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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 86% 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 02/09/2006
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. Go to Full Review Roger Greenspun New York Times 05/09/2005
2/5
Although Mr. Trumbo is primarily a screenwriter, screenwriting is only the worst of the film's several failures. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 10/23/2004
4/4
Instead of belaboring ironic points about the "war to end war," Trumbo remains stubbornly on the human level. Go to Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) 07/21/2010
4.5/5
Problems aside, there's a cumulative power to the material and an idea that's impossible to ignore. Go to Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion 01/12/2010
[Trumbo's] filmmaking is frugal -- jump-cuts state the passage of time, a languid fade to yellow signifies solar warmth. Go to Full Review TV Guide 01/12/2010
2/4
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. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Lanfranco C @Lanfrancobz Nov 5 A Standard among the pacifist movies! See more thiago s @Thiagostone Jun 9 Filme mais ou menos para bacaninha, o roteiro é mais ou menos, as cenas são mais ou menos, a história é mais ou menos, o elenco é fraco, e só a pessoa que está na cama ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são mais ou menos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom, o que uma melhorada no filme foi as cenas de drama da pessoa que estava na cama com um tapadeira na cara dela e no corpo também, e ainda tem cenas desse filme no clipe de música da banda Metallica, que a música se chama ONE, com tudo isso, eu só recomendo pelas cenas de drama e pelas cenas que aparecem no clipe do Metallica. See more Tamara K Jan 7 If you don't mind being clinically depressed for a week then watch it. See more Victor T 01/16/2024 Oscar nominee Diane Varsi ("Peyton Place") steals the show as a sympathethic nurse. See more Tic Toc M 09/05/2023 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. See more 08/04/2022 The greatest 01 hour: and 51 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Read all reviews
Johnny Got His Gun

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Cast & Crew

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Dalton Trumbo

Director

Timothy Bottoms

Joe Bonham

Kathy Fields

Kareen

Marsha Hunt

Joe's Mother

Jason Robards

Joe's Father

Donald Sutherland

Christ

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Johnny Got His Gun

Johnny Got His Gun (1971) Johnny Got His Gun (1971) View more photos

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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