Conspicuously missing on DVD... Hmm... Great war film I just watched on this silent classics VHS, which at the moment is the only place its available. There's nothing wrong with this release at all, in fact it has a score by the wonderful Carl Davis, the highest sought-after silent film composer. Nice picture, and a great film.
Wonderful restoration The love interest in the story makes it a little slow at the beginning if your interest is primarily in the war movie. But the musical score that has been added is perfectly fit to the action so that you nearly forget that it is a silent movie. The screen is not filled with a caption for everything but the music and the expressions of the actors makes it easy to follow the conversations with your imagination. The characters are well-developed so that you are drawn into the film and that is something missing in many movies even now. The picture quality is quite good and not at all like many of the older films that end up with poor quality picture and flickering when restored. The restoration of this film was quite well done and the age is hardly noticable. A great restoration of a great old movie.
King Vidor's brilliant anti-war masterpiece
King Vidor's great anti-war film, and magnificent all the way. John Gilbert joins the army in 1917 because his fiance tells him how handsome he'd be in a uniform. He goes to France and there falls in love with another woman (Renee Adoree). Torn between the two women, his regiment is called up; what follows are some of the most realistic and harrowing war scenes ever put on film by Hollywood.
A great scene occurs when Gilbert is saying goodbye to Adoree: hundreds of troops and wagons and horses are passing by and the lovers have embraced wildly, Adoree in great agony knowing Gilbert must leave for the front - and she holds on to his wagon being dragged along by it, absolutely refusing to let go. It's a brilliant scene - a real heartbreaker.
Gilbert is wounded in the leg and tries to find Adoree again but can't. He goes home after his leg is amputated. In one of the most shocking and poignant scenes, Gilbert enters his parents' house, one leg missing and using a crutch; his fiance is now in love with his wormy brother. It's another heartbreaking scene.
Gilbert goes back to France where he finally finds Adoree working in a field. They are together again at last. The picture can be a bit sentimental at times, but the war scenes are outstanding, and emotions run high throughout. This picture was seen by more people than any other silent movie in history, and it's a great one. It also made Gilbert a BIG star.
Disappointingly naïve depiction of WWI A tightly structured story relating one man's life-changing experiences during WWI. The depiction of wartime that it presents is disappointingly naïve, especially when compared with a film like All Quiet on the Western Front, released only five years later. The scenes of the American soldiers calmly walking towards the Germans as bullets whiz around them are rather ridiculous, as is the scene where dozens of German soldiers suddenly give up even though the Americans have only fired a single shot. Another weakness of the film is that the numerous comedic moments aren't especially amusing.
By FAR the best silent film of all times! The Big Parade is hillarious, touching and an easy story line to follow.If you've never seen a John Gilbert film this film is a great introduction to the man who was the Tom Cruise of his time. The film was made a mere 7 years after WW1 and it was a revolutionary look at war on film. It made the most money for MGM untill Gone With The Wind. The film follows, three men Bull, Slim and Jim (Gilbert). Jim is a rich man's son who has never had a days work in his life. When WW1 one breaks out and all his friends become enlisted and preasure from his girly friend Jim enlists along with the dim-whitted Slim and the grumpy, bossy Bull. When they get to France they are surprised at what war is really like, it was not what they were expecting. An adorable and funny affection blooms, and is torn apart in a classic dramatic 1920's scene. When the real war is introduced to the boys you experience the pain and horror with them, as they loose friends, enemies and even eachother. Jim suffers a great loss and gets to go home to his loving mother, I won't give away the ending because everyone needs to experience this film for themselves. Deffinantly worth your time and money. Everyone in your family will love this must see movie.
Anything Goes Trivia
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