All Quiet on the Western Front is widely regarded as one of the best war films to be released in the last few years. However, there is another war movie that film buffs have ranked higher than it, calling it the very best war film available to stream on Netflix right now. All Quiet on the Western Front was released in 2022 and was nominated for a slew of awards, including an Oscar, and is considered by many as a masterpiece.
However, it didn’t make the top spot in a recent list of the best war movies to stream on Netflix. That top spot went to a film that was released in 2019 and blew audiences away with its stellar performances, its gripping storyline and its unique cinematic style, which has only been achieved by a few very talented filmmakers. The list was compiled by US entertainment publication Entertainment Weekly. The film experts decided that one film, which has an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes, was deserving of the number one spot.
The film they chose as the best war movie on Netflix right now is 1917, starring George McKay, Richard Madden, Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott, among other familiar faces.
The film follows two soldiers who are assigned the task of delivering a critical message to another battalion. Along the journey, they have to risk their lives to ensure the message gets delivered and that they don’t step into a dangerous ambush.
What makes the film unique is how it was shot. 1917 was filmed in a series of long shots that were cleverly edited together to give the impression that it is one continuous shot, which captivated audiences and critics alike.
Entertainment Weekly ranked 1917 as the best war film to watch on Netflix, followed by All Quiet on the Western Front at number 2. In third place is Beasts of No Nation (2015), while The Bombardment (2023) is at number 4 and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) is at number 5.
In 1917, Entertainment Weekly critic Kevin Jacobsen said that the unique filming style “effectively drops the viewer into the centre of the story and compels them to stay there, fully immersed in every muddy step, hunger pang, and rifle click”.
Many others had similar positive takes on the film. One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer said: “I really like how it’s shot to look like it’s one continuous shot with NO cuts. AMAZING.”
A second wrote: “One of the best War movies of all time! Both this, and Saving Private Ryan are just fantastic War movies that I never get tired of. I am amazed on the cinematography in this movie.” A third simply said: “A masterpiece.”