der untergang DOWNFALL (1 Viewer)

[Dharmesh C]

Just ordered the R3

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Sorry, I don't review DVDs anymore.

Had hoped Aaron Silverman would have picked this
to review, but perhaps it was never offered to him.

 

[Rutgar]

Amazon's site just says "Widescreen". Since I haven't received my copy yet, is it Anamorphic?

 

[Dom]

Features:
Director Commentary
The Making Of Downfall
Cast & Crew Interviews

Video: Widescreen 1.78:1 Color (Anamorphic)


Audio: GERMAN: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]


Subtitles: English

 

[SteveJKo]

This was the best blind buy I've made this year! The performances are so frightening because the actors succeed so well at portraying the charachters as real people and not caricatures. The woman who played Frau Goebbles was particularly disturbing. She had such a refined aura about her, yet inside she was a fanatical monster. And the actor who played Hitler was so affective because again, he was not a cariacture screaming at the top of his lungs all the time.

 

[DustinPizarro]

I never got the chance to see Downfall during its limited release here in Boston a few months ago. So needless to say this was a no brainer. I'm a history nut and WWII is one of my favorite periods. I'm just surprised it sold out so fast. I bought it yesterday and it was the last one. Can't wait to spin the disc tonight!!!

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

I am going to buy "Der Untergang" - sooner (very soon) or later.

Only question: Would there be any reason to wait for (go for) any other version? I seem to remember that other/longer/better versions have been rumoured - possibly in Germany. I play multi-region and both NTSC and PAL, so that's no problem.

 

[Dom]

http://www.reviews.dvdbeaver.com/fil...ll-premium.htm

http://www.reviews.dvdbeaver.com/fil...1/downfall.htm

 

[Dom]

review of region 1 disc:


http://www.dvdtown.com/review/downfall/16164/3023/

more specs:

http://www.dvdtown.com/discdetails/downfall/16164/

comment:

http://www.dvdtown.com/readercomment...all/16164/5475

Hey, what can I say, saw this one at the theatre months ago, it won't leave my brain.

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Thanks -

Based on these reviews R1 only seems to have a single-disc edition. For more extras there is the R2 Premium edition. But then there is PAL speed-up (discussed at great length in another thread...).

 

[Evan Case]

Went to buy this yesterday afternoon but both Best Buy and Borders were sold out (this simultaneously annoys and pleases me--no DVD for me, but it looks like others are seeing it)! Guess I've got to wait a bit to watch it again.

I'll echo all of the comments thus far in this thread: a truly amazing piece of cinema.

I ranked the film #5 in my annual "Evanscars" and I gave Bruno Ganz the Evanscar for Best Actor--I honestly stopped looking at it as a performance within minutes. Soon, it was just Hitler standing there.

Evan

 

[CraigF]

Marc, or anyone else in Canada: I have been a bit confused about the Alliance Atlantis "Canadian" edition, why I haven't ordered it yet. At DVDSoon it's listed as a 2 disc, and elsewhere some additional extras attributed, though same feature length as U.S. edition. What are the facts? Also, is it a PAL->NTSC conversion (as often happens with non-U.S. films when there's a "Canadian" version)? Thanks.

Edit: I'm pretty sure DVDSoon is wrong, and only diff from U.S. version is French track, but still wary of the PAL->NTSC possibility...

 

[BillGo]

My son had seen Downfall and found it riveting and recommended it highly. I had heard it was coming out soon on DVD and decided on a blind buy based on his raving about it. So yesterday afternoon I went to my local Best Buy to pick it up as it was advertised at $16.99. Luckily, there was one copy left on the shelf. I snatched it up and immediately went home to watch it.

The picture and sound quality are first rate and the film is all the previous contributors claim. Ganz's performance was mesmerizing and the exploding artillery and gunshots whizzing around from the surround speakers, in the scenes outside the bunker, were very impressive.

I've never cared greatly for foreign films which do not have dialog dubbed in English because having to constantly read the English subtitles to follow the story is a little distracting. However, this film would not be so authentic if dubbed in English so it was worth the effort.

I was surprised at how many of even the lower level military committed suicide rather than surrender to the Russians.

At about 2 1/2 hours, the film is quite long; perhaps too long. I, for one, would not want to see a longer version.

 

[ChristianB]

Downfall is distributed in North America through Newmarket Films. However, for home video, Sony handles Newmarket Films for the USA and Alliance Atlantis for Canada. Usually the specs and extras are the same, sometimes not.

Unfortunately I can't confirm if any extras (not that there's many to begin with) from the DVD. I doubt that the DVD will be a two disc version here CraigF.

Christian

 

[CraigF]

ChristianB: Yes, I saw a pic of the back of the AA box, and since it doesn't say 2 discs, I'll assume it's not. Also no extras mentioned.

But the PAL->NTSC thing is something I like to avoid; my best current player handles it almost faultlessly (except for speed-up of course), but my next player (like most current ones) may not handle it well. I am unfamiliar with Newmarket Films, but if they have any French affiliation, through film-making or distribution, there's a better than good chance of PAL->NTSC for the Canadian release (most in recent memory and all majors have been that way).

Sorry, don't mean to detract from the artistic merits of the disc...

 

[Dom]

another 3 reviews:

http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=14...ws&CID=18#tabs

http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/dvd_review.asp?ID=702

http://www.moviefreak.com/dvd/d/downfall.htm

I'm going to wait until the DDD sale to pick this up.


cheers

 

[Bryant Trew]

I couldn't commit 2.5hrs to this film. While I do agree that the portrayal of hitler was excellent, I simply could not justify the time. What was I going to get from this? I certainly don't believe that anything on this film would help me to appreciate or empathise with the Nazis.

 

[Kain_C]

Yeah, BB had it. Unfortunately, we only had FOUR copies to put on the shelf. I wanted to kick something when I saw that was the paltry amount of copies we had ordered.

Edit : I recently got a VHS version of 'Hitler: The Last Ten Days', a 1973 film identical in subject matter to 'Der Untergang' with Alec Guinness as Hitler. I thought Guinness was pretty good and at certain times looked, oddly enough, very much like Hitler. But only in certain lighting and angles. He wasn't really convincing as Hitler because Guinness is Guinness, if that makes any sense.

'Hitler : The Last Ten Days' is pretty low budget and badly shot. In one scene for example, an actor who is delivering a line has his face obscured by a light fixture as the scene is shot downward from the ceiling!

 

[Jan H]

I don't think you're supposed to 'appreciate' or 'empathise' with the Nazis in this film. I have a wall of books on WWII and the Third Reich because the subject has fascinated me since I was a small boy. This doesn't make me a Nazi or even empathize with their movement. The tragedy of Hitler's rise to power and the subsequent destruction of Germany is mysterious, unfathomable and gripping. The events of his death have been shrouded in mystery for 60 years. It is only with the recent first-hand accounts of people like Traudl Junge that we are finally getting a picture of what it was like in the bunker in the last moments. 'Downfall' is the best kind of film: an artistic work based on a huge amount of factual research and then interpreted by artists. I don't think the filmmakers intended to glorify Hitler at all. In fact, I think they loathe him even more than most of us. After all, they are living in the ashes of his legacy.

 

[Kain_C]

I'm not sure I understand you. Are you saying that you think this film's purpose is to make you sympathise with the Nazis or is it that you don't think the film will make you feel any different therefore isn't worth viewing?

How far did you get into the film? It's a shame, because it's one of the best films I have ever seen and has a top notch cast, production value, script, and just about everything else.