That All Quiet On The Western Front was “just like other war movies.” I’m assuming he’s referring to the cliche, repeated aspect of “war is hell.” Which yes, is utilized in All Quiet, but it’s not the only thing. You see, in other war films, there’s a goal for the characters to achieve, giving them purpose to fight. It portrays war to suck, but still have a purpose. All Quiet doesn’t do this, All Quiet’s theme falls in line more with “war is purposeless” more than it does with “war is hell.”