Paths Of Glory (DVD)

With a film career spanning nearly fifty years, director Stanley Kubrick is often considered one of the great figures of modern cinema. He is also the perhaps the most consistent; his lean catalogue of thirteen features (his first, 'Fear and Desire' was near enough wiped off the face of the planet at the director's request) is choc-a-block with classics from the dystopian 'A Clockwork Orange' to the cerebral '2001: A Space Odyssey' to the ultra black comedy of 'Dr. Strangelove'. There are others equally worthy of mention, each one unique and brilliant in its own right. Even films that tore the critics like his final work 'Eyes Wide Shut' bode the same flair and ...  Read the complete review

One of director Stanley Kubrick's earlier and lesser known films, Paths of Glory is a powerful anti-war film starring Kirk Douglas. Whilst it did not receive any awards at the time, it has since become a classic, and is currently rated #44 on the IMDb chart - Kubrick's second highest film. Set on the French frontline in 1916, Douglas plays Colonel Dax - an idealistic man who is ordered to lead his French troops on a seemingly impossible mission. Although he reluctantly does so, the mission turns into a disaster; many men die, and they end up retreating back to their trenches. Disgusted by this apparent display of cowardice, the General Somebody ...  Read the complete review

PATHS OF GLORY When a director of the stature of Stanley Kubrick dies unexpectedly, film critics and audiences are forced, even if many were critical of what they considered a cold and unemotional filmmaking style, to recognise how much modern-day cinema owes to him. Whilst he only made 11 feature length films in 33 years, each bestows an undeniable quality in style, story-telling, impact and imagery which few other director’s today, or even beforehand, possessed. In many ways he was unique, indeed more fortunate than the similarly talented Orson Welles (each shared considerable technical and visual skill), by having enough clout to make the intelligent films ...  Read the complete review