At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.

Richard Thomas
as Paul Bäumer

Ernest Borgnine
as Stanislaus Katczinsky

Donald Pleasence
as Kantorek

Ian Holm
as Himmelstoss

Patricia Neal
as Paul's Mother

Paul Mark Elliott
as Josef Behm

David Bradley
as Albert Kropp

Matthew Evans
as Friedrich Muller

George Winter
as Franz Kemmerich

Dominic Jephcott
as Peter Leer