This takes you into hitlers bunker during the brutal & terrifying last days of the third reich. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 04/24/2007 Starring: Bruno Ganz Julianne Kohler Run time: 155 minutes Rating: R
The riveting subject of Downfall is nothing less than the disintegration of Adolf Hitler in mind, body, and soul. A 2005 Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, this German historical drama stars Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire) as Hitler, whose psychic meltdown is depicted in sobering detail, suggesting a fallen, pathetic dictator on the verge on insanity, resorting to suicide (along with Eva Braun and Joseph and Magda Goebbels) as his Nazi empire burns amidst chaos in mid-1945. While staging most of the film in the claustrophobic bunker where Hitler spent his final days, director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment) dares to show the gentler human side of der Fuehrer, as opposed to the pure embodiment of evil so familiar from many other Nazi-era dramas. This balanced portrayal does not inspire sympathy, however: We simply see the complexity of Hitler's character in the greater context of his inevitable downfall, and a more realistic (and therefore more horrifying) biographical portrait of madness on both epic and intimate scales. By ending with a chilling clip from the 2002 documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, this unforgettable film gains another dimension of sobering authenticity. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece of Historical Cinematography
Comment: A superb dramatic production, Downfall (Der Untergang) has set the standard of excellence for historical films. Based on Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich by Joachim Fest, Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary by Traudl Junge and Melissa Müller, and the memoirs of Albert Speer and Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck, the film admirably presents the excruciating agony of the final days of the Third Reich. The film has been criticized for portraying its characters --some of whom were the top criminals in Hitler's regime-- sympathetically. But this criticism misses the point of the movie. Director Oliver Hirschbiegel set out to depict his characters not as stereotyped malevolent demons but, more chillingly, as what they were in real life: ordinary human beings blinded by a fanatical ideology and depraved by absolute power. The tacit message is that this can happen to anyone, in any society, when humane values and moral principles are quashed by political dictates borne of irrational beliefs. This sobering thought is the film's greatest contribution to posterity.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: 3.5 stars out of 4
Comment: The Bottom Line:

An exceptionally well-acted and well-made war film, Downfall transcends any controversy about its point of view by portraying the last few days of the Third Reich as an observer without any sympathy; the film is a must see to history buffs or anyone interested in good films.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Best movie I've seen in a long time
Comment: This movie is quite possibly the best I've seen in a long time... at least since Schindlers List in 1998. The movie does introduce the characters rather abruptly and anyone who is not somewhat familiar with the high ranks of the Nazi regime may feel a bit confused at first. With that said, however, you may soon find yourself very familiar with the cast of characters and their positions, as the movie develops their ranks and position with more clarity as it progresses.

Quite simply, a truly enlightening and emotionally packed movie and a fantastic depiction of humanity.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Comment: DOWNFALL recreates the last days of Adolph Hitler as World War II, and the holocaust, come to a close. The film begins a bit earlier than the "downfall", about 1942 to show Hitler meeting his secretary, from which the story is told. The movie, as is many, is based on Joachim Fest's book, Inside Hitler's Bunker, which I definitely recommend picking up as well.

This is an amazing movie that does remain fairly historically accurate. The main criticism is that the movie humanizes Hitler a bit. But he was human, even if he was a sorge on humanity. I think this movie does not present a bias when telling the story of Hitler, and his close cronies, last days.

This movie is definitely a must-see film for everyone. Whether or not you are particularly interested in the downfall of Hitler or the Third Reich. It is a great addition to any DVD collection.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Of Lost Causes
Comment: Those who go on fighting in lost positions deserve our admiration. This movie is about honour, insanity, anguish, despair, vain hopes, and the aesthetics of death. Those who seek to derive some concrete historical lessons from this movie, have completely missed the point. For "Der Untergang" appeals to a consciousness that transcends history. The Battle for Berlin was the reenactment a primordial battle; a battle which will be reenacted again and again, not just in the lives of nations, but also in the hearts and souls of men.

"Ehre ist Sache des Blutes, nicht des Verstandes. Man überlegt nicht - sonst ist man schon ehrlos." (Spengler)

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