Rating: 
Summary: Jim Freyer - A college student
Review: I was forced to watch this movie in my Film Communications Class. I gave it a 2 star rating because I stayed awake for over 10 minutes. I think you get the Idea of how I like it. But if you have a lot of time to waste and you want to watch a very very boring movie then I would still suggest that you watch a different movie.
Rating: 
Summary: BETTER THAN CITIZEN KANE
Review: Adolf Hitler is making a comeback. CBS recently announced plans for a 2003 mini-series (adapted from Ian Kershaw's "Hubris") that will take a look at Hitler before he went into politics. Already a furor has erupted over the idea of giving this man's life any more attention than it already receives or deserves. The very notion of a network profiting from anything relating to Hitler or his Nazi-based philosophy is a flash-point of controversy.On a personal note, in the 70's I researched and developed a detailed story called "Young Hitler's Secret Life." It was optioned by Bob Banner & Associates and taken to NBC where it was tested by several focus groups. The concept of a multi-part TV movie that asked "What made the man the monster?" tested higher than anything that had previously been broadcast. Nervous potential sponsors did their own testing and concluded that no matter how the material was presented, up to 20 per-cent of the audience would sympathize with the central character. The network and sponsors' fear was that any attempt to dramatize Adolf Hitler implied understanding him, and for some in the potential audience, that apparently meant excusing or erasing the evil. Or worse, embracing Hitler and his ideas. My approach to the material focused on the unusual pseudo spiritual, occult themes he studied in his youth and how this peculiar German mysticism influenced his politics and eventually tapped into the collective central nervous system of his followers who, in the end, literally worshipped him as a messiah. NBC eventually dropped the project. It will be interesting to see how CBS handles this material and the public response. Networks, like Hitler, are always looking for the target audience's widest base desire, emotion, or pathology on which to hang their hidden agenda -- advertising. Hitler was a nobody. A failed artist and a dreamer. From out of nowhere he rose like the Germanic god of war Wotan and turned a defeated, demoralized third-world country into a blazing world power. To hide from the reality of the human -- and other forces -- that engulfed the world 60 years ago makes us even more vulnerable to the contemporary spiritual and political winds that are blowing on the hot kindling of chaos that threaten to ignite us. Last month (of this writing) German director Leni Reifenstahl celebrated her 100th birthday. Although she continues to deny any special relationship with Hitler, the genius of this filmmaker helped propel Hitler into the iconic force of dark power that he so carefully crafted and craved. Except for the Pope's official visits to foreign countries, no propaganda event comes close to the extraordinary, overwhelming visceral potency of Reifenstahl's TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. Hitler hired Reifenstahl to make a filmed record of the Reich's 1934 rally in Nuremburg. Hitler was a film buff (he loved Disney cartoons and was often heard whistling "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf"). He was an ardent fan of Wagner's epic opera's and at one time even made notes for an original opera and its staging. He innately understood the necessary theatrics of staging public political rallies. The symbols, the banners, the waiting, the music, the marching, the uniforms, the torches and the message. It all had to come together with an explosive orgasm of shared emotion. Triumph of the Will is an important film. Certainly more significant and meaningful than Citizen Kane. Masterfully designed, shot and edited, TOTW is a witness to the power of beholding that generates change. To see this film -- no, it won't make you a nazi -- in its entirety is to understand how Hitler cast his spell. Forget the crowds overcome by weeping, hyperventilating hysteria at the feet of Elvis, or the reception of the Beatles at their first U.S. concerts. What can compare to Hitler parting a sea made up of hundreds of thousands of standing-at-attention and transfixed believers as he marches to the podium. Or to see the massive, flaming swastikas made up of hundreds of hand-held torches slowly turning in the darkness like the grinding gears of the gates of hell. Images staged and yet real. This Special Edition is a new windowboxed digital transfer that exposes all of the film frame. Light black bars appear on all four sides of the image. The interesting audio commentary is by historian Dr. Anthony R. Santoro. Also included is Leni Riefenstahl's 1935 short film, "Day of Freedom" ("Tag der Freiheit"). The newly translated -- and removable -- English subtitles are disturbing and compelling.
Rating:
Summary: One of History's Horrible Lessons
Review: The fact that a "nobody" like Adolf Hitler rose to such power is frightening enough, but thanks to this film we have a recorded history that helps explain WHY. Riefenstahl's glorious filmmaking technique depicts the savagely seductive power of the Fuhrer over the people of Germany and is an important piece of history to help remind us "never to forget" and, especially, to not let it happen again.
Rating:
Summary: Evil in a beautiful guise
Review: It makes one a touch nervous getting anything by the Nazis, but Leni Riefenstahl is a genius filmmaker. Unlike shallow propaganda, her work gets in your head, a precursor to filmmakers like Scorcese et al. And, btw, The Bible and Mein Kampf have nothing in common! The son of a Dachau liberator.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent quality
Review: This DVD was recommended as the best version available for this film. It is. There is an extra film "Day of Freedom" included, along with the most complete film exposure available via the windowbox process. Sound is good. Everything is clear. You can see the pattern in the eagle over the Nuremburg rally well, and you can see the expressions on the peoples faces even. The filmwork of Leni Reifenstahl must be seen to be believed--awesome. Hitler and Hess are seen with hair misplaced and sweating, etc.--emphasizing their reality and humanness. The film is old, but it still hits you with hurricane force right in the gut. Wow. Don't miss this one. It is a historical gem.
Rating:
Summary: A Frightening Film
Review: Having Just finished a World War II Tour of Europe, I just can't figure out how a country that produced a Goethe, a Beethoven and a Bach could also commit the monstrous acts that it did during WW II. This film shows the hold that Adolf Hitler had on the people of Germany during his rise to full power during the 30's. It is a masterfully made film. The opening sequence of Hitler's plane descending from the clouds to land in Nuremburg proclaims Hitler as a Messiah coming to earth to redeem Germany, and, indeed, would have had an enormous impact on the German people of this period. However, the film is truly frightening to me. I visited Buchenwald on the tour. I viewed the "shower stalls" and the ovens. It is overwhelming seeing this film in the light of that visit. However, it is well worth viewing, although I cannot say that I enjoyed it.
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Summary: It is time to learn the Truth!!
Review: Do not listen to these haters that post these messages, all I can say is read the Bible read Mein Kampf read International Jew and the Protocals of Zion, those boos clearly say who our real enemies are and it isnt the Nazis, the Nazis did what was right by stopping the Soviet Hordes from taking over all of Europe, read the book Stalins war of Extermination Hitler indeed knew of Stalins plans and had to deal with them before they delt with him!!I also recomend the book SS Panzergrenadier or the Holocaust Dogma of Judaism if you are wanting to learn about the Bogus Holocaust, its time to learn the other side of WW2 instead of the Jewish American side!!
Rating: 
Summary: Just a note on the commentary
Review: The commentary by Anthony R. Santoro is terrible. He has no particular opinions on the film's direction or aesthetics, and his 'thoughts' consist mainly of self-evident play-by-play observations. His knowledge of German is obviously cursory at best, his jokes are lame and irrelevant, and his pronunciation of "Nazi" rhymes, annoyingly, with "Nancy." My advice is: wait for a truly definitive edition with valuable materials before you actually buy this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Of historical interest only
Review: Given the machinations of modern-day advertising, it is difficult to place oneself back in the 1940s and to try to understand why this film was ever considered to be the height of sophistication in propaganda. I suspect that the desire to claim victory over an evil and highly dangerous enemy after the war had a great deal to do with it. Leni Riefenstahl has a great reputation as a film maker of propaganda, but so does Eisenstein, and Eisenstein did it twenty years earlier. Today's viewer is still overwhelmed by Eisenstein's genius, while Leni Riefenstahl's work is dated and often silly.
Rating: 
Summary: Germany's madness
Review: I had to struggle to collect my thoughts after watching Leni Riefenstahl's infamous propaganda film. What can one say about it? Riefenstahl presents Hitler and the Nazi Party in a benign and glorified light and almost makes you want to be a part of it. You find yourself being sucked into the images and crowds and cheering on the Nazis. Then the film is finished and reality sets in. Riefenstahl claims to this day that this is simply an art film, not a political or propaganda film. But every shot of Triumph of the Will suggests a woman infatuated with her subject; Hitler and Nazism. The shots of thousands of soldiers marching in unison is both stunning and terrifying. The close-up shots of expressionless soldiers standing at attention are frightening and disturbing. You think to yourself, 'nobody's home'. Even more disturbing are shots of children standing in the streets waving, parents holding up their children so they can see the parade. These children will be exposed to Nazi ideals, inducted into Hitler's youth, trained as soldiers, molded into racists, murderers, in other words into good little Nazis who will sacrifice themselves for their country. Ironically, although this is considered to be a great propaganda film, the weakest parts are the scenes where Hitler gives his speeches. No amount of camera work can disguise the fact that this man is insane. He gives speaches about crushing the red menace and Germany's enemies. He calls for peace while also calling for courage and loyalty to one's country. He claims the German people are in favour with God and equates God with Nazism. He claims that the Third Reich will last for a thousand years when in fact it will only last for twelve. And this is after Riefenstahl has edited 115 minutes from a 2 hour speech. Many Germans and Austrians who lived through the Nazi era claim that they did not support Hitler, or that they were helpless to resist him, or that they did not know what the Nazis were up to. But it's pretty clear from this film that most Germans DID support Hitler and that most supported him eagerly. Riefenstahl herself claims to have been ignorant about what Hitler was up to. If Hitler's favorite filmmaker did not know what Hitler was up to then who did? One wonders how many present day Germans who seem like nice people have skeletons in their closets.
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