During World War I, a patriotic young American is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack. Trapped in what's left of his body, he desperately looks for ... Read allDuring World War I, a patriotic young American is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack. Trapped in what's left of his body, he desperately looks for a way to end his life.During World War I, a patriotic young American is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack. Trapped in what's left of his body, he desperately looks for a way to end his life.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 3 nominations
- Jody Simmons
- (as Donald Barry)
- Orator
- (as Robert Cole)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAt a very early stage, Dalton Trumbo considered Steve Martin for the role of Joe Bonham. Martin was dating Trumbo's daughter at the time.
- Quotes
Hospital Offical: He won't wait for an answer. All he says is, "Kill me, kill me, kill me."
Third Doctor: Don't you have some message for him, Padre?
[Priest shakes his head and looks to the floor]
Third Doctor: You could at least tell him to put his faith in God, couldn't you?
Priest: I'll pray for him for the rest of my days. But I will not risk testing his faith against your stupidity.
Third Doctor: Well you're a hell of a priest, aren't you?
Priest: He's the product of your profession, not mine.
- Crazy creditsWar Dead Since 1914: Over 80,000,000 Missing or Mutilated: Over 150,000,000 "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
- Alternate versionsOn the Laserdisc version the scene where Joe gets the phone call about his fathers death is extended after his boss walks up to him and Joe explains his situation, afterward his boss gets another worker to drive him home.
- ConnectionsEdited into Metallica: One (1989)
It's all about the horror of war. The setting is WWI and involves a very young man, boy really, who has no appendages because of a grenade. The rest of the moving cuts between his horrific vegetative physical state with voice-overs of his thoughts and flashbacks to his rather limited life experiences and a few fantasies or inner monologues.
This was really a soul-shattering movie in a lot of ways. After watching it I couldn't get it out of my head for hours after hours. I couldn't' get to sleep until mid way through the next day. It is just relentlessly brutal in giving detail of true internal psychological torture, seeing a wasted life sacrificed.
I didn't read the book, which I've been told is even more dramatic than the film. I honestly can't imagine that. I don't think I could read the book. Parts of it make me think of "All Quiet on the Western Front" but in far more isolated ways. There's no glory here.
Donald Sutherland's Christ is a fascinating character and compelling. Joe's flashbacks are all meaningful and relate to the "big questions" he's trying to sort out that only seem to provide answer that torture him even more. The scene with his girlfriend early in the movie when the old man says "don't make a whore out of her" is profound in its delivery.
It is fairly artistic in a very dark sense. It's too heavy for some people. They will claim it was boring but that is only for those who have no understanding of the weight of the matters because it doesn't involve them. Make no mistake, this sort of thing goes on every day as there are wars every day.
I'm all about defending and fighting for personal rights, but if this movie were shown in every public school in the world there would be far fewer people willing to fight for the causes of others and the promise of a few more dollars.
I've never seen a movie that moved me so much but in such a sad way. It was perfect in its execution, but then again some lessons are better left unlearned.
- sideburnmikeguitar
- Jul 12, 2007
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun
- Filming locations
- El Mirage Dry Lake, California, USA(carnival barker scenes)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $2,735
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1