The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse

Rating:
Summary: One of a kind movie
Review: A truly unique movie that was way ahead of its time in exploring the theme of the loss of privacy in the modern world. The kind of movie that shows you don't need a big budget or amazing special effects to create a truly outstanding sci-fi film.

Rating:
Summary: A Fitting Coda to Lang's Career
Review: Barely released in America, "The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse" (1960) marked director Fritz Lang's final film. At age 70, Lang had returned to Germany after abandoning Hollywood filmmaking for good in 1956. Despite a low budget and obvious commercial considerations ("1,000 Eyes" was the launching pad for a popular, never-ending series of "Dr. Mabuse" films), Lang managed to create an atmospheric thriller. Though the criminal mastermind had died in 1933's "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse," Lang developed a spiritual heir who would continue the Mabuse tradition. In retrospect, "1,000 Eyes" is a throwback to Lang's early German thrillers, yet it has a modernist style -- depicting a world in which NOTHING is what it seems, including the characters who inhabit Lang's mysterious environment. The film is not without its slow stretches, but the inventive assassination sequence and climactic car chase represent Lang at his best. Overall, a fitting coda to the director's 41-year career.

Rating:
Summary: A Fitting Coda to Lang's Career
Review: Barely released in America, "The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse" (1960) marked director Fritz Lang's final film. At age 70, Lang had returned to Germany after abandoning Hollywood filmmaking for good in 1956. Despite a low budget and obvious commercial considerations ("1,000 Eyes" was the launching pad for a popular, never-ending series of "Dr. Mabuse" films), Lang managed to create an atmospheric thriller. Though the criminal mastermind had died in 1933's "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse," Lang developed a spiritual heir who would continue the Mabuse tradition. In retrospect, "1,000 Eyes" is a throwback to Lang's early German thrillers, yet it has a modernist style -- depicting a world in which NOTHING is what it seems, including the characters who inhabit Lang's mysterious environment. The film is not without its slow stretches, but the inventive assassination sequence and climactic car chase represent Lang at his best. Overall, a fitting coda to the director's 41-year career. For the first time on video, "The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse" is available in a widescreen format with English subtitles -- a vast improvement over the badly dubbed American version released in 1964.

Rating:
Summary: One of a kind movie
Review: Last movie of german-american director Fritz Lang, 1000 EYES OF DR MABUSE must not be neglected even if one can prefer M, FURY or MOONFLEET in the royal filmography of this Master. Personally, I confess that I'm very fond of this movie, maybe not for the right reasons. 1000 EYES OF DR MABUSE is one of these movies I've discovered a sunday afternoon on TV when I was twelve or thirteen years old. And even now, I can remember the nightmares generated by the blind medium or the multiple hidden rooms of The Luxor Hotel. To be short, I've bought the DVD right after its release.

As bonus features, you will have the choice between the subtitled german version or an english dubbed version, a very interesting commentary of the producer of the DVD who is a Dr Mabuse specialist (12 Dr Mabuse movies have been produced until now !). And last but not least, you will discover a featurette presenting interviews of Fritz Lang's specialists including Forrest Ackerman.

Naturally, there are a lot of other good reasons to put this DVD on the shelves of your library but, if you have stopped at this peculiar page of Amazon, you surely already know that Fritz Lang's 1000 EYES OF DR MABUSE is a valuable addition to any movie lover's collection. So, have fun with the mad doc.

A DVD for the child in you.

Rating:
Summary: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
Review: Last movie of german-american director Fritz Lang, 1000 EYES OF DR MABUSE must not be neglected even if one can prefer M, FURY or MOONFLEET in the royal filmography of this Master. Personally, I confess that I'm very fond of this movie, maybe not for the right reasons. 1000 EYES OF DR MABUSE is one of these movies I've discovered a sunday afternoon on TV when I was twelve or thirteen years old. And even now, I can remember the nightmares generated by the blind medium or the multiple hidden rooms of The Luxor Hotel. To be short, I've bought the DVD right after its release.

As bonus features, you will have the choice between the subtitled german version or an english dubbed version, a very interesting commentary of the producer of the DVD who is a Dr Mabuse specialist (12 Dr Mabuse movies have been produced until now !). And last but not least, you will discover a featurette presenting interviews of Fritz Lang's specialists including Forrest Ackerman.

Naturally, there are a lot of other good reasons to put this DVD on the shelves of your library but, if you have stopped at this peculiar page of Amazon, you surely already know that Fritz Lang's 1000 EYES OF DR MABUSE is a valuable addition to any movie lover's collection. So, have fun with the mad doc.

A DVD for the child in you.

Rating:
Summary: a nightmarish alegory of the modern society; a masterpiece
Review: The Mabuse films by Fritz Lang are not just "cop-and-thieves" thrillers: of course they are quite enjoyable as a thriller-suspence crime movies, but for those with the eyes to see, Mabuse is really a metaphore of power and its functions in a modern society. Already in 1922, when Lang made the first Mabuse films (DOCTOR MABUSE in two parts; a new restored DVD of this film is now in preparation), he foresaw not only the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, but also a society under control (or hypnosis) by the medias and informations sirculating on them. Lang's last entry to the series, THE 1000 EYES OF DR.MABUSE, is a nightmarish alegory of the post-war modern society. The Luxor Hotel where the story mainly takes place is a buiding made by the Nazis and has a secret camera system ovserving every single thing that happens in it. The idea that we are all observed by those who are in power has now, as you see around yourself, became our own reality. Many contemporary filmmakers, such as Wim Wenders with his END OF THE VIOLENCE, try to portray the same idea, but none of them are as efficient as Lang, inspite of the low budget Lang was allowed to spend, and the classic cliche framework (involving a psychic clairvoyant and an American millionaire hero). It's a masterpiece, in the sense that it is really an oeuvre of the master. The new digital transfer from original 35mm elements is almost flawless and displays Langs lucid vision of the world in a stunning manner. In the bonus featurettes, people who knew Lang in his last years talks about him, and is also quite interesting. One problem, though: the featurette tells us the name of those people but most of them we don't know who they are. I am also looking forward for the release of THE TESTAMENT OF DR.MABUSE (the 1932 original) on a DVD that looks as good as this one.

Rating:
Summary: The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse - DVD MAJOR GLITCHES
Review: There are two major glitches in this DVD. At the end of chapter 8 and again in chapter 25 at the 2:30 mark, two different video sequences cut in: One is a color soccer instructional, and the other a Japanese (I think) dubbed B&W film. How could such a thing get past the mastering phase??

Otherwise, this is a great film, wonderfully presented with all the extras listed in these other reviews. But these glitches make it unacceptable. I hope the same problems don't pop up in Vol. 2 of the series!

Rating:
Summary: Last Fritz Lang "Mabuse" film is a Treasure!
Review: This disk is one of my favorites. Although not quite up to the standards of it's two predecessors, the Third Dr. Mabuse film (and the last directed by Lang himself) is wonderful and more than worth the purchase price.

David Kalat's extraordinary commentary is easily THE BEST I have ever heard (and I've heard quite a few.) He strikes the perfect balance between knowledge and wit - the narration is informative without being dry or condescending and, indeed, is quite lively at times. His delivery style is remarkably excellent throughout and is a major reason I consider the disk to be one of my most valued.

Two tiny quibbles, stuff so small as to bother only me: The English Language captioning, written for the German audio track, is a little disorienting when viewed in connection with the English language track. Most of this has to do with the demands of lip-synchronization between two languages. Still, and despite the additional cost it might have created, two independent sets of captions would have been appreciated - one for each of the different languages. This would be a welcome addition for a hearing impared viewer.

The other minor quibble is that the documentary really needed captioning, much more so than the feature owing to the heavy accented speech.

All told, though, this is absolutely a remarkable film and a remarkable, and very treasured disk. AllDay Entertainment is releasing some extraordinary stuff, and deserve kudos and, above all, purchases!