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Johnny Got His Gun

Play trailer Poster for Johnny Got His Gun PG 1971 1h 51m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
War has plunged Army soldier Joe Bonham (Timothy Bottoms) into an unending nightmare. Hit by an artillery shell in World War I, Joe has suffered injuries that have all but erased his humanity: he's lost his sight, speech, hearing and sense of smell. But he still has the ability to think and remember, which, in the end, may be more a curse than a blessing. Trapped in his body, Joe realizes there's only one way out of his misery: death. Can he get a sympathetic nurse to help him?
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Johnny Got His Gun

Critics Reviews

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Time Out The film is often sentimental, sometimes brilliant as well as horrifying, and it is intriguing to speculate on what Buuel, whom Trumbo originally wanted to direct, would have made of it. Feb 9, 2006 Full Review Roger Greenspun New York Times Although Mr. Trumbo is primarily a screenwriter, screenwriting is only the worst of the film's several failures. Rated: 2/5 May 9, 2005 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Instead of belaboring ironic points about the "war to end war," Trumbo remains stubbornly on the human level. Rated: 4/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Problems aside, there's a cumulative power to the material and an idea that's impossible to ignore. Rated: 4.5/5 Jul 21, 2010 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion [Trumbo's] filmmaking is frugal -- jump-cuts state the passage of time, a languid fade to yellow signifies solar warmth. Jan 12, 2010 Full Review TV Guide Trumbo, directing his first film, drives home his points in a somewhat obvious, often awkward fashion that is overly talky, but so disquieting is his story and the reality underlying it that it is difficult not to be moved by the film. Rated: 2/4 Jan 12, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Victor T Oscar nominee Diane Varsi ("Peyton Place") steals the show as a sympathethic nurse. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/24 Full Review Tic Toc M This movie would have aged much better if a.) the dialog wasn't mostly dubbed over for some inexplicable reason and b.) the color sequences were as well done as the black & white ones. The color sequences look like a TV movie from the period. There were many great up and coming actors from this late 60s-70s time period, but I don't think many would cite Timothy Bottoms as one of them. I know I was never impressed with him, not in "Last Picture Show", not in this one. The concept of having the voice of the patient is a great one; the execution of it is sometimes unintentionally laughable. Again: Bottoms is not particularly gifted in line delivery so his voice overs are not nearly as compelling as they should be. This would have hit much closer to home in 1971, of course: not only was Vietnam raging, but World War II and Korea had more than its fair share of living vets (as did World War I). And later in the decade we would have films that tread this ground much better: Coming Home, The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now. Still.....having said all that.....this movie has a novel approach to the subject and is worth noting. I hate remakes, but this one could definitely be improved upon. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/05/23 Full Review Adalson L Until when is a life worth saving? This movie really made me reflect. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/25/23 Full Review Sawyer N Along with Netflix's "All Quiet on the Western Front," Johnny Got his Gun is one of the best anti war movies I've seen. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member The greatest 01 hour: and 51 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Disturbing as it's meant to be. An important film, a masterpiece. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Johnny Got His Gun

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Johnny Got His Gun

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Movie Info

Synopsis War has plunged Army soldier Joe Bonham (Timothy Bottoms) into an unending nightmare. Hit by an artillery shell in World War I, Joe has suffered injuries that have all but erased his humanity: he's lost his sight, speech, hearing and sense of smell. But he still has the ability to think and remember, which, in the end, may be more a curse than a blessing. Trapped in his body, Joe realizes there's only one way out of his misery: death. Can he get a sympathetic nurse to help him?
Director
Dalton Trumbo
Screenwriter
Dalton Trumbo
Production Co
World Entertainment
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 25, 2011
Runtime
1h 51m
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