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Reviews Want Empire film reviews on your iPhone?
STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
5 Stars Classic
4 Stars Excellent
3 Stars Good
2 Stars Fair
1 Star Tragic

FILM DETAILS
Certificate
PG
Cast
Kirk Douglas
Ralph Meeker
Adolphe Menjou
George Macready.
Directors
Stanley Kubrick.
Screenwriters
Stanley Kubrick
Calder Willingham
Jim Thompson.
Running Time
87 minutes


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Paths Of Glory (PG)

Paths Of Glory
Plot
France 1916: the French and German armies are dug into trenches in stalemate. Impatient French Generals order a suicidal assault on a strategic hill but when the operation ends in inevitable retreat the same Generals demand that three men are executed for cowardice as an example to others. A decision that brings former defence lawyer Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) into conflict with his superior officers…

Review
Banned in France until 1975 and unreleased in Spain under Franco, this timely re-release of Stanley Kubrick’s piercing attack on military hierarchy is unlikely to be welcomed by either Bush or Blair. Set in France in 1916, Kubrick’s film captures the war on two fronts: the no-man’s land where recruits scrap over inches and the glorious chateaux where the officer class angle for promotion.

Inspired by real newspaper reports, the 87-minute Paths Of Glory moves briskly from a misconceived attack to the court martial that follows. As the anger simmers, Kubrick’s camera remains detached, patrolling the trenches, pacing the courtroom. Terse and remorseless it may be, but the final flourish is perhaps the most fitting gracenote in all of cinema.

Verdict
Star Kirk Douglas used to say he didn’t have to wait 50 years to know that Paths Of Glory would "always be good". He was right.


Reviewer: Colin Kennedy

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Your Reviews
Average user rating for Paths Of Glory
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My revised Review of Paths of Glory
Empire User Rating

Sorry, the first time I reviewed this I gave it 1 star, I'm really sorry.It was a complete accident. Anyway. I was stunned when I forst watched Paths of Glory, I thought it was one of the greatest war films ever made and I still stand by that opinion. The war action is brilliantly directed by Master Stanley Kubrick, you can almost feel every bullett and shell hitting the ground, it's amazing how authentic Kubrick makes it feel. Kirk Douglas also gives the performace of a lifetime in a role... Read More

The Original Psycho About me
13:52, 31 December 2009 | Report This Post

Paths Of Gory
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art. ... Read More

The Original Psycho About me
13:43, 31 December 2009 | Report This Post

Best Kubrick?
Empire User Rating

Undountedly a far greater meditation on war than Kubrick's later Full Metal Jacket, Paths Of Glory may also be the great director's most emotionally connected work. Cynical, bleak, beautifully monochrome and passionate, this remains an incontestable work of art by one of cinema's true artists ... Read More

dunner05 About me
13:07, 16 May 2006 | Report This Post

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