Johnny Got His Gun

Joe Bonham, a young American soldier serving in World War I, awakens in a hospital bed after being caught in the blast of an exploding artillery shell.

He gradually realizes that he has lost his arms, legs, and all of his face (including his eyes, ears, teeth, and tongue), but that his mind functions perfectly, leaving him a prisoner in his own body.

Johnny Got His Gun is a novel written in 1938 by American novelist, screenwriter, and Communist Dalton Trumbo and published September 1939 by J. B. Lippincott.

The novel is commonly viewed as one that promotes anti-war ideals, but when read deeper, it can be seen that Trumbo's opinions of war shed light on humanity as a whole, and not just on the horrible aspects of war.

In 1971, Trumbo directed a film adaptation of the novel, starring Timothy Bottoms as Joe Bonham. In 1982, Johnny Got His Gun was adapted into a stage play by Bradley Rand Smith, which has since been performed worldwide. Its first off-Broadway run starred Jeff Daniels, who won an Obie Award for his performance.

The song "One", by American heavy metal band Metallica, is heavily based on the events of the book and condition of Joe. The music video for the song features several clips from the film adaptation.

In early 2009, the 1971 film made its U.S. DVD debut, produced by Shout! Factory. The DVD included the original, uncut film, plus a 2005 documentary (Dalton Trumbo: Rebel In Hollywood), new cast interviews, Metallica's music video "One", behind-the-scenes footage with commentary by stars Timothy Bottoms and Jules Brenner, the 1940 radio adaptation, and the original theatrical trailer.

In 2008, Benjamin McKenzie earned critical acclaim for his solo performance (as Joe Bonham) in the "live on stage, on film" version of the 1982 Off-Broadway play based on the novel, McKenzie's fourth starring role in a feature film.

In October 2010, a special educational DVD of the 2008 film version starring Benjamin McKenzie became available free of charge to every high school library in the U.S.

A very impactful film. In no way is this a light film. The hopelessness of Johnny's condition and the way he is paraded and treated is well translated to film, and it effected me deeply.

Though political in part, there really is a deeper set of ideas running through this film and book.

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