82
Metascore
35 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Film ThreatFilm ThreatAs Hitler, Bruno Ganz ignites the screen with every appearance.
- 100The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterOne of the best war movies ever made, Downfall is a powerful and artistically masterful re-creation of the last days of the Third Reich.
- 100The New RepublicStanley KauffmannThe New RepublicStanley KauffmannIn every aspect, his film is superbly made.
- 100NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenA meticulous, spellbinding, provocative depiction of the final days of the Third Reich.
- 90The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyAs a piece of acting, Ganz’s work is not just astounding, it’s actually rather moving. But I have doubts about the way his virtuosity has been put to use.
- 90VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyNot so much a Hitler movie as a portrait of a totalitarian machine's spiritual and emotional collapse, Downfall is a cumulatively powerful Goetterdammerung centered on the last 10 days of the bunkered Fuehrer and those around him.
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliDownfall and Bruno Ganz are deserving of Oscars they will not get.
- 80The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinDownfall's overstuffed melodrama juggles countless subplots and a small army of characters who manage to make an impression in spite of limited screen time.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIf I respect Downfall more than I was enthralled by it, that's because its portayal stops short of revelation. Once you witness Hitler's denial, the film has little more to say about him.
- 50Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanDownfall may be grimly self-important and inescapably trivializing. But we should be grateful that German cinema is more inclined to normalize the nation's history than rewrite it.