All Quiet on the Western Front is a poignant and realistic adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's persuasive anti-war novel about seven young German soldiers facing suffering and death on the battlefields of World War I.  The film focuses on one of the soldiers and follows his transformation from idealistic and patriotic schoolboy to shattered and disillusioned war veteran. Unforgettable and astonishingly graphic in its honest portrayal of horrifying subject matter, the film was met with controversy in both the United States and Germany when first released; nevertheless, it garnered both Best Picture and Best Director Oscars.