Brings the history appallingly alive

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2005)

This movie is not for the kids. It doesn't pull any punches as it provides an accurate and detailed look at the final days of Hitler in Berlin. The cast is a powerful one, with key historical figures recreated in great detail from the meticulous accounts of survivors and the writings of those who died in the fall of Berlin. The acting is superb, with the complex mix of emotions the people (I can't call them "characters" since they were all real people) conveyed very well. You can feel the hopelessness, the sense of loss, the fear, the courage, the fanaticism and the madness the movie is trying to convey. By the end, I finally realized my jaw was hanging open, though I can not honesty say how long it was that way. The movie grabs you and brings you back in time, and it will not let go until the credits roll. In German with English subtitles, and I wouldn't have it any other way.