"Sitting on nearly everyone’s perennial list of the greatest antiwar films, Stanley Kubrick’s classic, set amid the ranks of a decadent French army command during World War I, offers breathtaking filmmaking on every level: acting, directing, writing, technical. A piercing Kirk Douglas shows up with his reliable blend of machismo and conscience. Veteran actors like Adolphe Menjou and George Macready are magnificent. However, Wayne Morris, Timothy Carey, and Kubrick regular Joseph Turkel bring a grit and suffering to offset the spit and polish of the debauched French commanders. Calder Willingham and the great novelist/screenwriter Jim Thompson wrote the script. The film features incredible photography by George Krause. Along with The Killing, Paths of Glory marks the critical onset of Kubrick’s now legendary career."

"As an anticolonialism fable it’s extremely on the nose, but whatever. Guys, just . . . Colonialism: Don’t Do It. What is totally unforgettable about this film is the photography: constant fogs, blooming white surfaces, and inky jungle shadows. There’s a shot of the hero and the Panther Woman reflected in a pool of rippling water, then her real foot dips into the frame—it makes me gasp. There’s Bela Lugosi’s imperious, rabbinical presence as the Sayer of the Law. And most importantly, there’s Charles Laughton, obviously delighting in the role, giving the British scientist/eugenicist a sadistic perviness that I’m sure wasn’t in the script. In one moment, in the midst of threatening the hero, he just sprawls his whole body across a table, like a happy fat cat."