Customer Reviews

Arch of Triumph

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Arch of Triumph is based of the novel of the same title written by Eric Maria Remarque (who also wrote "All Quiet of the Western Front") There are no happy endings en Remarque's novels. The history is about a German doctor (played superbly by Anthony Hopkins), who is Christian but anti-nazi, and has sought refuge in France prior to September 1, 1939.
He is what the French call un sans-papier - an undocumented. France was already flooded by refugees from the defeated Spanish Republic. He is not allowed to work and if he is arrested, he will be dropped at the German border and pushed forward. Of course, if he goes back to Germany, he will end in a concentration camp. He knows it and does what he has to do in order to survive in France. He is viewed as an enemy by both the French and the Germans. In that quandary, he meets a suicidal French woman, a helpful French doctor, and a compasionate Zarist Russian exile. The movie ends as WWII begins.
If you want to watch a movie just to relax, this is not it; it shows a cruel world. This is a movie with a message: that the price that war and prejudice exert on the individual is a high one.

The story line is OK and Anthony Hopkins is brilliant as always. I was very disappointed in the quality of the video itself. It is hard to see, the color is awful and the sound is bad. It looks like a homemade video.

I already have this movie in VHS format and wanted a DVD version. This is an old film and the quality of reproduction is not excellent but it is quite enjoyable and shows Anthony Hopkins in one of his earlier roles. I am well satisfied with my purchase and was very pleased and impressed to receive the film so quickly. Thank you.

The original "Arch of Triumph" is in all respects better, but this was an honorable attempt at a remake, and I'd give it 3.5 stars but for the staggeringly poor quality of this DVD version. I have seen home transfers of videotapes to digital media that have looked and sounded better than this. The film deserved better, and so does the customer.

the picture and sound quality are horrible. I have VHS tapes that have ten times the quality of this. Unless you really love this movie, I'd recommend against it. The movie I would give 4 stars to. I give one star for this horrible horrible transfer.

The plot is slow and dull, even Anthony Hopkins can't bring it to life. Additionally the quality of the DVD is unbelievably poor. I can't believe any company would produce a DVD that looks and sounds as bad as this one.