Rating: 
Summary: Meditation on 20th century history
Review: That's right! Although set in the 16th century, this moody and often frightening film is, in my opinion, a meditation on recent history. Using the metaphor of the journey of a small band of conquistadors through Amazonia, in defiance of the orders of their leader, Pizarro, Werner Herzog has created a parable about the descent of so many contemporary (as of the date of the film) countries into totalitarian insanity. At the beginning, the journey is about the hunt for gold and the discovery of new places. Once the fatal decision to disobey orders has been taken the descent into insanity picks up speed. As Aguirre replaces Don Pedro Usura all pretence at sanity and purpose fall away and the journey becomes a journey against all reason. Any bizarre action ordered by Aguirre is either joyfully complied with or, if opposed, results in death or expulsion from the group (resulting in death). Given the historic situation from which Herzog emerged, it is not too much of a stretch, I think, to see this film as a meditation on the rise of Adolph Hitler and the subversion into incomprehensible group insanity of an entire nation.As a pure piece of cinema, the film contains some of the most nightmare images I have ever seen. It's not easy to watch, even though it exerts an incredible hypnotic pull. Some of the images are intensely beautiful and the final image, of the completely mad Aguirre, drifting down the river on a raft, surrounded by the corpses of the last remaining members of the group (including the corpse of his own daughter) and by troops of monkeys, is a haunting Gotterdammerung.
Rating: 
Summary: Stunning German epic
Review: Klaus Kinski stars in this journey to madness, as Aguirre, a renegade leader of a Spanish party searching the jungles of the Amazon for the mythological city of gold El Dorado. Aguirre is off the deep end, and will kill to get what he wants. He forces his crew to build rafts, and continue to pursue forward, even with no sign of a positive end. They have to fight off native Indians, they even run into a village of cannibals. Aguirre does not just want the city of gold; he wants to conquer the whole continent. As more and more men die, it doesn't look like his dreams will come true. This film is brilliantly directed by Werner Herzog, displaying poetically the beauty of nature, and its amoral silence, as the Spanish crew go insane searching for gold, power and fame. The acting is wonderful, and we can see Aguirre slowly crawl deeper and deeper into a haunted prison in his mind. The crew display they're fear and surrender to his command perfectly. The camera is put high above the mountains showing their decent; on rafts as they travel through rapids; and into the dark jungle as an execution takes place. This film rewards multiple viewing, and contemplation, so I give this 5 stars, and recommend this very much.
Rating:
Summary: A Faithful Version of a Classic
Review: A mesmerizing and haunting classic from a pair of artists, Kinski and Herzog, who were so dangerous that people were routinely injured or killed during production of their films. The film is a 16th century "Apocolypse Now" portraying a mutiny among a small party of Pizarro's men in search of El Dorado, The City of Gold. Kinski is breathtaking as Aguirre, and Director Herzog lets it all happen.
Perhaps the most contentious issue about this film regards the aspect ratio. Many people, myself included, erroneously assumed that Anchor Bay had released a full frame (non widescreen) edition which certainly would have been insulting. This is not the case--the film was not shot in "widescreen" so you are seeing it as Herzog and cinematographer intended (1.33:1). The colors are beautiful, the commentary is great, and the audio is as good as one could hope.
Rating:
Summary: German art-house blinder
Review: Advance notice: You'll need to be a hard core film nut for this one. Superficially, it's a very tough hour and a half to get through - it's in German, there's not much dialogue, it's roughly edited, there's no real story and most of the actors don't really act. However, this is genuine, German Art-House Cinema, and most of the above goes with the territory. Art house buffs are like hi-fi buffs: in the world of haute-cinema, less is most definitely more. So approach Aguirre as if it were one of those twenty grand stereos with only an on/off switch and a volume knob. It might not look like much, but boy it delivers. Werner Herzog has a gift for a haunting scene, and they don't come much spookier than Aguirre's opener, a snaking line of conquistadors winding down the side of a steaming, dripping Andean cliff, complete with horses, canons and sedan chairs. As is Herzog's wont, they filmed this on location; no sneaky studio shots or plastic artillery here, thank you very much. Real canons. Mind you, this time the cast got off lightly: in Fitzcarraldo, Herzog's other South American epic, it was a full sized paddle steamer that got the up and over treatment. The descent into the abyss is symoblic, too - the film is all about the Fall of Man - in the biblical sense - and the falling apart of a man in the psychiatric one. The vibe is definitely somewhere between Lord of the Flies and Apocalypse Now, with a dash of King Lear. In this aspect, the film is totally carried by the electric performance of Klaus Kinki, whose portayal of Aguirre is the essence of the swaggering unhinged. Where Fitzcarraldo goes on for nearly three hours before ending without warning, Aguirre pulls off the same stunt in half the time - but as narrative satisfaction is not high on Herzog's list of cinematic objectives, you can't really mark the film down for this. Well, maybe a bit: Herzog is so uninterested in action that he frequently welches on it altogether; you frequently see a arrow fly, and cut to a new scene with a man lying dead with an arrow in his neck. This is difficult to get used to, and it plays with the continuity of the film: from time to time the editing is so disjointed it is difficult to piece together cause and effect. This struck me as a mark of slight laziness: odd in a director who is so unlazy as to make a film as painstakingly re-enacted as this. Definitely a rewarding night in, but those who like a good romantic comedy might want to pass.
Rating: 
Summary: Five-star movie, where's the widescreen???
Review: If you buy the box set of Kinski/Herzog movies, one and only one is in the full-frame format: "Aguirre," arguably their greatest collaboration. This separately-marketed DVD is also not letterboxed. Why, why, why? Given that "Aguirre" is one of the most visually majestic movies of all time, this shoddy treatment is a major disappointment
Rating:
Summary: IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE WIDESCREEN!
Review: I don't like caps, but this called for it. A poster on the IMDB message board brought to my attention that this film was filmed in a 1.33:1 perspective, meaning there is no widescreen DVD, and if there were, then it would be the butchered copy. I, too, was quick to react, but Anchor Bay has done good to this film... NOW ORDER IT (from wherever is cheapest)! I am:)
Rating:
Summary: Herzog's Superior Heart of Darkness
Review: Ignore the comment below about footage being cropped out. This film was shot in the full screen formant (see Herzog's official website). All of Herzog's early films where shot this way using the 35mm movie camera that he "appropriated" from a German film school (a film school that he did not attend by the way). This film and 2001: A Space Oddysey are the only films that inspire a feeling of detachment of your spirit and your body while you are watching it. This film is superior in every way to Coppolla's Apocalpse Now. There's nothing Hollywood or fake or contrived in this film. The viewer actually feels as though they or floating around aimlessly on a raft suffering from starvation. From the startling images, to the eerie pan flute music of the natives; everything in this masterpiece is awe-inspiring. This is Herzog's second best film behind The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, and definely one of the 10 greatest films ever made.
Rating:
Summary: I stand corrected
Review: This review used to say that the DVD is cropped into fullscreen format and that was why I decided not to buy it. But a friendly Amazon reader alerted me to the fact that the film was actually filmed in 1:1.33 format. It says so on Werner Herzog's website.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Brilliant and Original Movie!
Review: If you liked "Apocalypse Now", then you must see this film! Both films have a similar theme - going beyond oneself on an inner-journey toward madness. "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" is a fabulous film in every respect. This is probably Warner Herzog's greatest film and a real gem of a historically-styled adventure movie. We were long overdue for a great Spanish conquistador movie. The DVD has a nice, clean picture, with just a tad bit of grain. There are two German language soundtracks with English subtitles: one in 5.1 Surround and one in Dolby Stereo. There is also an English speaking soundtrack in Dolby as well. Kinski is fabulous here! If you're a Klaus Kinski fan, this is the arch-typical performance that you've got to own of his. This is the best, most furious, most derranged role of Kinski's career and he is perfect in the role! There probably has never been a madder, more insanely-driven autocrat portrayed on film as this. This isn't a film you should just see once - this is a film everyone should OWN and watch repeatedly! It's one of the best, most original movies of the past thirty years; a strange and bizarre mirage of haunting images and twisted happenings; a true masterpiece in every sense of the word! I highly recommed this movie!
Rating:
Summary: herzog at his best (but hardly his weirdest)
Review: werner herzog is a genius. this film is definitely my top 3 favourite herzog films. it's examining classic herzog thematics like the lone warrior battling against all odds (as seen in fitzcarraldo, heart of glass and in herzog's own life). much more straight forward when compared to films like 'dwarves' or 'fata morgana' but just as twisted and enjoyable. briliant performances, photography, locations and direction. amazing, amazing film.
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