What is the iRankMovies score for Paths of Glory?

Name: Paths of Glory
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Genre: drama, war
Released: 1957
Duration: 1 h 28 min
Rating: 8.4

Paths of Glory has an iRankMovies score of 88.2/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

Paths of Glory (1957)

It explodes in the no-man's land no picture ever dared cross before!

Release:1957

Runtime:1h 28m

Country:United States

Director:Stanley Kubrick

Language:English

Genre

DramaWar

See the best drama movies →

Keywords

ArmyFranceBased On Novel Or BookGeneralGermanyWorld War IPatriotismCowardice

iRank88

Paths of Glory rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb8.4/10· 237K votes

Rotten Tomatoes96%

Metacritic90%

TMDb8.254/10· 3K votes

With 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 8.4/10 on IMDb and 90/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About Paths of Glory

A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.

Cast of Paths of Glory

Kirk Douglas
as Col. Dax
Ralph Meeker
as Cpl. Philippe Paris
Adolphe Menjou
as Gen. George Broulard
George Macready
as Gen. Paul Mireau
Wayne Morris
as Lt. Roget/Singing man
Richard Anderson
as Maj. Saint-Auban
Joe Turkel
as Pvt. Pierre Arnaud
Christiane Kubrick
as German Singer
Jerry Hausner
as Proprietor of Cafe
Peter Capell
as Narrator of Opening Sequence
Emile Meyer
as Father Dupree
Bert Freed
as Sgt. Boulanger

Paths of Glory facts

Budget: $935K
Box office: $1.2M

Our take on Paths of Glory

Kubrick's 1957 anti-war landmark indicts the machinery of military honour: after a doomed offensive, three French soldiers are court-martialled as scapegoats while their commander fights to save them. Lean, furious and morally clear, it strips the glory from war to expose the cowardice of those who wage it. If its righteous anger and courtroom tension gripped you, seek out unflinching war dramas about command, injustice and the men sacrificed to vanity.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•Stanley Kubrick crafts anti-war drama with brutal cowardice and military critique
•Army court case sequences deliver powerful indictment of institutional injustice
•Black and white cinematography intensifies tragic tone of war zone narrative

What the audience disliked

•Pacing intentionally slow reinforces futility but may test viewer engagement
•Eighteen-ten decade setting sometimes feels distant from contemporary moral stakes