Overview
A haunting exploration of the human spirit trapped in a body that no longer functions.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- harrowing
- bleak
- intimate
- serious film discussion
- anti-war cinema study
What critics said
Critics broadly recognize the film's powerful anti-war premise and humanist conviction while finding its flashbacks, fantasies, and writing uneven or sentimental.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Joe's black-and-white hospital confinement is intercut with color memories and surreal dream encounters.
The story remains with Joe's conscious mind after catastrophic combat injuries, making the human cost of war its central subject.
Joe relives memories and experiences strange dreams while unable to distinguish dreaming from waking.
The hospital sequences use black and white, while flashbacks and fantasy passages employ color and heightened imagery.
Films like Johnny Got His Gun, and why
The Deer Hunter
shared anti-war drama, psychological trauma, and subjective depiction of a wounded soldier
Paths of Glory
shared humanist anti-war perspective, battlefield trauma, and bleak moral seriousness
The Battle of Algiers
shared experimental war-film form, surreal imagery, and intense critique of militarism
The Ascent
shared black-and-white war trauma, bodily vulnerability, and psychologically fractured experience
Movie Details
- Director
- Dalton Trumbo
- Release Date
- 1971-08-04
- Runtime
- 112 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (430)
Cast
- Timothy Bottoms
- Kathy Fields
- Marsha Hunt
- Jason Robards
- Donald Sutherland
- Charles McGraw
- Sandy Brown Wyeth
- Don 'Red' Barry
- Peter Brocco
- Kendell Clarke
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Johnny Got His Gun about?
- A catastrophically wounded World War I soldier searches for human connection inside an almost completely immobilized body.
- What is Johnny Got His Gun like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Johnny Got His Gun as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Johnny Got His Gun violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Johnny Got His Gun as graphic.
- What did critics think of Johnny Got His Gun?
- Critics broadly recognize the film's powerful anti-war premise and humanist conviction while finding its flashbacks, fantasies, and writing uneven or sentimental.
- Which films are like Johnny Got His Gun?
- Films with a similar feel include The Deer Hunter, Paths of Glory, The Battle of Algiers, and The Ascent.
- How long is Johnny Got His Gun?
- Johnny Got His Gun runs 112 minutes.
- Where can I watch Johnny Got His Gun?
- In United States, Johnny Got His Gun streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
