| 
 enlarge | Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Actors: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy Used: $6.15
You Save: $8.79 (59%)
New (53) Used (29) from $6.15
Avg. Customer Rating:  363 reviews
Sales Rank: 1305
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), German (Original Language), Russian (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 155
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D11545D
ISBN: 1404987606
UPC: 043396115453
EAN: 9781404987609
ASIN: B0009RCPUC
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: August 2, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: This DVD is in GOOD condition, BUT case and cover art show some wear and tear. Some shelf scuff and rubbing, also. Disk is in very nice condition. Ships with shipping confirmation at no additional cost to you.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Rarely Ever Give 5 Stars but this was Deserving August 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I recorded this one night off of HBO (or was it Showtime). I saw the description and thought it sounded interesting. The movie started at 1:00am and I had planned to go to bed and watch it later. I saw the first few minutes and ending up being awake past 3:00am as I could not stop watching. Now to be fair I love movies of this genre but if this was half as good I would still have loved it. My wife hates these type of movies however and it took a lot of convincing to get her to watch the next night. She hates war moves and really hates movies with subtitles. With that being said she loved this move. I ended up purchasing this movie as well.
I think it was the human depiction of the characters that made it so good. I defiantly did not feel sorry for Hitler after watching this however the lower rank soldiers and civilians were much easier to have sympathy for. I believe the tone of the movie highlighted how easily normal people can fall in line behind a mad man who in better times might have seemed more like a savior and then suffer terrible consequences for their blindness.
Didn't mean to get long winded here and will cut it short as there really is so much more I could say about this movie. This really does deserve 5 stars.
One of the few DVD's I own August 6, 2008
This is one of the few DVDs I own. I know it is not one that I will put on all the time for a feel good experience but I didn't buy it for that reason. I own it because it is the highest of art. It is like having your own Matisse or Picasso. This is about as good as modern film making gets. I am not a fan of WWII films and the genre has been flooded with so many poor ones why watch another one right? That is what I thought...see this one it is one of the best ever made on the subject or any other subject.
One of the Great Ones August 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Great movies are judged on many things. A few things I've noticed about the truly great ones are:
1. It stays with you hours after the movie is over.
2. It makes you more interested in the subject matter.
There have been so many movies that end at the credits and you don't give them a second thought. Downfall is not one of those movies, at least not for me. I felt like an eye-witness to the last days of Hitler.
And the criticisms for the movie are unwarranted and expected in a politically correct society. The movie portrays Hitler as a human. Really? What was he in reality, an alien? Of course he was human. But I felt no more sympathy for him after this movie than I did before. The same for Goebbels, etc. It made me aware that as humans, these people made grave mistakes in their decisions and paid for it. Let that be a lesson to those who are doomed to repeat it.
I've also heard some criticize the fact that it was not in English. I'm embarrassed that people make such silly claims. Would it really feel authentic if the actors had and English accent? Come on.
A truly great movie and in my top 10 of all time. Definitely top 5 of the WWII genre and should at least be viewed by any serious WWII enthusiast.
IN THE END, HITLER WAS STILL HUMAN July 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I understand that this powerful film has garnered many accolades and much controversy. Much of the controversy centers around the Nazis actually being portrayed as human. Critics of this film should realize that, in their most desperate hour, everyone -- even monsters -- can feel all those sentiments that all people share. In Hitler's case, he is trapped in his bunker and seeing everything he created, all his ambitious, superman dreams, fall into oblivion. Bruno Ganz turns in a tour de force performance as he presents Hitler's despair and desperation as he knows his end is approaching. Yet, he holds onto faint hope that somehow there will be some divine intervention that if confirm his mastery over the world. And there are the others, those who followed him, even they cannot escape that which makes them human. They cling to their sense of duty and honor to remain grounded. In the powerful scene, where Corinna Harfouch as Frau Gobbels poisons her children, she moves from dutiful Aryan mother, to disgust at the act she has just committed. Then, on the turn of a dime, she restores her sense of duty and plays a game of solitaire. Truly a heart-wrenching moment. And there are many moments like that through this movie, where individuals struggle with their blind devotion to duty and their need to protect that little bit that still makes them human. At the end of the film, the last word is left to Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge. She admits to, at one time, convincing herself that she was uninvolved in all the horrors the Nazis unleashed. But later in life, she suddenly realized she being young and naive is no excuse to separate one from those horrors. For me, her message is clear: In the end, the Nazis were human and, like all humans, we share common bonds with them. Chew on that one for a while.
A must-see July 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic film, and a testimony that truly great filmmakers can achieve a lot with very little. One particular scene in this film contains no graphic imagery or even a single word, and yet it sent me on such an emotional roller coaster that I had to pause the movie and calm myself. After 3 days, it's still wedged firmly in my memory, and will haunt me likely till the day I die. It astounded me just how deluded and fanatical some of these people were, until the very end. I don't know about others, but this is what resonated most strongly with me in regards to this film; that one can be so devoted to an idea, so taken with it and unwilling to accept defeat, that they would give and sacrifice absolutely everything to that idea. It's even more astounding given that Hitler's vision of the world was as far from just or benevolent as could get. I daresay this is probably one of the best war dramas you'll ever see, made so by great direction, near-perfect editing, and a fantastic cast. Don't miss it!
|
|
|