Hitler - The Rise of Evil | 
 enlarge | Director: Christian Duguay
Actors: Robert Carlyle, Stockard Channing, Jena Malone, Julianna Margulies, Matthew Modine
Studio: Koch Vision
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 9760
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 186
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 6453
UPC: 741952645399
EAN: 0741952645399
ASIN: B000TXNDT8
Theatrical Release Date: May 18, 2003
Release Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****Alliance Release One Disc Version ** THE SOURCE FOR RARE MEDIA, THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS SATISFIED, AND OVER 250 000 ITEMS IN STOCK, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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Amazon.com
Had the many folks who were outraged by the very existence of Hitler: The Rise of Evil seen it before it was aired by CBS-TV in 2003, they would have realized that their fears that this three-hour miniseries would somehow paint a sympathetic portrait of the man generally regarded as the 20th Century's most irredeemable monster were unfounded. There's very little shading here. By and large, this Adolf Hitler is a wicked, vengeful, paranoid, anti-Semitic lunatic pretty much from the get-go; indeed, the opening credits aren't even over before he is revealed as an angry boy who was beaten and belittled by his father and smothered by his mother, an aspiring artist embittered by repeated rejections of his work, and an impressionable young man who was convinced that Jews were the root of all that's wrong with the world. And that's all before the role is assumed by Robert Carlyle, who dominates the proceedings thereafter with a commanding, convincing performance. Hitler: The Rise of Evil chronicles the major events leading up to his assumption of power in the mid-1930s, including his time in the trenches in World War I and fury at Germany's signing of the Treaty of Versailles; his gradual emergence as a charismatic and powerful orator and eventual dominance of the National Socialist party; his first attempted takeover of the government, which resulted in failure (and a brief stay in prison, where he wrote Mein Kampf); and his eventual emergence as the all-powerful Fuhrer who devised the Final Solution and led his country into a disastrous war (the film ends in '34, several years before World War II began). It all feels true to life, if sometimes overly dramatic (the scenes in which he perfects his moustache, practices his various poses and gestures, and adopts the swastika as his symbol are like something out of the first Spider-man movie). And while various other characters, friend and foe alike, occasionally share the spotlight (the cast also includes Matthew Modine, Liev Schreiber, Julianna Margulies, Jena Malone, and Peter O'Toole), it's all about Hitler, and this handsomely-mounted miniseries, directed by Christian Duguay, is at the very least a compelling, eminently watchable effort to capture the inexplicable. Weighing in at a hefty 200-plus minutes, the bonus features (included on a second disc) are longer than the miniseries itself. They consist of Hitler: a Career, an informative 1977 documentary with ample file footage of the real Fuhrer (as good as Carlyle is, there's no way any actor can fully portray how truly scary the guy was), and Hitler and I: Reflections of Evil, an unusually thoughtful "making of" doc by David Cherniack that goes well beyond the typical puffery of such items. --Sam Graham
Description
Featuring a star-studded cast, this epic mini-series traces the mind of a burgeoning madman as he begins his ruthless climb to power. From his emergence out of the ashes of World War I through the birth of the Nazi Party, acclaimed actor Robert Carlyle portrays Adolph Hitler in a performance that "conveys the depths of the tyrant's evil" (San Francisco Chronicle). Includes the Bonus Documentaries:
"Hitler and I: Reflections of Evil" (directed by David Cherniack)
"Hitler: A Career" (written and directed by Joachim C. Fest)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Anti-Nazi Propaganda is still Propaganda August 19, 2008
This mini-series film is utterly single-minded in its absolute certainty that Hitler could not have possibly been a normal person with any redeeming qualities whatsoever. From the very start, the child playing Hitler has such a wicked, sinister sneer on his face that you doubt a mother could even love it. From the start, he's always angry, always heartless, always abusive, and incapable of anything but anger. Even the death of his mother he snarkily says it's HER fault for dying.
From a personal viewpoint, Hitler lives his public persona, but to an infinitely more pathetic single-minded degree; he rambles on and on about Jews, communists, and everything else like an anti-semitic zealot, with no pause in any aspect of his personal life to his public persona. I cannot vouch for his personal views, or his views on the Jews in private, but a recently discovered historical audio clip shows that the private Hitler was not much like the public Hitler---he had good things to say about the communists, and the Soviet war machine. You'd not likely hear this Hitler say ANYTHING good about anyone but his own servants.
Somehow the film makes Hitler so vehemently anti-Jewish while simultaneously giving him more good Jewish influences than bad---there's the Jewish doctor who helped his mother during her cancer (he could potentially blame her for it, but still a positive Jew in his life), the Jewish soldier fighting alongside him in the front lines, the Jewish captain who despite being given orders not to, pushes to have Hitler awarded an Iron Cross.
The film also goes out of the way to include as many shots of Adolf Hitler coming close to death, as if to harangue the viewer endlessly with instances of "OOH IF ONLY SHE'D LET HIM KILL HIMSELF", "OOH IF ONLY HE'D STAYED IN THE TRENCH WHEN IT WAS SHELLED", "OOH DAMMIT IF ONLY HE WERE A FEW STEPS AHEAD AND GOT SHOT IN THE HEAD!" instances, which I believe is an insult to the memory of the man who caused so much suffering in the world. Maybe the idea of Hitler dying before the chance of controlling Germany is a positive one to some people to fantasize about, but for me, it simply doesn't work... I feel as though it insults the victims of the Holocaust and the War.
Another annoying instance is that whenever Adolf Hitler's full name is mentioned by someone, blatantly sinister and evil sounding music plays in the background. Sometimes it isn't played, but it's a very frequent occurrence.
On the positive side, Robert Carlyle, on Hitler's public persona, is absolutely flawless. He perfectly encapsulates Hitler's voice, translating it in english without any loss in power, encapsulates his hand and arm motions, and the power of his speaking. Even though the movie makes no distinction between a private Hitler and a public Hitler, Carlyle fits into the role fluidly, the way of a great actor. If the filmmakers had decided to take an unbiased route, I imagine Carlyle could have done far better, perhaps award winning, in portraying the violent, passionate public Hitler, and a more sinister, secluded, Caesarian private Hitler.
Instead, the Hitler in this film, when he steps off the podium, becomes a pathetic, sad little man, ranting and raving worse than a lunatic, with whom I believe absolutely no one would dare listen to or follow. The movie craps on the person of Hitler so thoroughly, I couldn't even imagine how Germany could rally behind him---he's nothing but a rabblerouser here, and unless every single person who worked with him behind the scenes were as bats*** insane and stupid as he is in this movie, I don't see how Robert Carlyle's Adolf Hitler could have ever risen to power.
And that, perhaps, is the greatest insult of all.
 Well made for a "Made-For-TV" Film June 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Good overall review of Hitler and his rise to power.... This movie has more on the DVD version than on the original TV version.
One disappointing aspect is how this story strayed away from the SS and the occult... It also seems to blame Hitler's madness on childhood distress which in my opinion is some psycho-anlaytic humanistic trash that cant accept that man is inherently sinful...
Nonetheless, this is an extremely well casted and acted film, and is definitely worth a view... Overall they handled a controversial topic with respect.
 it is only by acknowledging Hitler's humanity that we may grasp the enormity of his crime May 22, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
2 and 1/2 stars
Ironically, this miniseries is every bit as biased as the Nazi propaganda it denounces. The film relies heavily on cliched portrayals of "innocent Jews," "heroic journalists," and "evil Nazis," and in the process ends up sacrificing sophistication to enact a heavy-handed morality play. It goes without saying that the film neglected historical accuracy for the sake of painting Hitler as a demon in human guise, misrepresenting segments of Hitler's life to further its agenda.
This sort of thinking is quite silly. Though human monsters, such as Jeffrey Dahmer and Peter Kurten have existed, Hitler was not one of them. Historical research has shown that he had a number of redeeming qualities: he was a brave and good soldier and considerate to those who worked under him. Though this might make many people uncomfortable, it is only by acknowledging Hitler's humanity that we may grasp the enormity of his crime. To do otherwise is to blind ourselves to the cruelty latent (or suppressed) in us all and impair our ability to recognize it.
Unfortunately, the film's handling of as complex a character as Hitler is woefully simplistic and ultimately unrealistic. Even Robert Carlyle's tremendous performance at times fails to avoid the realm of caricature. That said, the actors did an excellent job with the screenplay given them and the film was still quite captivating in its intensity despite its historical inaccuracies.
lS ANYB0DY LlSTENING?!?! April 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This mini-series would've been better had they dealt with the subjects dealt with in the History Channel's documentary ''High Hitler''. Where they revealed that ''Uncle Dolfie'' had an addiction to pain pills which cotributed to a plethora of health problems like gas. Supposedly the Fuhrur farted like a buffalo. He also had battles with constipation and at times he had diarrhea that could polute the Rhein.
 AWESOME! April 10, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Excellent Performance. Brilliant Casting. Spellbinding Drama! I Loved It!
Amazon, Thank You! for your speedy delivery - four (4) days. Terrific!
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