It’s 1917 and wartime in Germany, as Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) lies about his age so that he can enlist alongside his friends — all of them very young men filled with romanticized, patriotic notions. The reality of war almost immediately dismantles their exuberance. Soon (too soon) Paul is thrown into a trench, with little equipment, minimal training, and the swiftly repaired uniform of another soldier on his back. Only the hardy advice of an older veteran prevents him from becoming another hapless statistic on his first day.