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Visitors Review

2012-05-23 01:59:05

Schindlers List and Saving Private Ryan are Spielbergs best!

This was a great movie. Schindlers List And Saving Private Ryan are director Steven Spielbergs best. These movies have the best acting that I have ever seen. Both storys take place in World War 2. I own Saving Private Ryan On DVD. Now I need Schindlers List out on DVD to set beside The Private Ryan DVD in my collection.

2012-05-22 19:58:46

"Whoever saves one life...

"Saves the world entire."So much has been said already about this masterpiece, which is easily the best film of at least the last 20 years. Liam Neeson, Ralph (pronounced "Ray-f") Fiennes, Ben Kingsley... they were all wonderful. Neeson's protrayal of Oskar subtley weaves his character into our minds, so, right from the beginning, we can know precisely what he is thinking. Kingsley is wonderful, if, at times, too subdued, as Schindler's Jewish accountant. Itzhak Stern was a hero in his own right. I wish more of the movie had centered around him, but then, 3+ hours is enough already, I suppose. Fiennes, as Kommandant Amon Goeth, is sublime in his madness. He is truly evil, but none one-dimensionally so. Although he is quite obviously a vicious, heartless murderer, I felt that the movie could have gone deeper, exploring his deteriorating mental state. In fact, if I have one overall complaint, it would be that the supporting cast, which, really, is everyone except Schindler, is not focused on intensely enough. Their lives before the events in the story aren't delved into enough. Especially the Jews saved by Schindler, the Schindlerjuden. Although, to be fair, they are the center of much of the movie's focus, and some give just as magnetic performances as the main characters. Regardless, Spielberg's direction is masterful here. I'm certain that the connection the viewer has with Schindler is due in no small part to his coaching. Although this is a violent drama about the horrors of genocide and hate, something that could only have been made properly in our decade, there are shots in this movie that are so very reminiscent of movies of the 1940's, which, incidentally, is when this was based. The shot of the train toward the end, carrying the women on it, was something so ... huge, for lack of a better term, I have no doubt it sprung from Spielberg's favorite film, Lawrence of Arabia. Some of the shots are just so graceful and stylish that you are almost convinced that this movie WAS MADE in the 1940's. Others, appropriately, are as viceral and shocking as any seen in film before. Not to be outdone, is John Williams' score. The choirs singing "Requiem" never sounded more bone-chilling. The main theme is a thing of mournful beauty. This film, is the most powerful of the last two decades, and, inarguably, the most respected. Why? Every other film has a moment that has entered our pop culture. "Rosebud...","Here's looking at you, Kid","I'll make him an offer he can't refuse...","Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," and so on. Schindler's List is perhaps that sole exception that gets past our soundbytes, cynicisms, and catch phrases, and becomes something else entirely: Fine, pure, truthful... Art.

nimicas 2012-05-18 05:31:41

Very Sad Movie, But Truly Built.

Some events in human history are of such a magnitude that no singlefilm made anywhere, least of all Hollywood, can ever do them completejustice. But in 1993 Steven Spielberg put all his heart and soul into afilm about the greatest injustice that Man has ever foisted upon hisfellow man--the Holocaust. SCHINDLER'S LIST is the result.This epic movie, shot in a somber, documentary-style black-and-white,focuses on Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a savvy Nazi businessman whohad opened an enamelware factory in Krakow, Poland after the Nazisbasically overran it. Schindler was every bit the womanizer and conman, and initially he saw the Jewish people of the Krakow ghetto aspotential slave labor, nothing more. But when it became rather clear tohim what his fellow Nazis were doing to the Jews, he began to use hispowers of persuasion to shield his workers and their families. In doingso, he somehow managed to save twelve hundred lives from extinction.Spielberg clearly does not gloss over Schindler's gamier side, thoughhe may be accused of romanticizing it. But he also does not spare usthe horrible fact of the Nazis wiping out at least six million peoplebecause they were Jews, and perhaps three times as many more of other"inferior" peoples. Ralph Fiennes is about as chilling a villain asthere could possibly be, since he's portraying the notorious Auschwitzdeath guard Amon Goeth. This is a film about pain, death, and murder ona scale never before seen in human history (and, if we're lucky, whichwill never been seen again). But it is also about redemption. OskarSchindler was no saint; and for each life he saved, at least 5000 moredied. But he did as much as he possibly could, and went broke doing it.For that, there is a place in heaven for him.Winner of seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Director (whichSpielberg clearly deserved long before this), SCHINDLER'S LIST is oneof the most important films of modern times, a monumental statementagainst hatred from a master of the cinema.

mens-lector 2012-05-17 22:08:02

What a great movie!

After seeing this movie I needed a few seconds to come back to thepresent. It's by far one of the best movies i have seen if not the verybest! It illustrates very close to the truth everything that went onduring the second world war to the Jew community in Poland. I, being aJew my self, was deeply shaken by this movie. It's thanks to peoplelike Schindler that i even exist. Mr. Spielberg did a fabulous jobalong with his crew. A great movie in the loving memory of the 6million Jew lives taken during that horrible war... Although extremelyshocking probably for most people, it is a fact of history, a horriblemassacre, an awful regime and a sick mind behind it.

random_socks43 2012-05-16 12:32:55

A beautifully shown story of a mans mission to preserve human life.

This film, for lack of better words, is breathtakingly amazing. To filmit in black and white was sheer genius. This most definitely is LiamNeeson at his best and as many people have said, I find it absolutelyhard to believe he did not win an Oscar for best actor. Certain scenesfrom this film, for instance the liquidization of the Jewish ghettos ishard viewing but completely spell-bounding at the same time. Watchingthis film for the first time will leave you in many ways; shocked,chocked up, amazed, saddened and hopeful, (I say hopeful because thisstory proves that people like Schindler did have a heart and not everyGerman or even Nazi during the Second world war was a callous heartlessmurderer) if not all of the above. This is worth watching 100%, if not,re-watching quite a few times, as it is a compelling, heartfelt story.

Foot_Freakin_Master 2012-05-16 03:55:04

The Best?

This is a complex issue, but I still think this is the overall bestmovie I have ever seen. The characters, acting, storyline,cinematography, and general atmosphere and emotional depth combine tomake a movie like no other.Haunting, exciting, once in a while funny, gripping, rewarding, moving,significant, etc, etc. Wow!It may paint a slightly rosy picture of Oskar Schindler, but, remember,it is a movie. I think this picture almost perfectly blends adocumentary and cinematic feel. I is literary, artistic, andsubstantial. I love Casablanca. Citizen Kane is a classic, maybe the best by manystandards. But Schindler's List is movie of the modern generation whichachieves classic status by both prior and current critical standards. It is the last "great" film I have seen at a cinema. No doubt there aregreat films I have not seen. Any suggestions?

elizabethbennett 2012-05-08 22:00:50

I had nightmares........left a long time effect........

I cried through this movie.....I have never felt so moved, drained, upsetand hit like a ton of bricks like I did this movie. I cried andcried........I felt badly for those people. I am really surprised Hitler wasnot the Anti-Christ, what he did was beyond sadistic and I hope he fries foreternity, nobody deserves it more. GREAT MOVIE! These folks out didthemselves on this one.

2012-05-08 04:14:04

Touching, Dramatic, Heart Breaking

This film, is absolutley amazing. The entire time in watching this film I was in awe. The pain and suffering of the Jews was definatly felt, and the fear that was surged through them. I was extremely moved by this film. this film shows that humaity actually exists in our world of hatered and racism. It gave me hope, to see, that people in our world actually have hearts, and the curage to help others in such a way, that it saves more than one life.

spirit270 2012-05-06 18:01:19

Spielberg's greatest hit!

The events of the Holocaust are a sensitive topic to talk about justbecause there are so many different views/opinions on what happened.Spielberg took a huge step in turning the events of Schindler and theJews he put on his list to work for him that would ultimately be savedby him. Spielberg executes this very sensitive topic by putting so muchemotion in it. The first time I watched this movie was in my junioryear in high school in American History class and throughout the movieit was amazing to see the different expressions of shock, stunned, andtears in the eyes of even high schoolers. The movie, although verylong, keeps your attention. Spielberg also does a great job with addingin small figures and things to make you stop and think what they meanand how it relates to everything, including the color red that shows upvery little, but shows a symbol of color within a black and whitemovie.

nycovom1 2012-05-06 01:51:56

One Scene Not To be Missed

There's a small scene is in this motion picture that, in a way,actually speaks volumes about the film's subject matter. It occursduring the aftermath of the Krakow Ghetto destruction, at night,when the Nazis are digging out the people hiding in the buildings,hoping to avoid death. One soldier sits down at an upright pianoand starts playing, surrounded by the sounds of gun fire andpeople screaming and crying. Two more soldiers stop in thedoorway and banter lightly about whose music he's playing, Bachor Mozart. I think Speilberg here is trying to emphasize the fact that, even asupposedly "civilized" and "educated" group of people like theGermans could be coerced and driven to cold-blooded murder. Inthis case, a young German man who no doubt had classical pianolessons as a child becomes part of a brutal killing machine. It'ssmall but chilling scene in a very powerful movie.

Kim 2012-05-05 03:40:22

One of the Best!

I've just seen this movie for the first time last week, and I think it isabsolutely marvellous. As part of a project for school, I have chosen to dothe Holocaust. I decided to see this movie, "Schindler's List" because Iheard about it from many different people and I was interested and wanted tosee it. I think that I was touched when I saw it. It was sad and yet Ilearned alot from it.I think Liam Neeson did an excellent job as Oskar Schindler. I give thismovie 5 stars!!

ElMaruecan82 2012-05-04 12:38:57

My review of "SCHINDLER'S LIST" ...

INTRODUCTION :Steven Spielberg always developed an interest for WW2 more than anyother film-maker of his generation, mostly concerned by the Vietnam Warand its cultural impact. Therefore, he revolutionized the Industry offilm-making, not the mentalities. He never made thought-provoking orintrospective films like "Apocalypse Now" or "Taxi Driver".This attachment to the past, to childhood cemented Spielberg'sindisputable talent to entertain and touch hearts, genuinely ordeliberately. Spielberg had a traditional view on film-making, whichconsecrated him when the 80's saw the return of a more conventionalstyle. In the early 90's, he was the most successful director capableof the best like "Duel", "Jaws" or "The Color Purple", movies where,ironically, his touch was less present, as much as the worst like"Hook" which caricatured the Spielberg traits to the extreme.When Spielberg dilutes himself behind the camera, he can be incredible,when he indulged himself to express some sentimentality; it rarelyworked after the 80's. That's why my favorite of his films, "The ColorPurple" is the most misunderstood, why "Jurassic Park" will neversurpass "Jaws" and why "Saving Private Ryan" is weak compared to themovie I'll review now : "Schindler's List".SCHINDLER'S LIST :The movie opens on a religious ceremony, the colors slowly fade, like apainful flash-back into an episode forever rooted in memories. And theblack-and-white cinematography suggests the haunting presence of deathin the minds of people whose only "crime" was to be Jewish and thehearts of us, viewers, whose only "excuse" was to be born after thattragedy. And there starts a tragedy of epic proportions followingdifferent levels of grief.DENIAL OF EVILNESS : When an one-armed old man is killed like an animalbecause he's useless for the Third Reich, I was caught by surprise.When kids were shot, I was shocked. And I have no words to describe thewhole Krakovia Ghetto massacre sequence. The duality of horror as themost atrocious form of barbarity that contaminated civilized men ; howcan a man who plays Bach or Mozart, exterminate a family with the samehand? Or a beautiful gift allowing sick people 'to never hear thegunshots'.ANGRY INCOMPREHENSION : One of the most despicable movie charactersever, Amon Goeth, whose leisure consisted on killing Jews in the mostgratuitous way, doesn't even deserve to be called 'villain' as hisevilness transcends any cinematic perception. The shooting of theengineer Diana Reiter is the part I couldn't get out of my mind, sounexpected, random and cold-blooded, the moment defines the tortureendured by people in Concentration Camps, not just physical, butpsychological, as any day could be the last one of your whole life,depending on the mood of an officer, or a defect in a gun.DEATH ACCEPTANCE : The absurd level of cruelty changes the veryperception of death, and provides sometimes some sort of darkly comedicreliefs moments, like when a kid points his finger on the chicken thiefwho's 'coincidentally' the first man shot by Amon Goeth. Ralph Fiennesas the suave beast, who exercised his right to kill or spare like aRoman Emperor, perfectly captured the essence of evilness trapped inhis own torments, probably loving his power more than hating the Jews,as the exaltation of a kind of bestial superiority.DEVASTATING SADNESS : The word 'depression' would be an indecentunderstatement, some passages are absolutely devastating, thanks to adirection, guilty of perfection, and John Williams' sober and emotionalscore. I understand this must have been painful for Spielberg, a manwho loves children, to shoot the part where kids hid in a toilet hole,where the little girl in red 'reappeared', not to mention thegut-wrenching climactic shower scene. My heart was hystericallyscreaming with these women who thought it was the end.LIGHT OF HOPE : Liam Neeson plays Oskar Schindler as a man with a waywith people and women in particular. However, his depiction isundermined by something betraying the ambitious nature of a Warprofiteer. This characterization proved to work for characters likeRick Blaine (there's something strangely Bogart-esque in the way Neesonholds his cigarette) but the subject here is too serious forglamorization. He's a businessman who thinks of interests, andprogressively, his natural charisma will become providential. It'sironic how he, the German, and his Jewish assistant, Yitzhac Stern,played by Ben Kingsley, handle as a business project what will be oneof the most generous and humanistic acts ever. Who saves one life, saves the humanity … CONCLUSION :Whatever I said in this review concerning Spielberg loses its relevancewhen it comes to "Schindler's list", his greatest film because it'sprobably the only one where you can find both the personal touch, andsomething that speaks for Humanity, to remember one of its mostshameful pages.But the criticism starts again regarding the reception of "Schindler'sList". The film has been described with so many superlatives that Ireally question the sincerity of this immediate prestige and if it'snot just proportional with the gravity of the subject. Does"Schindler's List" really deserve to be in the American FilmInstitute's Top 10? Is it really that iconic in American Pop Culture? I also read that "Schindler's List" was voted the best film ever madeby the German film magazine 'Cinema', and it felt like the film wasautomatically praised as a way to make up for the guilt of havingallowed these crimes to be committed. I hope I am wrong because I trulylove "Schindler's List", but I just don't like the simplistic andsystematical way the movie is praised.But I sincerely hope the inspirational message of the film wouldinspire many others about other overlooked atrocities, just becausesome countries can't generate a film-maker with the same talent andinfluence as Steven Spielberg.

Dennis Schwartz 2012-05-01 22:26:50

Accessible ... .

Marvin Cohn 2012-05-01 10:01:47

Audience Reaction

The first (and last) time I viewed this masterpiece in a theater, I couldnot help but notice the reaction of the audience upon their leaving. Somewere crying or trying to hold back tears, some were stunned, some hadcompletely blank faces, some showed signs of anger; but the overallatmosphere was one of utter silence. Never in the history of motionpictureshas a film had such an emotional impact upon its constituents.

papadea1953 2012-04-29 22:35:03

A Holocaust Spectacular

If you could call a holocaust movie spectacular, then this would be theone. The Holocaust was a period in human history that should never havehappened, yet it has become the most reported on in all of humanhistory. In Schindler's List we see only a small portion of Hitler's"Final Solution", the plot to eradicate a segment of humankind from theface of the earth. We see a businessman who wants to make money out ofwar, dealing with a sick Nazi, who only cares about doing his duty,trying to survive a world war. Eventually we see how the Nazi mentalitytakes over the soldier, and how a man finally realizes the inhumanityof the regime he is serving. The fitting portion of Schindler'srealization is when he holds the "Nazi Party Pin" in his hand andrealizes he could have freed a few more people for that small piece ofgold. This is a movie that all should watch and wonder how each one cancontribute to the humanization of this world of ours.

anonymous 2012-04-29 11:43:46

..a masterpiece that will do more than touch your heart...

When I first hear about this movie, I was scared to see it, because I heardit was so real and vivid. But when I saw the motion picture, I cried tearsof sadness, and of sympathy. It depicts the truth about the other side ofWWII. The side that some are ignorant enough to deny ever happened. Itteaches us that by doing little, can do so much. The beautiful music, andgraphic depiction of the movie add to the wonderful acting, and harshreality that is cast into the audience. Personally, I think this isSpielberg's best picture, and the one that touches that special placebetween your heart and soul, this is one movie everyone shouldsee.

Ghostwood 2012-04-28 21:30:52

Spielberg's up to his usual tricks

Well, after six years of good intentions, I finally got around to seeingSchindler's List. I was warned that it was sad, it was harrowing, it wasthis, it was that. Maybe it had been so hyped up, my expectations were justtoo great. The acting was great - Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and RalphFiennes were superb.I couldn't help thinking that the whole thing about the Holocaust wastrivialised, though. The scene where the viewer assumes that the women wereto be executed turns out to be a harmless shower - just as you're pulled into think you're seeing the real thing, Spielberg turns on the schmaltzagain. The same happens at the end where Schindler breaks down in tears,thinking he could have saved more Jews - it was so out of charactercompared to the rest of the film.Nonetheless, a watchable film, if a wee bit too long. 6/10

Christopher Schrack 2012-04-28 06:47:33

Genius

This film is Spielberg's true masterpiece. It depicts something that is sohard to describe, a story so hard to tell in true honesty. But it was.True brutal honesty. I can definitely see why this film won Best Picture.Besides the fact that this was probably the ONLY film I have seen that hasbrought me close to tears, it has other characteristics that also make thissuch a technical work of art. The black & white tone of the film was notonly there to make it seem like a dark and dreary film, but to make other,more important aspects, stand out. In one scene you see a girl running intoa building; the girl is wearing a red coat. It stands out among all theshades of gray to symbolize something important: the death and suffering ofthe holocaust. In another scene, dead bodies are pulled away as OskarSchindler (Liam Neeson) watches. The corpses' blood is pure red, to showthe major amount and therefore pointlessness of their bloodshed. In one ofthe last scenes in the film, Jews light a bright orange flame which isignited on the candle.Now, I'm not saying that this is the most spectacular piece of work everaccomplished (after all it was pretty slow and almost 3 1/2 hours long), butit is something. This is a film that can never, ever be forgotten. Welldone, Spielberg.10 / 10 stars.

tyler-19 2012-04-28 11:20:42

Very Touching

This movie was an experience that should never be forgotten. My Englishteacher recommended that we should see this movie since we are studying theevents of WWII and I am glad she did. This movie gives a better glimpse intowhat actually happened during the Holocaust although not everything. Themovie was wonderful except for the scenes with sex in it. I don't think thatwas needed but overall it was great!10/10

gubacs2 2012-04-27 16:47:11

this movie is cheap

Spielberg makes money out of one of the greatest mass murders inhistory.great! its disgusting how he makes a success story of theholocaust where 6 million people gets killed. besides the movie:- hasno opinion about the holocaust -it is straining for effects(for examplethe red coated girl is a kitsch) -there is no character development init -it is long and boring -the emotions presented are shallow. on theother hand the acting is good but that's all. if you are interested inthe subject i recommend you to watch a good documentary(the eyes of theholocaust for example) or read these books(i am not sure they areaccessible in your language but give it a try) Sorstalanság by ImreKertész Primo Levi:Survival in Auswitz