CKDexter-4 Reviews

The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)

Mixed emotions

[7/10 · 29 September 2008]

The movie of Edel and Eichinger is fine when it comes to sets and costumes. It seems to catch the mood of the late Sixties and Seventies very well. Also the lead actors Bleibtreu, Wokalek and Gedeck have delivered outstanding performances. Too bad, that they don't get a chance to really explore their characters: Too much else is going on in this movie, that completely loses its focus during the last hour. The closer we get to the end, the more it resembles a documentary with a few scenes of play cut in now and then.

The viewer is presented with a lot of facts - and violence - but the movie fails in decoding the often cited "myth" of the RAF. For example, I've always wondered, whether Baader was just a criminal or really politically motivated. Well, in the first half of the movie, Baader is portrayed as an outlaw, who enjoys provocation and fast cars. Later he delivers sophisticated political statements. A good movie should at least try to explain this development. DER BAADER MEINHOF KOMPLEX doesn't.

Spartacus (1960)

Laughton and Ustinov

[9/10 · 29 May 2004]

It's true, Kirk Douglas' Spartacus is one of the strongest and most convincing heroes in movie history (maybe second only to his performance in PATHS TO GLORY, also directed by Stanley Kubrick).

Still, there are two characters stealing the show: Peter Ustinov's slave dealer and especially Charles Laughton's Gracchus. Their scenes together are a rare gem. Never have serenity and tragedy been blended so perfectly. What a fine actor Laughton was!

P.S.: Don't you ever compare this one with the dreadful GLADIATOR. It's an insult. In GLADIATOR the focus is on endless and cruel fight sequences. In SPARTACUS, in spite of 10,500 extras, the focus is on the actors.

The Untouchables (1987)

Could have been much better

[7/10 · 25 January 2004]

THE UNTOUCHABLES is an enjoyable movie and I rated it 7/10. Although it lacks character development, it includes enough suspense to keep you involved for nearly two hours. I particularly admired the sequence in the railway station. But there is one thing I cannot understand: It's the fuss everybody makes about the performance of Sean Connery. One former comment stated that Robert de Niro didn't play the role of Al Capone but the role of Robert de Niro. I think de Niro did the best out of the few and short scenes which the script provided for him. But Connery? I would say that Connery played Connery. Or even worse: He played James Bond, disguised as a Chicago cop. Once again the script is to blame: It doesn't give us the slightest hint, why an ordinary cop, who is doing street patrols, should suddenly become the leader of a "gang", which challenges the all-mighty villain Al Capone and his unscrupulous hitmen. Connery's character must be one man with an interesting past, but we don't get any information about it.

Baader (2002)

Excellent sequences, but lacking density

[6/10 · 19 October 2002]

I think "Baader" has little to offer for viewers who haven't got any knowledge about the "Rote Armee Fraktion", a leftist German terrorist gang of the early Seventies led by Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Ulrike Meinhof. Too many events that are important for the development of the main characters are only vaguely indicated or alluded to. ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** I have read quite a lot about the RAF, so I didn't have this problem. Some sequences of the movie are excellent and intriguing, like for example the Palestinian training camp or Baader's merciless speeches to "soft" gang members. But overall the movie hasn't got enough density to explain how and why Baader and his comrades finally came to blow up US military facilities. The ending of "Baader" offers an interesting twist: The real Andreas Baader committed suicide in jail five years after his arresting. He's generally considered to be one of the most evil villains in post war German history. The fictional Andreas Baader in this movie is shot dead by the police while trying to arrest him. If this would have really happened, Baader might be considered as some sort of Robin Hood by a considerable part of today's German population.

The Bridge (1959)

A youth cruelly ended from one minute to another

[9/10 · 20 April 2002]

Until today I hadn't seen "Die Brücke" for quite a few years. Today I was even more impressed than ever before. As powerful as possible, the movie shows how a carefree youth is ended in the cruellest way literally from one minute to another. The black and white cinemtography creates an eerie, yet laconic and realistic atmosphere. The whole film is to be highly recommended but there is one sequence that stands out (***SPOILERS AHEAD***): Trucks with hundreds of frightened, wounded German soldiers pass the bridge. They desperately try to stay ahead of the American tanks who follow them. You can tell from their faces what they have experienced on the front. They just want the war to be over. Our seven teen soldiers - fanatic and faithful as they have learned it in the Hitler Youth - just can't understand what's going on. No one bothers about them, so they are left for good on the bridge. And then they can hear the tanks. For some minutes the tanks can only be heard, what creates an incredible suspense.

One former comment criticized the "quiet life" in this town in the first half of the movie. I think this to be quite realistic. The town that is portrayed seems to have 10, maybe 20,000 inhabitants. Towns like this were not necessarily destroyed by bombs, even in 1945. In some rural areas, life went on day-by-day almost like in peace times.

Traffic (2000)

Terrific, realistic, intelligent

[10/10 · 20 June 2001]

If you like movies which point out right at the beginning who are the good guys and who are the bad guys - don't watch TRAFFIC. If you like movies without any plot-twists and with a happy-end - don't watch TRAFFIC. If you like movies with a clear and simple message (like "drugs are bad and we must fight against them")- don't watch TRAFFIC. If you are not able to follow three consistent, absolutely logical stories within one movie - don't watch TRAFFIC. If you don't like Mexicans who speak Spanish instead of English with a Spanish accent - don't watch TRAFFIC. If you don't tolerate movies, that last longer than 100 minutes - don't watch TRAFFIC. If you like intelligent and consistent screenplays, terrific, unobtrusive acting (especially by Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro and Catherine Zeta-Jones), realistic treatments of a complex problem and a realistic atmosphere due to unusual camera-technique - then you simply have to watch TRAFFIC.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Masterpiece of consistency

[9/10 · 7 June 2001]

I cannot understand people lamenting, that LSTSB has too many characters and too many subplots. In my opinion the movie's big achievement is that the viewer can follow these characters and these subplots very easily. It's a masterpiece of consistency. To me, consistency is the most important element for a good movie and 95 percent of the movies we get fail in it. It must be added, of course, that LSTSB has also a hilarious and witty dialogue (maybe the swearing is a little bit overdone), a perfect soundtrack and a breathtaking cinematography.

Chouans! (1988)

10/10

[9/10 · 23 August 2000]

I simply love Philippe Noiret in this epic about the aftermaths of the French Revolution in a small rural town. He really dived into his role of the gentle, enlightened earl. His death is one of the most poignant movie-endings I ever saw. See beautiful Sophie Marceau in what might be her best performance ever. "Chouans!" shows how idyllic life in the country - where everybody tries to help his neighbour - is slowly destroyed by radicalism and fanaticism. A film to think about - but with plenty enough action, suspense and emotion. A clear 10/10.

Gladiator (2000)

Ridley Scott loses against the Computer

[4/10 · 18 July 2000]

As a former comment stated, the first twenty minutes of GLADIATOR are unique in the historic genre. The adversities of the winter in Germania's hinterland and its barbarous inhabitants are displayed very realistically. This breathtaking effort will not be surpassed for decades to come. But afterwards??? It seems like Ridley Scott's work was done. The computer took over - a big mistake. Digital Rome, digital Forum, digital Colosseum, even digital people - so obvious, that the film becomes more and more similar to an "Asterix"-Cartoon. The plot... well, what plot?? It disappeared somewhere between two fighting scenes. And another very disturbing thing about GLADIATOR is, that every single line is spoken in such an over-significant way, that it could be as well the final line of the movie. Every time I thought: "No line can outdo this superb quotation". But it goes on and on and on... There's more to a good movie than exceptional fighting-sequences.

Christiane F. (1981)

Two corrections

[8/10 · 28 May 2000]

I cannot add much to former comments when it comes to the quality of this movie. It is very good, because it is realistic, frightening and well acted.

But in order to avoid misunderstandings, I would like to rectify some of the other comments: I happened to read a newspaper article today, claiming that the real Christiane, aged 38, still lives in Berlin. She has a four-year-old child and is no longer a drug-addict. And as to AIDS and HIV: This problem is definitely not mentioned in this movie, as it was shot in 1981, when nobody knew about AIDS at all. Let alone in the 70s, the time the movie is set in.

Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

One of the three best Westerns

[9/10 · 30 December 1999]

Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine act brilliantly together in this clever-made movie. To watch the development of their unlikely relationship up to the unexpected ending is again and again rewarding. In this feature, Eastwood adds some irony to his usual character and that's what makes it better than "Fistful of Dollars" or "For a Few Dollars More". Violence is used consistently and not for violence's sake.