Johnny got his Gun – 1971
Director
Dalton Trumbo
Writer
Dalton Trumbo
Cast
Timothy Bottoms
Kathy Fields
Marsha Hunt
Review by Wayne Malin
Powerful but bleak and depressing
A young man in WWI has his arms, legs and face blown off, but he can still think, if not talk. We hear his thoughts while he’s in a hospital bed all bandaged up. Most of the movie is flashbacks to who he was and why he was in the war.
Dated, very 70s (the conversation with God played by Donald Sutherland should tell you that) anti-war movie…but, despite everything, it still works incredibly well. The low budget shows, and hurts, at times but this film still packs a wallop. Good acting, great script but a VERY depressing tone and an incredibly downbeat (but truthful) ending. Very upsetting but a definite must-see.
Also the opening good-bye sequence involves nudity (male and female). It’s cut from some prints so beware.
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