The Bunker

Plot synopsis:
An American captain wants to see the infamous bunker of Hitler. The Russian guard lets him head into the bunker. Water covers a good deal of the floors. Here is where Hitler lived his last 105 days.Flashback. January 16, 1945. The Americans are at the Rhine River in Germany. Hitler goes to his bunker in Berlin. Bormann checks the place out and comments, "What have we come to? Reports come in that the Russians are raping all German women. Goebbels arrives. Reichsminister Albert Speer, Hitler's architect and industrial production man, arrives. Speer wants to try to talk Hitler out of his plan to destroy all Germany. Speer gets his private audience, but Hitler is absolutely committed to his plan of utter annihilation of Germany as a punishment for betraying him.Speer talks with Dieter Stahl, Chief of the Munitions Division, about the possibility of assassinating Hitler by introducing into the bunker a new poison gas that is said to be able to penetrate any air filter. Stahl tells him that it is too risky of a gas and that mustard gas would be better. Speer asks Stahl to get him some of the gas and Stahl agrees.Hitler is in conference with his generals. He is furious with them saying that the generals have let him down. One of the generals strenuously objects and the only thing that Hitler does to him is to tell him to go on six weeks of sick leave.Bormann speaks with Speer and asks him why he has not carried out Hitler's plan for total annihilation of German towns and villages. Speer says that there have been administrative problems. He then has to speak with Hitler about the subject. Hitler tells him that he has read Speer's long memorandum on the subject but says there will be no reconsideration of his policy. He becomes extremely mad at Speer when the architect dares sits down: "How dare you sit in my presence?" Speer is then dismissed. He later learns that he has been replaced with Bormann as head of the annihilation plan.The next time Hitler speaks to Speer he tells him that he must believe that the war is not lost. But Speer says the war is lost. Then Hitler retreats a bit and says "If you could just hope we will win" that would be enough to satisfy me. Speer feeds Hitler some other lines and Hitler announces his victory with "I knew I could rely on you".Goebbels reports to Hitler that the American president, Franlin Delano Roosevelt, has died. The minister of propaganda is absolutely ecstatic. That happiness, however, is offset by the message that Vienna has fallen.Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress, arrives. The head of the German Air Force, Goering, arrives followed by head of the secret police Himmler. Himmler is secretly negotiating with Count Bernadotte of Sweden about peace.Berlin is now closed on three sides. Hitler tells his generals to send General Steiner in with his Panzer corps, but Steiner only has 11,000 men. Hitler demands to know who was responsible for not stopping the Russians in their latest move. It's the 56th Panzer of General Wielding. Hitler tells his staff to have the general executed. Hitler goes outside and praises the kids who are now serving as German soldiers.Goebbels calls his wife and tells her that the time has come. That is code for the situation is so bad that it is time to bring the children to the bunker to commit suicide with Hitler and Eva. The Goebbels believe that a world without Hitler would be simply unbearable.Bormann asks Hitler to move to greater safety in Bavaria, but Hitler answers with a definite no. Two of Hitler's secretaries come in to tell Hitler that they want to stay with him through the bombardments. Hitler nods in agreement. Magda Goebbels and her six children arrive.Conferring again with his generals, Hitler learns that General Steiner has been captured. Hitler goes into a rant saying that the army has betrayed him, that his orders have not been carried out. He finally admits: "I'll die in Berlin. The war is lost."Eva Braun's brother-in-law Colonel Fegelein is brought by force into the bunker. The man has been absent for three days and was about to leave Berlin. Hitler chooses to be lenient and tells his staff to release him. But then Hitler is told that Himmler has offered to surrender the western German armies to Eisenhower. Hitler then even gets madder when he learns that Goering in a message to von Ribbentrop said that he will take over in Germany after Hitler's death. Speer has come to say good-bye to Hitler because he is leaving, but Hitler is too angry to give him much notice. But Hitler has time enough to tell Bormann to execute Fegelein.Hitler and Eva Braun have afternoon tea and crumpets. Hitler is distracted with his worries, so Eva asks him if they can tell the secretaries the good news. She gets the okay and she tells the women that they will be married. There is only about 48 hours left until the arrival of the Russians at the bunker.Hitler asks General Mohnke, who is in charge of the defence of Berlin, if he can hold out until May 5, the anniversary of Napoleon's defeat. The general tells him that he can give no assurances as to any particular date.There is a farewell dinner for Dr. Goebbels. Hitler learns that Mussolini and his mistress have been executed and their bodies hung upside down in the public square.The end has come. Hitler and Eva Braun say good-bye to their staff. They then retire to their private chamber where they both bite down on cyanide capsules. Almost simultaneously Hitler shoots himself in the head with his revolver. Their bodies are taken outside the bunker and burned. Now it is the turn of the Goebbels. In their beds, Magda makes all six children bite down on cyanide capsules. They are quickly dead. Magda and Joseph go outside and repeat the actions of Hitler and Eva Braun.The staff now leaves the bunker with the exception of the engineer in charge of operating the electrical generator. Only six of the staff that left were able to avoid capture by the Russians. Two of Hitler's secretaries were captured by the British. Bormann's body was finally discovered in 1972, a suicide committed at the time of the fall of Berlin. Albert Speer was captured and served 20 years in prison.

Tags: violence

Review:
As a military historian, I've probably seen every film depicting Hitler and the last days of the Third Reich there is.
But as slow and downright melodramatic as this film is, I think that Anthony Hopkins' Hitler is right on the money, A superb acting job with a difficult role.
It's not hard to play the classic Hitler with fits of rages and dour looks, but there is a lot more to it, and Hopkins pulls it off magnificently.
In bearing, size and demeanor Lonsdale captures the essence of Hitler's right hand man He kept in the background most of the time, but was nonetheless an extremely powerful figure in the Third Reich and his power comes over very well.
A good script and well directed, this film is well worth watching, especially now that it is readily available, uncut, on DVD..
An Inside Look At The Last Days Of Hitler And The Third Reich.
That insanity increased as time went on, and this movie offers a pretty good look at its last days, as Hitler and his entourage hole themselves up in a bunker underneath the Reich Chancellory and act as if they're actually accomplishing something, even as Germany is being systematically overrun by Allied armies.Of most interest are the various performances and the manner in which the various personalities are portrayed.
Anthony Hopkins' work as Adolf Hitler was very good - especially considering the difficulties involved in playing such a complex and controversial subject.
I thought Hopkins nailed the emotional complexity of the man - deliberately hiding himself from the realities of the War, calmly sitting down to tea with his secretaries one minute, then launching into a deranged tirade against his generals the next, addicted to drugs administered by his personal physician.
Where I thought Hopkins missed the mark a bit was in Hitler's physical state.
Aside from some trembling, Hopkins' Hitler actually looked pretty healthy.
Other actors have to be looked at as well though, because this movie isn't really about Hitler - it has more to do with how the various personalities involved interacted with Hitler.Much of the movie revolved around Nazi architect Albert Speer.
Richard Jordan handled the part well, although the portrayal of Speer was interesting - probably unavoidably so, since Speer was almost as complex a character as Hitler.
In the movie, Speer comes across as basically a good guy, fighting against Hitler's insane plans.
In fact, that's accurate, because above everything else, Bormann's main preoccupation was with power - whether represented by Hitler or someone else.Largely missing from this account of these last days in the bunker (although it does pop up in the end) is the rather morbid and completely unreal question of who would succeed Hitler - as if there was going to be anything to succeed to.
I particularly liked the last scene, when the machinist Hentschel (Martin Jarvis) throws papers in disgust at the radio when it announces Hitler's heroic death, "fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism," when Hentschel knew full well that Hitler had cowardly committed suicide and left everyone else to fend for themselves.
There is so much 'dross' being released, yet this minor masterpiece with excellent performances from Hopkins remains locked away!
Another similar 1974 film exists with Alec Guiness playing the Fuhrer; "Hitler, the last ten days".
The Alec Guiness film was spoiled slightly by a series of strange comments from Hitler in his sealed room moments before he and Eva Braun commit suicide (obviously there were no witnesses to record this!).
I consider this one of Anthony Hopkins best 'early' performances.
In a review it was said after a typical Hitler tirade, Hopkins was so 'into' the role, he would have the room cleared so he could be alone and compose himself!
Especial kudos to Richard Jordan as Albert Speer, Hitler's 'adopted' protege'.
This film adaptation may be as close as we will come to what really happened in Hitler's bunker at the end of World War II..
Unless you understand the psychological make up of the German People and can clearly understand the German language it is hard to understand the absolute Charisma of Adolph Hitler or how the Third Reich came into being.
The film chronicles the last 105 days of the life of Hitler and his inner circle from the moment he descends to the bunker in January 1945 until his death on April 30th of that year.
Between the make-up and the acting of Anthony Hopkins you might well believe that Hitler was alive again, so compelling his performance.
The late Richard Jordan gives one his finest performances as Reichsminister Albert Speer, Hitler's architect and later minister of munitions during the war.
And to answer the carping critique of another commentator, everything I have read in history, which as it is my college major, is considerable, points to Speer's becoming a voice of reason and having a change of heart about the German Empire toward the end of the war.
Two other outstanding performances were Michael Lonsdale (Moonraker) as Martin Borman and Piper Laurie as Magda Geobels, wife of Hitler's propaganda minister.
What went on in the last days of the Third Reich in Adolf Hitler's bunker?
Anthony Hopkins is one of our acting icons like Olivier.
He portrays Hitler as a drug addicted shell of a man who was once invincible and he captures him at the end when all was lost.
The most frightning scene in the film is where he explodes in rage at Albert Speer when he tells him that the war is lost.
Hopkins captures all of the rage and madness that was Adolf Hitler, a demon in human form.
They talk in this film about how Albert Speer tried to assassinate Hitler in the final days of the Third Reich.
Excellent TV rendition about the last days of Hitler with exceptional performance from Anthony Hopkins.
The story of Hitler's last days in an underground bunker gives insight to his madness.
It's well played by Anthony Hopkins who won an Emmy prize for his excellent acting.
Other adaptation about this historical character are : ¨Hitler(1962)¨ by Stuart Heisler with Richard Basehart, ¨Hitler : The last days(1973)¨ by Ennio De Concini with Alec Guinness and the best is ¨The Downfall¨ by Oliver Hischbiegel with Bruno Ganz.The picture is correctly based on real events, adding more details , the deeds happened of the following manner : ¨Fuehererbunker¨(Leader's Bunker)is the subterranean headquarter below the Chancellery and its garden in Berlin where Hitler (Anthony Hopkins) spent his last days, from April 20 to 30, 1945.
This area had seventeen rooms , all small, cramped , and uncomfortable : Hitler's suite of three rooms, a map room used for conferences, the dressing room and bedroom of Eva Braun(Susan Blakely), the bedroom of Dr Paul Joseph Goebbles(Cliff Gorman) and wife(Piper Laurie),the rooms of Dr Ludwig, lavatories and bathrooms, an emergency telephone exchange, a drawing room, guardroom, cloakroom and a dog bunker for Hitler's Alsatian bitch named Blondi, with her four puppies.
Albert Speer (Richard Jordan) his minister of Armaments and War Production , refused to carry out his orders for a scorched-earth policy.
Good performances, slow-moving film..
The supporting performances, especially by Piper Laurie and Richard Jordan, also drive this intensely psychological take on the last days of the Third Reich.
I am someone who loves history and have and always will be fascinated with what went down in World War II especially the last days of Hitlers life.
However Anthony Hopkins performance is very laughable I could not take him seriously, when he went into his tirade I could not understand a thing he was saying.
If you want to see a real movie based on Hitlers last moments Downfall is that movie, it is in German which you can not ask for anything more.
All performances who have tried to act as Hitler have failed, Bruno Gants is the only actor that needs to play Hitler.
Anthony Hopkins performance makes Hitler into a raging, comical maniac where as, Bruno Ganz plays Hitler as delusional, hateful and cruel man -- but also human..
And what a splendid job they all do in this description of Hitler's last days in the fortified bunker far beneath the Chancellery as World War II was closing in all around the Führer and the remains of his staff.
And not one of the actors tries to fake a German accent.Anthony Hopkins gives the finest portrayal of a living dead man that I've seen.
He seemed put out when I charged him ten cents for the tutoring.The central conflict here is between Hopkins and Albert Speer, his Minister of Arms and War Production.
Speer was a brilliant architect and industrialist, a relatively young handsome officer played here by Richard Jordan.
Speer develops a plan to introduce poison gas into the vent that supplies air to the underground bunker, which will kill everyone inside, including Hitler.
The plan is dropped and Speer remarks that he'll not try another because "I think I only had one in me." Speer decides instead to agree to the destruction of Germany but will prevent it by bureaucratic stalling and by wrapping the process in red tape.There are scenes between Hopkins and Jordan that are truly touching.
But if the viewer needs the usual clichés, they're available in occasional dissolves followed by flashbacks to better times, when Hitler and Speer first met, before Germany became a sewer, before the death factories began to churn out their product.
The camera lingers on the faces of his children, some barely old enough to sing the heroic song, and all of whom he and his wife Magda will shortly kill by cyanide poisoning.There have been a number of films about Hitler's last days, both feature films and documentaries.
Anthony Hopkins played the character of Adolf Hitler magnificently .
its the first movie which shows that Adolf Hitler was human being you may disagree with his deeds and his philosophy.but he was true lover of Germany.
he lived for Germany and he died for Germany.All the other characters played their part really nicely.film also shows how desperate Adolf Hitler was in his last days of great war.Germany was going to lose was and he was feeling pressure.Its really a master work and movie lovers must give that a chance you will feel nice after viewing that movie and u will appreciate the performance of Anthony Hopkins ..
A truly good performance here for Anthony Hopkins.
I you closely Watch footage film showing the dictator, the real one, you'll notice that his hair - at least in the last years of his life - did not fall on his forehead, the left side.
And curiously, in all films - I must admit although that I don't exactly remember the Bruno Ganz portray - Hitler is shown with his hair falling on the left side of his forehead.
Anthony Hopkins becomes yet another actor to portray the German dictator.
The films covers the period of Hitler when he ascends into his Berlin bunker up to and a little while after his suicide.
Anthony Hopkins displays a commanding presence as Hitler in this TV-made version of Hitler's final days in his underground Berlin bunker.
Albert Speer, played by Richard Jordan, somewhat rivals him in prominence.
The film writers put a major focus on Hitler's scorched earth policy of the final days, to destroy civilian infrastructure and life staples of the German people as enemy armies advanced.
He came to the Bunker on April 22, about 10 days before Hitler's death, and left shortly before it.
If it did, one might question Hitler's compassionate response.As evil as he was, Hitler's hypnotic effect on all German people is a reality, and this remained until the days of his death.
We even see Speer considering the logistics of a poison attack on the Bunker as an alternative to letting the resistance to Hitler's scorched earth policy come to a head (another thing questioned by historians).
I got annoyed with the non-moderated British accents all over the place, but on the part of the supporting cast only (Hopkins' accent as Hitler, like that of Alec Guiness in "Hitler: The Last Ten Days," is not as bad as Robert Carlyle's in "Hitler: The Rise of Evil").
I have noticed that Bunker films  after all, this is the movies  tend to portray the German women as quite glamorous, and Eva Braun (Susan Blakely) and Magda Goebbels (Piper Laurie) are eye Candy, along with other ladies.
Maybe the real Speer did not want to liquidate all German civilians, but Jordan's portrayal does too much kindness to a creepy guy.
No worries, for Hopkins as Hitler is the focal point, and any human feelings he shows are superseded by the obvious incarnate evil he represents..
Yet as much as I liked the German films : The last 10 days of Adolph Hitler and Downfall and as much as I love Anthony Hopkins as an actor, Hopkins played a flat footed Hitler.
Hopkins is too English to be Hitler.
Hopkins' performance would have played better in THE PRODUCERS.If Hitler orated the way Hopkins delivered an authentic AH speech at the end of this film, would Hopkins have revv-ed 61 million Germans up to march in step, commit atrocities and fight 250 million Russians and 250 million Americans at the same time?
Hopkins was not a very good Hitler.At the end of the TV movie, there was a credit to the Trevor Roper book The Last days of AH.
I didn't see it mentioned in these pages.Like most in the AH genre the film does not mention Hitler's double alluded to in the Toland work..
Then, Anthony Hopkins as Adolph Hitler?
Hopkins performance was a parody of Hitler.
It makes you feel you were right there in the bunker in the final days.
Good performance by Hopkins..
In some way this film becomes the story of Albert Speer rather than Hitler.
So Richard Jordan as Speer is as important a character as Hopkins.
The effect is to have us believe there was some rational thought in these last days of the Third Reich.Yet another TV rewrite of history but at least it gives Jordan one of his best roles....
The movie attempts to depict the final days of the charismatic leader Hitler in his bunker.
Whether Hitler truly was, is a matter of debate best left to historians, biographers and auto-biographer.It goes without saying that Anthony Hopkins is completely miscast.
In an attempt to integrate Anthony Hopkins with Hitler he ends up a character who seems to be as result of genetic experiment gone wrong.
So you will three personalities to a character namely Hitler, Anthony Hopkins and a third which I seriously hope who never was..
Hopkins is superb and Hugh Trevor Roper said last year it was the most accurate to date i wont argue.Hopkins played late 44 early 45 Hitler perfect, Gans was good but inaccurate and made for German/Austrian cinema so very watered down.This is superb and worth watching for anyone a fan of the era.Long live Hopkins and long live this part of history.The only downfall is the English accents but like i said the Gans version is wholey commercial and the Goebboels is a dreadful look alike.Hitler will go down as one of the great vilans along with stalin, Blair, Polpot and Bush but the Fueher did it the best.Seig!.
This film is poorly scripted and the actors are left stuck with weak characters who seem very rational at times yet laughable at others, in particular the performance of Anthony Hopkins is a mixture of babble and ranting .
The general setting is far too calm, too sterile for this time and the film is historically not entirely accurate as certain people who were there and played key roles in Hitler's wartime life and final days were not portrayed at all!.
But some like Martin Bormann played here quite eerily by Michael Lonsdale wanted Hitler to go to his mountain retreat of Berchtesgarden and conduct a resistance of attrition from there.
Anthony Hopkins as Hitler in a mad show of bravado won't do it.
Hopkins is a mesmerizing and total Hitler.
Hitler is also seen in the small things, playing with Joe and Magda Goebbels children, playing house with Eva Braun, and caring for his faithful retriever Blondi whom in the end he poisoned.
But according to Albert Speer's post war memoirs, Magda Goebbels never sat home and let the grass grow under her feet.
According to Speer The Bunker also gets it right about Eva Braun.
Susan Blakely plays her just like Speer describes her, just a power groupie before that term was invented without a political thought in her head.
The Bunker is one of the best made for television films ever done.
A very good insight into the last days of 'Der Fuhrer' and his chums, charting the atmospheric goings on, in the bunker.
(I.e: Richard Jordan as Speer and the Goebbels one).Though it has to be said, Anthony Hopkins gave another of his outstanding performances as Hitler.
A comparative favourite of mine is 'Hitler, the Last Ten Days' which I still believe to be superior, though there are those who don't agree on here, on this review.
Told in large part from the viewpoint of "Albert Speer" (played by Richard Jordan) this film recounts the final months of "Adolf Hitler" (Anthony Hopkins) and his Third Reich as the Russian army steadily advances upon Berlin.
Of particular interest is the performance of Laurie Piper (as "Magda Goebbels") whose dedication to Hitler was both fascinating yet scary at the same time.
Also worth mentioning is the manner in which Anthony Hopkins managed to portray Hitler during this time when the Fuhrer's health and reason were failing him.
All in all then, I thought that this was a very good film and for that reason I recommend it for those who enjoy movies of an historical nature.