen scapegoats, and what follows is a travesty of justice that has remained relevant and powerful for decades. In the wake of some of the most authentic and devastating battle sequences ever filmed, Kubrick brilliantly explores the political machinations and selfish personal ambitions that result in battlefield slaughter and senseless executions. The film is unflinching in its condemnation of war and the self-indulgence of military leaders who orchestrate the deaths of thousands from the comfort of their luxurious headquarters. For many years, Paths of Glory was banned in France as a slanderous attack on French honor, but it's clear that Kubrick's intense drama is aimed at all nations and all men. Though it touches on themes of courage and loyalty in the context of warfare, the film is specifically about the historical realities of World War I, but its impact and artistic achievement remain timeless and universal. — Jeff Shannon
Title: Paths of Glory
Sales Rank: 5032 in DVD
Actor: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD), 1999-06-29, Theatrical Release: 1957
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Acpect Ratio 1.33:1
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Audience Rating: Unrated
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 87 minutes
Item Dimensions: 0.25 pounds
Package Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.6 inches, 0.15 pounds
- The story is lacking.
- Visually this movie is quite good. As for the plot it never seems to go very far. You have corrupt officers ordering a suicide mission on "Ant Hill". The attack on the hill failed and an officer branded the units as cowards to be shot. Three men were picked out and shot. I think this film is as weak as "Full Metal Jacket" which also has… More reviews
- The Faint Hearts of War
- Paths of Glory is a masterpiece. It's one of the greatest anti-war films of all time. It shows a grim and disturbingly violent reality that, at the time, many other war films never dared to enter. Stanley Kubrick and Kirk Douglas achieved this task, and they have done an extraordinary job with it.
There are few heroes and many… More reviews
- decimation of the troops
- A great movie but all of the reviews miss the point. When Roman armies were unsuccessful, as in the early campaigns against Spartacus, the commanders could "decimate" the troops. Each group of 10 soldiers in the legion would draw lots and pick one soldier. This soldier would be beaten to death with clubs to atone for the legions's lack of courage… More reviews
- Jaw-droppingly good.
- Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)
I spent most of my life running Stanley Kubrick down. Until 2008, I'd only seen two and a half Kubrick movies I actually liked: Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, and the first forty-five minutes if Full Metal Jacket. Problem was, I hadn't seen Kubrick's entire oeuvre, and I basically extrapolated from the movies… More reviews
- Stunning film, one of the greatest war films ever made, still moving and profound today...
- This is not only of Stanley Kubrick's greatest films, it's also one of the greatest war films ever made, still startlingly in its depiction of war and the stupidity of war. Even though I have seen it numerous times, it still has the same impact as the first time.
The film was Kubrick's fourth feature (counting two independent films,… More reviews
