Touches You

Nice effects though.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I should have known I wouldn't like this movie, because Richard Thomas stars in it. I found "The Waltons" too intensely boring to watch a full episode. My wife and I tried to watch this film on VHS, and made it through his character's college graduation, military training, military service in the trenches, hospital stay and arrival, in what we presume was his hometown when his service ended. We couldn't believe the movie wasn't over yet, so we went to bed and decided not to watch the rest of it. It was just too unbearable.Having graduated from two Boot Camps (U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army), I could relate somewhat to the WWI Nazi version. Fortunately for me, my military combat service was less severe.I'm giving this three stars because it shows the tedium ad nauseam of military service realistically, and because I always enjoy watching Ernest Borgnine's performances.

Granted I've never seen the original - I do have that unfortunate problem of being unable to relate to films made in a very young time.Nevertheless, I did grow up during the "Golden Age Of TV Movies" and I never saw this on television. There was a teacher that kept airing it when I was working in the A/V Lab. I didn't care about that.Well I was old enough to take note. Now I think this is probably the Best Made For Television Movie of all time.The Great War (or World War I) is a war that I believe is immensely ignored in the scheme of the 20th Century. I was one of those people that heard pretty much everything about WWII and I can recite it backwards and inside-out.But the thing about the situation in Europe needs to be looked at more seriously and in a long amount of time. WWII didn't just pop out of nowhere.I'm going to tell you to know the 20th Century you need to research "The Great War" and "The Franco-Prussian War".But if you want to only find out how the Industrial Revolution turned war into a total, complete killing factory World War I is where it all started.And if you research further, most people didn't really know what they were fighting for and/or who.Young men were asked to go fight to keep up the status quo. That's basically about all you can say about ANY war.That's what this movie is about; young me going to war and dying and the tragic circumstances. It's an endless theme.

One of the best war movies of all time, if not one of the best movies of any kind, is the 1930 version of Erich Maria Remarque's excellent novel, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, featuring Lew Ayers. All remakes should be judged against that great film. As such, this remake, featuring Richard Thomas, comes close to matching the original in making a person think and feel about war in general, but somehow leaves the viewer a little flat in the end.There are some scenes which are underplayed in this remake. For instance, in the 1930's version, Corporal Himmelstoss is known to the recruits before the war and basic training as the town postman. This is a central point to there feeling about him and their treatment of him, both during boot camp and afterward. By not including this small fact, something is lost to the over point of the movie. In the original, Himmelstoss is a character whose actions, especially during training, allow the viewer to feel more deeply towards him, and helps explain his actions on the field of battle later on.Towards the beginning of the film, Paul is explaining that it is a good day because they have each received double rations. In the 1930 version, the reason behind the double rations is more evident and poignant.But for these small drawbacks, this is still one hell of a good film, and should be seen by all war movie fans, and even fans of novel from which it was made.

This movie I would definitely have to say is not one of my favorites. For me it wasn't authentic enough to what I thought it should bed. For example, the Germans don't even have German accents! That doesn't even make sense! They sounded like Americans. Even if they don't speak German they could at least try to have one. That is why they call it acting. Another reason is it just wasn't exciting. I mean you could at least spruce it up a little bit. I almost fell asleep through some of it. Even if they didn't have great technology back then they could at least do something to make it more real. It didn't seem authentic enough or real enough and that's what killed it for me.