Martin Luther

Rating:
Summary: Mixed Reaction
Review: First Let me say this that this film has NOTHING to do with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It deals with the 16th century reformer, Martin Luther. I'm glad I saw the original on 16mm (In fact I could have loan my copy of this for use as the master). The story still deserves four stars for the 1953 production. The DVD deserves less than one star. The story line is difficult to follow in places due to the missing portions of the film. A horrible job of duplication from a rotten master. There are three parts to the DVD. None of which has anything to do with the other. The Second is "Titan: The Story of Michelangelo" - 1940 (a 68 minute documentary) make the $ 6.99 I spent for the DVD worth while. Michelangelo YES! Luther NO! The third is a 28 minute presentation of "Hymn of the Nations" (post WWII) featuring Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie - lousy copy
Review: First the positive: the story itself is excellent. The movie was made at a time when justification by faith was understood by the common person. The unchurched viewers of today would probably have a much harder time even understanding the controversy Luther was embroiled in. Luther's faith and his stand on scripture alone, faith alone in Christ alone is very well presented. As far as I am aware the movie is historically accurate. My only complaint with the story is they should have placed more emphasis on Luther's conversion. Negatively, as mentioned in others' reviews, the master from which this DVD was made is awful. There is hiss throughout the movie and the picture has scratches and lines. Often the picture / sound jumps as if the master was broken and repaired. But overall I would highly recommend for the story itself. Better than the other Luther movies I've seen. Worth buying.