Definitely on my top 10 list

Rating: 10/10 (21 May 2005)

After reading two dozens of posts for this film, I was not sure if I needed to write my own comment. Many other posters covered what I wanted to say. But as a tribute to the film, I feel obligated to write these lines so as to carve my own niche on the wall of posts for this great movie.
Der Untergang is a film of sheer excellence. From the uber-solid acting to the great camera-work, from the bleak internal and external sets to the ultra realistic explosions this film tries to raise the bar of movie-making - and excels at it.
The film has a great cast of actors. I recognized 2 actors from the other film of the same director - "Das Experiment" which I also liked very much. The performance of Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler must be seen to be believed. The director seems to be relying very much upon his performance, and Ganz does not disappoint at all. It is truly the best performance i've seen in years. The other performances are also pretty solid and complement Ganz without a single glitch in performances. The German language adds a lot to the realism, and I could safely say that this movie would lose a lot of points if English or American actors were used.
The external locations are incredible and occupy the majority of the film, adding a dark and claustrophobic feel to the entire movie. I was immersed in the film from the start and I really felt that I was in this bunker. The photography and camera-work are top notch.
The fact that this is a WW2 movie made by Germans scared me at first, expecting to find propagandistic elements in it. At the end I was satisfied that this was untrue, although one cannot avoid to feel sympathetic for the character that Ganz portrays: A madman on the last days of WW2 in Berlin.