Paths of Glory

Pros: Kirk Douglas, Script, Score, Cinematography, Kubrick
Cons: None

Paths of Glory (1957)

Along with "2001: A Space Odyssey", and "Spartacus", "Paths of Glory" represents Director Stanley L. Kubrick's finest work.

"Paths of Glory" is only Kubrick's second film, yet as has happened with other...

Pros: Douglas, story, sentimentality, breathtaking visuals
Cons: No accents to be found, a bit boring at times

Paths of Glory has you in 1916 France where a commanding officer, General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) offers his lead general, General Mireau, a promotion if he can get his regiment to overtake the best war position of that area, The Ant Hill. ...

Pros: Ironic.
Cons: Not really.

I am persuaded that Martin Sheen gave us the finest performance of his career in an overlooked film called The Execution of Private Slovik, a film that tells the story of an American soldier executed for desertion in World War II. You would think...

Pros: Stanley Kubrick, Kirk Douglas, the emotional power of the script and its message.
Cons: Accents! There were too many American accents. That's the only con, though.

Paths of Glory (1957) Director: Stanley Kubrick Writing: Humphrey Cobb (novel) Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) Length: 87 minutes Rating: UR. This film has not been rated by the MPAA. Film: B & W The scene is World War I, France, ...

Pros: Great story, excellent performances, direction was superb
Cons: A dark, depressing end

I am so sorry. I know of late my number of reviews has been less than usual. A mere four in the month of February? Inexcusable. Unfortunately I was very busy and very sick throughout this period and so I hope you will forgive me. However, I can’t ...

Pros: Battle scenes, black & white cinematography, Kubrick's direction
Cons: Uneven acting

The year is 1916. World War One has been going on for two years now. The initially strong German advance has been halted and now turned into a stalemate. Much of France has been transformed into miles of trenches, that area now known as the Western...

Pros: Kubrick discovers a love for the tracking shot, Douglas' star wattage
Cons: Some dubious acting

If it were made today, "Paths of Glory" would be a two-and-a-half hour long epic, loaded with self-importance and chest thumping. It would contain scene after scene of Oscar-baiting speeches performed by American actors with phony French accents, a...

Pros: Plot, direction, acting, intensity.
Cons: Disturbing.

Tho' I have greatly admired Stanley Kubrick's work, and think that Kirk Douglas is spiffy as all get out, I have just now watched Paths of Glory.

Wow.

Stanley Kubrick has done other anti-war movies such as...

Pros: Watch Kubrick's Mastery, even in Early Days
Cons: Kubrick Exposed as Pathetic Hitchcock Clone. NOT!!

War Inglorious

This movie has plenty of paths, but little glory. In fact, it's one of the darkest war films I've even seen. The essential theme of Stanley Kubrick's 1957 film Paths of Glory, based on the 1932 novel by Humphrey Cobb...

Pros: cast, direction, cinematography, script
Cons: characters, talky

"Paths of Glory" is an excellent anti-war film that dramatizes the enormous gap between the enlisted men who do the fighting and the officers who take the credit. "Paths of Glory" was banned in France for many years, but the story,...

Pros: Signature Kubrick which even non-Kubrick fans can love ...
Cons: Not for those devoted to military order at all costs ...

While not the late, great Stanley Kubrick's first feature film, 1957's Paths of Glory is nonetheless the first clear crystallization of everything that would eventually come under the rubric of "the Kubrickian." The spaces, the...

Pros: Brilliant, uncompromising and crushing
Cons: Not for Oliver Stone or Walt Disney fans

Stanley Kubrick is remembered for movies such as "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Clockwork Orange", "Full Metal Jacket" and many more. But long before any of those masterpieces hit the screen, Kubrick delivered, at age 28,...

Pros: Unforgettable, anti-war, revolutionary, deals with sticking to your values
Cons: Effects when people getting shot aren't very believable

Kubrick's wily mind knows no boundaries, as can be seen in this unique anti-war view on World War I. This definitely ranks among Dr. Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket as one of the best war movies ever made. Spielberg can't even compare. That's because...

Pros: How about the fact that this is a great film...that's a pro, right?
Cons: If you don't like Black and White Films, You might not like this one

When you think of the masterpieces of the late Stanley Kubrick, what movies do you think of? Full Metal Jacket? 2001? Dr. Strangelove? The true shame is that most people don't include Paths of Glory in their lists of Kubrick's best. If almost any other...

Pros: Excellent!
Cons: Not seen enough

When people talk about the films of Stanley Kubrick, they usually start with Dr Strangelove. His early films are often forgotten. It's true that 2001 and ACO are stunning, and caste an indelible imprint into your mind, but Kubrick was a fine film maker...