Customer Reviews

Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl (Enhanced Two-DVD Set) 1938

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I read the small print so I was aware that it was a DVD-R, but I wasn't prepared for it to be in German without subtitles. That being said, it is a better transfer than the edition put out in 2006 by Pathfinder.

Part I
The film opens up with a film tribute to the history of Greece and the games. We get to see the names of the nations at the time that the torch passes through as it reached Berlin. A much more realistic torch than today's is ran into the stadium with a few pauses to let everyone see just before the final dash to the Olympic torch at the stadium. It would be great to recapture this in the present day. Some of the tribute leads me to believe that our athletes are overly clothed for the sports.

Part II
By now watching Part I, "Festival of the nation" spoiled you. Again this film starts out with the ideal and surrounded by Leni's signature clouds. List is leading you to "field hockey, soccer bicycling, equestrian, aquatic and gymnastic events. Highlights are the Pentathlon and the Decathlon." Remember that some countries were still using horses in the military.

It may be unique reasons that brought you to this point such as Leni or photography, or interest in history, or, or, or. But once the action starts you feel that you are there and get lost in the "who will win what and how." Even being aware of the outcome does not prepare you to "not bite your nails" as you watch each athlete barley besting the next until it is over too soon. I noticed that instead of placing medals over the winners, they used laurel wreaths.
Any way you cut it, this movie is worth watching.

Olympia is a movie that resides in the Public Domain. Every version I have ever found is of the same quality and this version is no different. The DVD offers no frills but when you buy this movie, it is not for the frills, it is for the movie.

It was the 1936 Berlin Games that introduced the opening ceremony, the torch relay, the three-tiered presentation ceremony, and the overall sense of lavish, religious spectacle. In a way these are the first modern games. Does it worry you that most of the stuff we most fondly associate with the Olympics originated with the Nazis? It doesn't worry me: the Nazis' moral sense may have been deplorable, but their aesthetic sense was not nearly so bad as people like to pretend.

The greatest thing about this movie is that even though the subject matter is repugnant, the film is done in great taste and Leni Riefenstahl is a genious.

Olympia (Part I & Part II) is a 1938 film by Leni Riefenstahl which documents the 1936 Summer Olympics. I bought this DVD because of its recommendations. Intro is grandiose, but quality is good, and it is very interesting for the history. This film is a very good documentary. If this subject interests you, also see Triumph of the Will, a propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremburg, attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters, considered by many people to be one of the greatest films ever made.

Fast delivery. No hassles. Mint condition. But no subtitles!!!! Why wasn't this announced in the ad? Or did I miss something? It was a DVD of Rienfenstahl's "Olympia."

If you have any kind of fascination with history, then Nazi Germany and the craziness that went on there has to be on the top of your list.

Olympia is another great film by legendary director Leni Riefenstahl. It outlines the Olympics held in Germany. You get to experience through this film, all off the traditions that Germany has contributed to the Olympics. Even though their whole regime was horrible, you have to appreciate this film and what it represents.