Paths of Glory

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Paths of Glory

Released Oct 25, 1957

1h 26m

War

Drama

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96%

Tomatometer

77 Reviews

95%

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25,000+ Ratings

During World War I, commanding officer General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) orders his subordinate, General Mireau (George Macready), to attack a German trench position, offering a promotion as an incentive. Though the mission is foolhardy to the point of suicide, Mireau commands his own subordinate, Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), to plan the attack. When it ends in disaster, General Mireau demands the court-martial of three random soldiers in order to save face.

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Critics Consensus

Paths of Glory is a transcendentally humane war movie from Stanley Kubrick, with impressive, protracted battle sequences and a knock-out ending.

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

The director Stanley Kubrick and the producer-star Kirk Douglas anticipated the countercultural energy of the 1960s with this angry anti-war parable.

Rated: 5/5

Mar 1, 2024

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

...the real enemy here is the French officer class who, from their opulently appointed chateau, use infantry as pawns in pursuit of personal promotion and in covering up of their own highly consequential failures.

Feb 19, 2024

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Kate Muir

Times (UK)

Those who are used to 2001: A Space Odyssey or A Clockwork Orange will initially find this black-and-white First World War drama starring Kirk Douglas rather traditional, until its radical content is revealed.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 2, 2015

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Paths of Glory was too sobering to be a popular success, but it established Kubrick as a leading director.

Mar 12, 2024

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Arguably the greatest antiwar film ever made, Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory feels like a mule kick to the stomach no matter how many times one has seen it (in my case, too many to recall).

Rated: 4/4

Sep 25, 2022

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

The film also excels thanks to Kubrick’s visual choices particularly his decision to shoot in black and white. It is perfect considering the harshness of the material and the morally murky waters we navigate through.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 24, 2022

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Farah R

Kubrick’s war drama is impactful and well-acted. Too bad it’s outdated for an audience in 2025.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/25/25

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William B

Masterpiece. Like many others of Kubrick.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/20/25

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Jay W

Although this film is primarily seen as a war film, it may find more in common with a courtroom drama. It is 1916 in France in the heart of a battle in World War I. General Mireau wants to capture part of the battlefield known as "The Ant Hill". He tells Col. Dax to capture the Ant Hill. The general figures that he will only lose roughly...65% of his men in the venture. As the men go to capture this hill, they find the task impossible and can't progress passed the first trench. This displeases General Mireau and he wants to charge them for cowardice. The villain can be a tad too over the top. He makes the mayor from "Jaws" look subtle. It weakens the theme because of how extreme he is. Unlike so many other Stanley Kubrick films, this one is very straight forward. It is a tight 88-minute runtime. It follows a simple 3 act structure with a clear protagonist and antagonist. It is decisively un- pretentious, but that isn't to imply that the movie has nothing to say. It is a poignant and engaging tale and should be seen. It deserves all the glory it gets.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/21/24

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Jakob F

An arresting examination of bureaucracy’s futility and man’s propensity to be corrupted by power takes centerstage to the backdrop of World War I’s stagnant trench warfare, more specifically: following through in executing a fruitless military operation is set up as the antithesis of cowardice and insubordination, sticking it’s protagonists between a rock and a hard place.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/05/24

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Daniel N

I'd never seen such a smart storytelling with a perfect characters development, ‘Paths of glory’ makes itself honor to his name, it is just too ridiculous that Stanley Kubrick was even able to think in this story and write it down in a script to give us all a film masterclass.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/06/24

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Fer S

Good, but after 40 minutes you already know what to expect from the rest of the movie. You will find it more shocking if you are a more sensitive person

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/01/24

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Stanley Kubrick

Director

Kirk Douglas

Col. Dax

Ralph Meeker

Cpl. Philip Paris

Adolphe Menjou

Gen. George Broulard

George Macready

Gen. Paul Mireau

Wayne Morris

Lt. Roget

Paths of Glory: Official Clip - The Execution