Customer Reviews

Inside the Third Reich [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Inside the Third Reich purports to give the viewer a behind the scenes look at the inner dealings of Hitler's Nazi Party. In many respects, it accomplishes this purpose admirably, but in many others, it must be carefully weighed against other, more objective, sources.

Rutger Hauer does a commendable job of portraying Albert Speer, Hitler's chief architect and one of the very few Nazi operatives to successfully stand up to the Fuhrer. He provides an excellent vehicle for depicting the petty but often deadly jealosies that abounded within the Nazi inner circle, particularly well done as relates to Martin Bormann and Josef Goebbels.

Unfortunately, the film attempts to all but whitewash Speer who, although not a major player in many of the Reich's more notorious excesses, was nonetheless directly involved, far more than revisionist historians wish to have believed.

Be that as is may, the movie itself is excellent. The tone is somber and studious, taking a near documentary approach in many of its historical depictions. Care is taken to allow many of the peripheral characters to develop into fully involved human beings whom the viewer can identify with, rather than mere statistics. Strangely, however, this careful approach does not extent to the major Nazi figures, particularly Himmler and Bormann, who come off as near caricatures rather than people.

The story follows historical reality quite closely, achieving a conclusion that is both unsettling and emotionally confused, a remarkably accurate portrayal of the state of the German people at the conclusion of hostilities.

Derek Jacobi gives a powerful and surprisingly human performance as Hitler, often refreshingly understated and only occasionally reverting to the histrionics by which the dictator is frequently stereotyped.

This production is far from perfect, but it does give the viewer a disturbing glimpse at the internal function of the Nazi decision making process. Whether viewed for its historical significance or simply as a very good piece of drama, Inside the Third Reich will not disappoint.

This movie is one of my favorites. It runs 4 hours so you have to have time available to view it all. The show starts out showing some of the horrors of the holocaust and some of the death and destruction caused by World War II. Let the squeamish beware.

No question, this miniseries comes from the early-1980's and is limited by special effects and budget available at the time. By comparison, "Hitler: The Rise of Evil," from 2003, is as good if not better. Still, if one pays attention to the main story and the performances given by the many featured actors, "Inside the Third Reich" is worth anyone's time.

The cast is a star-studded one. Rutger Hauer plays Albert Speer and John Gielgud plays his father. Derek Jacobi is Adolph Hitler and Blythe Danner plays Speer's wife, Marguerite. Among other notable actors are Randy Quaid, Robert Vaughn, Maria Schell, Viveca Lindfors, Stephen Collins, Ian Holm, and Elke Sommer. There are others, too. In a TV miniseries, we'll probably never see their like again.

There are several memorable scenes in this show, but the one that strikes me most occurs about 25 minutes from the start. It's where Hitler addresses a university audience in Germany during the early-1930's. Included in the audience is the story's hero, Albert Speer. (Speer would later become Hitler's architect and chief armaments minister). Hitler tells of pawnbrokers taking money from elderly Germans, "so they can eat one more day." He brings the house down several times with his remarks: "Yes, I do over-use that word [unshakeable]. No more pawnbrokers! I need your help!" Even the skeptical Speer is seen rising with the crowd as if captured by an invisible force.

For me, the performance of Derek Jacobi is absolutely riveting. You wonder what scenes he may have been in that were edited out due to length of the show; also, if they'd be added back in should a DVD ever be produced. Those scenes would be worth the price of the disk, in my book.

Another memorable scene occurs earlier in the show where Albert Speer is a child and John Gielgud is his noble father. Albert is shown sleeping on the hard floor of his bedroom rather than in his bed. The father wonders about this and then discovers that Albert is doing this because he wants to share the hardships of troops returning from battle during World War-I. Quite touching.

Yet another scene is where Hitler inspects the new Chancellory building, designed by his protege, Speer. At the end of an impressive tour of the place, Hitler turns to Speer with tears in his eyes and says, "Well done."

A disturbing scene occurs in the 2nd half of the movie where Speer goes on a field trip to a slave labor camp. He's upset at the low production level and finds that the laborers, mainly Russian POW's, are on starvation rations. One of the laborers is asked questions and then speaks up to Speer. After Speer departs, the Russian is slugged by guards and probably dies.

Toward the end, Speer visits Hitler and confesses he hasn't carried out the Fuhrer's order on scorched earth. Instead of ordering Speer to be punished, as you'd expect, Hitler says they'll "talk about it later." Speer escapes and lives to tell the tale.

Finally, when Speer is told of Hitler's death he breaks down and cries. Very odd, but effective.

Of all the stars and production value, I think Derek Jacobi, as Hitler, stands out most for me. His performance explains a lot about how a man like Hitler could do what he did. Yes, there are the ranting and raving scenes, like at the airport where Hitler is barnstorming Germany trying to get elected. But he had strange, instinctive qualities and was able to entice and persuade. You wonder what unnatural powers may have sustained and encouraged him, the embodiment of true evil.

With all the productions that are coming out on DVD, this one deserves special treatment. It's a 5-star production and everyone concerned about rising fascism today, should see it.

This movie is fairly faithful to "Inside the Third Reich" authored by Albert Speer while in prison. While it has gotten a barrage of criticism here on Amazon, I liked it. Rutger Hauer puts in a fine performance as Speer. The actors who play Hitler and the other major characters also do good jobs. This movie does a creditable job explaining who Speer was, and what he did, at least according to Speer as based upon his book.

This is very watchable historical drama. I hope it is soon available on DVD.

INSIDE THE THIRD REICH

WHEN ARE GOING TO FIND THIS VHS TAPE ON A DVD, ITS ABOUT TIME, SUCH AN EXCELLENT TAPE

I watched all the WWII and nazi-related movies and miniseries from the 1980s and I must say this one has stuck with me ever since. Derek Jakobi's performance of Hitler is spellbinding. The scene of him practicing his gestures before a mirror is compelling. Hauer gives a competant though understated performance as Speer. But I must tell you if you watch this movies for no other reason it is the lengthy scene, without dialogue, of Hitler walking through the rooms of the new reich chancellory. The haunting soundtrack music and Jakobi's eyes as he takes in Speer's handiwork are memorable and at the end of the scene, with tears he looks at Speer and say "Well done." When I watch that scene, ever 20 years later, it still gives me goosebumps. This two-part movie is definitely a cut above others from the era. Well worth it to watch.

A GREAT MOVIE , WHY IS IT NOT ON DVD, HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THIS MOVIE TO COME ON DVD??????????

Good movie and I greatly enjoyed it and happy to have in my collection. A young Rutger Hauer adds to the movie. The only draw back to the movie was the whiners in the film, his wife, father, and his Architect teacher. Hitler is chancellor and providing jobs for the German people, and raising the spirits and pride of all Germany. With all this positive energy, you have a foreboding wife who moans, groans, and whimpers about Speer's decision to serve the horrible Third Reich, regardless of all Germany happiness. You have a Architect teacher who moans, groans, and aggressively angered of his young students choice to serve the third Reich and becomes very vindictive to his student (Speer). His father is regretful his son has made this decision and has a negative sense of foreboding. The family in this movie and his teacher made me what to yell out OH SHUT THE H@LL UP. This was clearly propaganda to once again put the German Third Reich in a bad light, regardless of all Hitler's accomplishments and productiveness of the 1930's. There was considerable positive productiveness accomplished by Hitler before World War II, contrary to his family s moans, groans, and whimpers. I also did not like the part of Randy Quaid playing the drunken buffoon. So I gave it four stars because of his melancholy family, teacher and the buffoon Randy Quaid. His mother though was a loyal party member.

You've seen the reviews and you know the story. Why oh WHY isn't this out on DVD? We've seen much worse movies that are much older make it to DVD but why this one hasn't is beyond me. One of the best "insider" Hitler/Nazi movies of all time and the fact that this isn't on DVD yet is, well, a crime against HUMANITY! Get it on the disc! Come on. I'm already on my second VHS and that one's about to crap out. And if you could, please LOAD the DVD with some special features. If not, OK, just get it on DISC!!!!! NOW. SCHNELL! You dunkopfs!

This has got to be the worst movie on the Third Reich. Dates were wrong, the screenplay was horrible. It was funny that in almost every scene in the movies from the 30's until 45 Himmler,Goering were always there, when in real life they were off doing there own things. Randy Quaid playing Ernst Hanfstaengl that was real bad. The uniforms had the wrong insignia and rank and everything was just a mess. Also you can tell that the whole movie was filmed in th fall and mostly winter. There are many scenes that add to this, such as when Hess flew to Scotland in the movie it was snowing in real life it was May and hot. Also when the attempt on Hitlers life on July 20th everyone is wearing winter clothing and there is snow outside. If Speer wouldn't died before 81 this movie sure would of done the job.

This was a TV miniseries revolving around Albert Speer's being slowly captivated by Hitler before the latter seized power and after he became Chancellor. What makes this particular work so unique is that it doesn't fall into the trap of making a caricature out of Hitler, as endless films have done. Rather, it shows the dictator in such a way that you understand why such an otherwise intelligent man as Speer could become mesmerized by him.