TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : **** Excellent ***Good **Fair *Poor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“All Quiet on the Western Front.” MCA. $29.95. In 1929, Erich Maria Remarque used his combat memories to show World War I as he and others had experienced it. The resulting novel became the basis for what is still the most powerful anti-war combat film ever made. Directed by Lewis Milestone and scripted by Maxwell Anderson and George Abbott, this 1930 film remains devastatingly effective. A young student (Lew Ayres) enlists in the army in a blaze of idealism for the fatherland, and gradually watches all his friends die, all his illusions vanish, all the myths of military glory collapse in blood and dust. Ayres took his part seriously; he was a conscientious objector during WWII, a stand that almost cost him his career. But the film’s great performance is by Louis Wolheim as the hard-bitten paterfamilias and company scrounge. Milestone’s staging of the battles has explosive, raw impact; he imbues the screen with panic, terror and, finally, horrifying resignation and grief. (This new version runs 130 minutes, restoring 25 minutes of previously cut footage.) Information: (818) 777-4315. ****