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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780792841401
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0792841409
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 29, 1999
Running Time: 87 minutes
Sales Rank: 4877
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1957
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Editorial Review:
Description:
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).
Amazon.com essential video:
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - L'infamie
I'm not a Stanley Kubrick fan, nor do I particularly care for Hollywood films. So I was surprised and delighted to discover what a gem of a film "Paths of Glory" is. Well directed, for the most part well acted, well directed, and conveying a great message: what more could one ask for?
The title is ironic. The plot revolves around a failed because impossible military assault on the German trenches in 1916. An oily, egoistic French general, superbly played by George Macready, orders the assault to further his career. When it fails, he furiously orders three men from the decimated 701st Regiment that attempted the assault to be selected as examples, charged with cowardice, and court-martialed. Their colonel, Dax, an attorney in peacetime, defends them, but the fix is already in. The general staff won't take the blame for the disastrous assault. So the dog soldiers must. The three are executed, and Colonel Dax's native cynicism about martial "paths of glory" is only reinforced. War is l'infamie.
In addition to Macready's great performance, Kirk Douglas outdoes himself as Dax, as does Adolphe Menjou as a general staff officer. The battle scene in which the doomed 701 launches its hopeless assault is one of the most terrifying ones I've ever seen, totally outclassing Spielberg's opening scene in the overrated "Saving Private Ryan."
It took only a few minutes to get over the dissonance of an all-American cast playing French soldiers and officers. Actually, ... Read More
Rating: - enough to make you weep...
Kirk Douglas' portrayal of the heartbreakingly courageous Col. Dax is a portrait in heroic futility. Dax is an French officer in the most pointless war, but most portentous war, of the Twentieth Century. His men are ordered to take an impregnable German position. Many men in the front ranks don't even get fully out of their trenches before they are slaughtered by an impenetrable hail of German lead and steel. The surviving rear ranks cower in the trenches rather than face inevitable death. The French General, who had pictured himself covered with medals, orders his artillery to shell his own lines. The artillery officer refuses to take verbal orders and demands them in writing. The General, who is more cowardly than the men he sent to death, refuses to put it in writing.
The General has a better idea--decimation. It's an ancient Roman custom. Should your army fail, execute every tenth man. Col. Dax, at the risk of his life and own reputation, refuses to obey such an incredible order. He can't, however, prevent it entirely. Three men--men dripping with combat medals--are to be shot for cowardice. Men who'd shown themselves to be heros in previous battles are shot as cowards.
Kirk Douglas is great. His character literally seethes with indignation and anger. The telling moment, however, comes at the end of the film. A terrified but lovely German girl--a captive of the French--is forced to sing in front of leering, jeering French soldiers. She sings a song of home. ... Read More
Rating:  - Pro-War movie with heart
Just now got to watching this oldie Pro-War movie of the 50s. It wasn't as good as I had heard, but the pro-war stance makes me want to go back to serve. Kirk's colonel Dax makes all officers proud of wartime service. Enlisted soldiers all could do much worse than Dax. You can tell he cares so much for this men, that it almost physically hurts him to follow through with absurd orders from up top. While this movie showcases the sometime ridiculous choices higher ups make in the name of wartime offense, it also more than makes up for it by making Dax the hero that populates the armoed forces.
This Pro-War movie of the 50s is labled as antiw-war, but there is no hiding the values and honorable service of the soldiers and officers portrayed in the movie. While it does give little screen time to the generals in the back, the real story highlightes the selfless, duty-bound service of the troops in the trenches. The 3 unlucky soldiers who get randomly picked to make up for the failed attack, are the usual sympathetic duty-bound conscripts of the time. They all don't like being there, but they are because of their patriotism and love for their country. Even if this is France, that country can be pround it had people like Dax and the 3 who are eventually punished. The pro-war aspect of this movie makes it all the more gung-hoie. Duty, honor, and comraderie are the top themes highlighted in this feature. I especially liked Dax's committment to his men and to the chain of command. He does an excellent ... Read More
Rating:  - Classic Anti-War Movie
This is an absorbing anti-war movie about the French army on the Western Front in WWI. There are moments of complete brilliance. The shot of Kirk Douglas as the attacking French colonel walking the length of the trench before going "over the top" and the reactions of his regiment as he passes them is one of the best and most moving pieces of film making I've ever seen. The firing squad scene and the bar scene at the end of the movie are also simply perfect.
Douglas is excellent in his role, as is the supporting cast.
I deduct one star for the lack of subtlety in portraying the French generals. Yes, generals in WWI were out of touch and were even criminally negligent in their tactics. But Kubrick does not attempt to portray the generals' point of view as having any legitimacy.
The film is shot in black & white, which captures the dirt and lack of romance of the battles fought at the time.
I highly recommend this great film.
Rating: - a visual anti-war parable
A film with a strong message requires a skillful presentation in order not to become overbearing. Paths of Glory, while having a strong anti-war theme, rises to the top due to the exceptional photography, editing, and straightforward narrative structure coupled with the tension that arises from social injustice and poor leadership. Kubrick treats the story as a parable, allow us to see a range of actions under a shared experience. We see front line solders at their best and worst and we also see the French officers under similar but a bit more sophisticated situations.
Paths of Glory is probably based on an event in World War I during the French Nivelle Offensive whereby the men on the front lines were pushed to remain on the offensive and overtake points of no strategic worth while losing considerable lives. The offensive objective here is tellingly called "The Ant Hill". The men refused to attack but remained on the offensive in the trenches. The French officers fired thier artillery upon their own men. This incredible historic event lays the groundwork for this fictitious film.
Wisely the film narrows down the number of characters to basic types and individual concerns and conflicts. Thus we have careerist incompetent leadership negligently wasting the lives of their men on poorly developed plans and objectives. The film is tragic in that after the men refused to attack, men were selected at random to be executed for cowardice and executed before the troops as examples and to encourage ... Read More
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