Product Details

• Actors: Hans-Peter Hallwachs, Andr Hennicke, Stephan Wolf-Schoenburg, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Michael Mendl
• Directors: Hardy Martins
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: German
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Vanguard Cinema
• DVD Release Date: May 22, 2007
• Run Time: 122 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000NA6CQ8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,660 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Based on a true story and a best selling novel!

Based on a true story and a best selling novel, this powerful epic captures the incredible journey of German soldier Clemens Forell in his dramatic escape from a Siberian labor camp after World War II. Through bitter cold winter, desolate landscapes, and life threatening adventures, Forell ? determined to be reunited with his beloved family ? makes his way, step by step, day by day, towards freedom. 8,000 miles and three endless years of uncertainty later, he is finally about to reach his destination... An edge of your seat drama that celebrates the power of the human spirit and the force of will, when inspired and empowered, by love.

Runtime: 122 mins

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "You'll never leave this place. You're going to be buried here. All of us.", January 20, 2008

By 

komyathy (U.S.A. & elsewhere traveling) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (DVD)

This film is the story (based on one man's true experiences) of a German POW who is sent to the far reaches of Siberia in July of 1945. Says a Soviet officer not long after his arrival at Cape Dezhnev prison, notwithstanding the end of the war: "You'll never leave this place. You're going to be buried here. All of us." & "this place" is a lead mine near the Bering Straits that resembles what hell would be if it was characterized by extreme cold as opposed to fire. Determined to escape and return to his family in Germany our protagonist herein (by the name of Clemens Forell) struggles to survive as fellow prisoners drop dead around him; whether from a bullet to the head for hesitating a moment upon a Red Army officer's instructions, or from simply being worked to death. The first hour-plus of this albeit long film is thus devoted to the Soviet Gulag aspect of this film---the bitter cold, the harsh landscapes, cruel Stalinist treatment; in sum, all that is the farce of Communism's "Workers of the World Unite" claptrap as bodies are treated as animals.

Say, how many times have you seen on film any visualizations of a Soviet Gulag/concentration camp? Take all the time you need, I'll wait as you count the numerous films about Nazi Germany trying to name but one that shows up Stalinism for what it really was; ie., more akin to Nazi Germany than Hollywood would like you to believe. This is a rather well made film, mind you, but it is also significant for its portrayal of this aspect of Soviet brutality. The rest of the film concerns the triumph of the human spirit as this German escapes from Soviet Hell and attempts to make it all the way back, over barren rugged land, through Siberian ice, over dangerous rivers, to Germany to see the family who thinks him dead. Do give it some of your time (well, it's a little more than some, as this film is rather drawn out and a bit long) should you get the chance to view this film. It's a story worth seeing. Cheers!

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great survival and endurance film from WWII based on a true story, March 5, 2009

By 

Jaroslav Melgr "jaroski" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (DVD)

This is film is based on a true story of a German soldier Clemens Forrell who is sent to the Russian front and taken captive at the end of the war. He's sent to a labor camp where death seems much more appealing than staying alive. What keeps him going is the memory of his wife and a promise he made to his daughter that he'd return. He's able to escape with the help of a German doctor who has stashed away supplies and provisions for his own escape, but when he finds out he's got a cancer he knows he won't make it himself. He also knows Clemens has the endurance, smarts and toughness to make the journey. So he gives him the provisions, gun, clothes and everything he stashed away and sends him off on his way. Clemans takes 3 years and 8000 miles before he makes it to Iran, only to end up in a prison there as a Russian spy. Luckily he's rescued from there and able to return to Germany to his family who haven't given up hope.

Not that I'm a fan of Germany in WWII, but this movie makes you feel some empathy for the German POWs who were hauled off to Siberia to labor camps for the rest of their lives. Their treatment by Russians is truly deplorable, which is hardly surprising. First of all, the Germans were ruthless and brutal toward Russian civilians during their initial invasion of USSR. Besides that the Russians did not treat their own people any better let alone show any respect for their captives.

It's a great story and I give it four stars. The thing that made me take a star off the rating is that it is a bit too melodramatic. More than it needs to be in my opinion. Specifically, I'm referring to the movie-long chase of the prisoner by the camp commander. There is no way a prison camp commander would be allowed to travel across Russia to chase after an escaped prisoner. A commander who had a prisoner escape on his watch would be careful not to report it in order to avoid repercussions. He'd do a search for him for a while no doubt, given there were any tracks or any way to follow the escapee. But he would not worry about it beyond an initial unsuccessful search assuming the cold, hunger and wolfs would take care of the prisoner sooner or later. After all, Siberia is a pretty vast country and pretty unforgiving too. Chances of survival for a lone escapee who knows no local language, has no map or compass would be pretty minimal. Neither were the Russians in the late 40's sophisticated enough to have radios and communication systems in remote areas of the Siberia (native Siberian villages) to receive news about escaped prisoners. Undoubtedly, these things were added to "dramatize" the story and keep the viewer on his toes, but it takes away from the authenticity. I personally like real life stories told "as they are" without any embellishment. However, it is a griping film and a very interesting story of endurance and survival.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me, February 25, 2008

A Kid's Review

This review is from: As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (DVD)

This is a German movie with English subtitles, but dont let that stop you. Based on a true story about a German held prisoner in a Russian labor camp somewhere in Siberia. His escape and the long journey home to the family he was forced to leave behind. I do not speak German & am not into subtitles, but this one really struck an accord with me. I rented it at a video place & enjoyed it so much that I not only purchased the DVD for my extensive DVD library, but have also ordered the book. Take a chance....watch this movie as it will stay with you awhile, not be forgotten like a lot of other movies you watched.