The movie begins in the Spring of 1917, three years into the First World War.
The Germans are fighting fiercely on the frontlines of the battlefield.
In the trenches, a soldier yells at a young soldier named Heinrich, who braces himself
in fear, to go to the ladders and over the trenches.
A soldier climbs the ladder before him and is killed immediately.
His commander pushes him forward, despite the death of the soldier.
Heinrich starts charging at the French into no man's land.
Around him, German soldiers are dying, he tries to help out a fellow soldier, but the
soldier is killed seconds later.
A few moments later, he runs out of bullets.
So he fights the enemies with only a shovel.
After the troops have been killed, German soldiers gather the uniforms of the deceased
soldiers, including Heinrich's.
Before the bodies of the dead German soldiers arere buried, their uniforms, shoes, and helmets
are first removed and then taken to a special launderette which would be washed and dried,
then be sewn like it was good as new, to be used by new soldiers who will register for
the war.
On the other hand, in North Germany, 17-year-old Paul Bäumer meets up with his friends, Albert
Kropp, Franz Müller, and Ludwig Behm, at school.
His friends asked if his father had signed the letter allowing him to enlist in the Imperial
German Army, but his father refused.
They convince him to forge his father's signature so the four of them can go to war together.
They listen attentively as their principal gives a very patriotic speech about how essential
their duties will be in serving the country in the future.
They feel an overwhelming sense of pride due to the speech and can't wait to go on the
battlefield.
They all cheer and are excited to go off to war.
In the recruitment office, Paul is quickly approved and given a uniform.
He is shocked when he receives the uniform and discovers that the name "Heinrich" is
printed on his shirt instead of his own.
The recruits unknowingly receive uniforms from soldiers killed in a previous battle.
They are eager to go into the changing room, singing and joking with each other.
After they got their uniform, the four of them went to the battlefield along with other
recruits, joyfully singing as they marched in formation, without knowing that it would
be their last bit of happiness.
They are deployed in Northern France near La Malmaison, 25 kilometers from the Western
front.
Paul and his friends receive orders to report to the 78th Reserve Division.
They are reminded to keep their weapons clean, as they will fight in the muddy trenches.
They are stopped by the frontline surgeon and told to get off and start walking the
rest of the way, as they need the rucks to transport the injured soldiers.
As the soldiers march on, a huge explosion causes panic.
Their lieutenant orders everyone to wear their gas masks.
Ludwig struggles to put on his mask, and Paul helps him.
Fortunately for the soldiers, the gas canisters didn't explode.
The lieutenant berates Paul for being late in following instructions.
He is punished and has to continue wearing his mask without being allowed to take it
off until they reach the base.
Once they arrive at the frontlines, the trenches fill with water from the rain, and the continuous
shooting welcomes them.
Their romantic view of the war is shattered by the realities of trench warfare on the
Western Front.
They are befriended by Stanislaus Katczinsky, an older soldier, who advises them to put
their frozen hands in their underwear to keep it warm.
At night, their enemies are nowhere to be seen.
Paul and Albert were on guard duty and heard footsteps approaching them.
Paul is very excited, as he can finally shoot the French enemies and wants to show off his
shooting skills in front of his friends.
Unfortunately, Paul's shot misses, compromising his location, and the enemy returns fire,
shooting at Paul.
Luckily, the bullet only hit Paul's helmet, shocking him.
Katczinsky checks up on them due to the noise they've made and tells them that every time
they shoot, they should always take cover and change position immediately not to compromise
their location.
Later that night, they start getting hit by heavy artillery.
The commander orders all his men to take cover inside the bunker.
While inside, Ludwig starts panicking and tells Paul he wants to go home.
During this tense situation, a panicked soldier demands to go out, Katczinsky tries to stop
him, but he gets past him and exits.
He is immediately killed at the door, compromising all of their positions.
As the bombing continues just above their bunker and it starts to collapse.
The lieutenant orders them to get out, but before everyone can, the bunker collapses.
They later find Paul buried under some debris, unharmed but shocked by what happened.
He is then ordered to gather the dog tags of the soldiers who did not make it.
As he collects the dog tags of the dead soldiers, Paul steps on Ludwig's glasses.
He finds that Ludwig was killed and sees Ludwig's lifeless body lying in the mud.
A lieutenant orders him to continue his work and continues to collect the tags of other
soldiers who had fallen.
Eighteen months later, on November 7, 1918, in the Supreme Army Command office, German
official Matthias Erzberger was weary of the mounting losses.
He meets with German High Command to persuade them to begin armistice talks with the Allied
powers.
Meanwhile, Paul seems used to living in the war in an occupied territory in Champagne,
France.
Paul and Katczinsky go to a nearby farm to steal a goose, as they have not been waiting
for quite some time.
Katczinsky enters the farm while Paul stands guard outside.
After waiting for a while, he hears voices shouting from the inside.
The farmer had found Katczinsky stealing their goose and tried to shoot at them but missed.
Thankfully, they manage to run away and return to the base safely.
Once they arrive at the base, they share with Albert, Franz, and another veteran, Tjaden
Stackfleet, with whom they have grown close behind the front in Champagne.
They are all thrilled, as if it was their first time tasting food.
During their meal, they joke around, laughing and trying to comfort each other to forget
the never-ending war around them.
The next day, while peeling potatoes outside, the five soldiers spot some local women passing
by.
Only Franz is the one who dares to approach and escorts the three women home.
Seeing the bravery of his friend, Albert is jealous.
Later they receive letters from their loved ones.
Katczinsky, who is illiterate, gets Paul to read him a letter from his wife, who worries
that he cannot reintegrate into peacetime society.
Later that night, Franz shows off a scarf he received from the French woman he spent
the day with.
The next day, Paul and his friends go on a mission to find 60 missing young recruits
sent to reinforce their unit.
Soon, they find a nearby warehouse where they discover missing recruits hiding.
They figure out they died from the gas for taking off their masks too soon.
On November 9, 1918, General Friedrichs drove Erzberger and the German delegation to a train
bound for the Forest of Compiègne to negotiate a ceasefire.
Friedrichs, hellbent on war, opposes the talks and orders an attack before French reinforcements
arrive.
That night, Erzberger's train reaches the Forest of Compiègne to start the negotiations.
At the same time, Paul's regiment is woken up at night and told to be sent to the front
to prepare to attack the French lines.
They march all through the night till the morning.
On the morning of November 10, the Germans are on the frontlines preparing to attack
the French.
The Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch gave 72 hours for the Germans to accept the
Allied terms, with no room for negotiation.
At the front, they get orders to march towards the French.
Advancing toward the French, the Germans are bombarded with artillery.
Once they reach the trenches, the German attack takes the French front line after hand-to-hand
fighting and close-quarters shooting.
In the middle of the fight, Paul, Katczinsky, and Tjaden find food and start scarfing down
some.
Suddenly, rumbling is coming from the field; they head to the top of the trenches, readying
their weapons, but see Saint-Chamond tanks approaching.
The tanks start hitting the trenches where the Germans are.
In the barrage, Paul watches his fellow soldiers get annihilated by tank shells in a last-ditch
effort.
He tries shooting it, hoping it will accomplish anything.
In the struggle, Franz is separated from Paul, trying to flee.
Paul and Katczinsky see an opportunity to take out an enemy tank; they approach it from
behind, put grenades on its tracks, and begin shooting any French soldiers who emerge.
Paul turns to face the trenches and observes that the French are lighting up any survivors
with flamethrowers.
Paul runs and gets hit by artillery, which he survives.
During the fight, he looks back and watches Albert getting burned alive, who is trying
to surrender.
Katczinsky grabs Paul as he begins to run back to the German trenches.
When he arrives, a lieutenant orders him to retrieve abandoned guns and ammunition before
running away.
Scared out of his mind, Paul grabs some ammo and starts retreating.
He falls and gets trapped in a crater in no man's land with a French soldier; Paul stabs
him and watches him die slowly, becoming remorseful and asking forgiveness from the dead body.
Meanwhile, Erzberger learns of Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication and receives instructions
from Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg in the evening to accept the Allied terms.
Soon, Paul returns to his unit and sees them celebrating the imminent end of the war.
He finds a wounded Tjaden, who gives him Franz's scarf.
Paul and Katczinsky bring him food, but Tjaden, who is distraught at being crippled, kills
himself with a fork.
As they are trying to help Tjaden, a soldier steals their food.
Around 5:00 AM on November 11, Erzberger's delegation signs the armistice set to take
effect at 11 AM.
After learning they signed the armistice, General Friedrich orders his remaining forces
back to his base to prepare for one last attack.
After learning of the ceasefire, Paul and Katczinsky steal from the farm one last time
to celebrate.
Once they get there, Paul goes in and grabs the goose.
While inside the barn, Paul gets caught by the farmer's son stealing goose eggs.
He locks him inside to warn his father.
Paul breaks out and starts running into the field.
Instead, Paul shows Katczinsky the stolen eggs and starts drinking them to celebrate.
Then, Katczinsky tells Paul that he's going off into the forest to take a piss, only to
turn around to find the farmer's young son holding a weapon.
Paul hears a distant gunshot and finds s wounded Katczinsky.
Soon after, Paul brings Katczinsky to the hospital to find out that he is already dead,
as he got shot in the liver, and the doctor can't do anything anymore.
Paul mourns for the last friend he had.
Then he and the recruits are called to General Friedrich's base.
Friedrich announces that he wants to end the war with a German victory and orders an attack
to start at 10:45.
Most disagree and complain, but the defectors are gathered and executed.
An emotionless Paul starts marching with his regiment toward the front lines.
Once they arrive, they all line up, preparing to attack.
Meanwhile, the French celebrate and drink for the war's end while the Germans quietly
approach them in their trenches.
A defeated and battle-weary Paul and the rest of the Germans charge at the French trenches.
Hearing their footsteps, the French prepare for battle.
Paul charges at the trenches, shooting and throwing grenades.
He then jumps into the trenches saving a new German recruit, and wrestles with a French
soldier in the mud, ending up in a bunker.
For a moment, Paul and the French soldier stare at each other.
Only seconds away from 11:00, Paul is stabbed from behind by a bayonet from another French
soldier.
When the fighting stops, everyone falls silent.
The French soldier looks remorseful and walks out of the bunker without uttering a word.
Paul stumbles out and looks around to see how everything has calmed down.
Shortly after, the young German recruit Paul had saved earlier finds Paul's mud-caked body.
He retrieves Franz's scarf that was passed on to Paul from Tjaden.
The movie ends by revealing that the Westen frontline had barely moved; over 3 million
soldiers perished to gain only a few hundred meters.