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Summary: A Recommended Documentary Dealing With The Third Reich.
Review: I wasn't disappointed after viewing this exceptional documentary of the Third Reich. There's some really great footage on this film. All I can say is just view it; no one should be disappointed. One of the best.
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Summary: How A Longing For Beauty Turned Ugly
Review: I've seen a lot of documentaries about Nazi Germany, and this one is as good as it gets. By the end, I definitely had a deeper understanding of that ultimate question: "How could the Holocaust possibly have happened?" This film really shows you how beautiful and exciting the Third Reich was, how easy it must have been to get caught up in its inertia. ... Usually, documentaries such as this show only tiny little clips from Nazi propaganda, but "Architecture of Doom" shows more footage, enough for one to be able to grasp how racism could be encouraged and reinforced via public service announcements about health and hygiene.
This film also opened my eyes to how intelligent and talented Adolf Hitler was. In spite of a critical narrative that described his paintings and the design of the Berghof, you can see from his work that he was not the simple "wallpaper hanger" of popular myth. To understand how the German people could have followed him so loyally into total destruction, I think it is important to be able to see him in this light.
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Summary: An Expose' on Art's Potential For Good or Evil
Review: Not only did Hitler's motives and means suddenly become clear, but, for the first time they actually fit together logically. Within the artistic, historical and philosophical context of this film, the mystery of Hitler's methodical mania actually makes a sort of "sense" inasmuch as he finally at least becomes "predictable" based on some sort of rationale. Very unique and utterly fascinating! More important, however, is the argument this movie implies for the true power of art ... for better or worse. Hitler clearly understood this power and made its manipulation top priority. It makes me doubt the wisdom in having government sponsored art at all. Indeed, for what purposes might the National Endowment for the Arts be one day used? Very thought provoking on a subtle yet grand scale... suggesting that our study of Nazi Germany has been missing the point all along. Indeed, perhaps so.
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Summary: Superbly produced, landmark documentary survey.
Review: Taking full advantage of what the DVD format has to offer, The Architecture Of Doom is a superbly produced, critically acclaimed, landmark documentary surveying the inner working of the Nazi Third Reich in terms of art, architecture and popular culture. Hitler sought to emulate the classical art and monumental architecture of antiquity as this riveting film shows how the Nazis tried to make his amateurish design ideas into a lasting memorial to his vision of a "New German Art" of idealized Aryan images. This DVD version is enhanced with an English narration by Sam Gray, interactive menus and scene access. Highly recommended for academic and community video collections.
Rating: 
Summary: First half excellent documentary, 2nd half not good
Review: This documentary offers an excellent look at the influence of the arts, and medicine and eugenics on the minds of the hierarchy of the Third Reich. Combined with rare footage, and learned commentary, the film shows the influence of the architecture and style of classical antiquity, and the yearning to create a perfect 'man' in the Greek sense of the word. One of the memorable quotes I remember from the movie is how Hitler wanted his cyclopian buildings and stadiums to stand the test of time, and even when in ruins and covered in ivy, would reflect the greatness of a former civilization. Now that's thinking ahead!Unfortunately, the second half of the documentary takes a left turn into holocaust propaganda territory, leaving the viewer wondering if two different people wrote the first and second hour, as it has little to do with the overall subject matter, and lacks the objectivity and factual care of the first half.
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Summary: generally a model documentary
Review: This is a superb documentary. Bold and controversial thesis. Evidence marshalled effectively. Great use of archival footage. Generally gripping and with very good pacing (occasionally there is a digression which, while important to the general line of argument, is not introduced in a way that makes the relevance immediately clear). Plus, don't you really want to know what projects seemed closest to Hitler's heart when the war was getting bogged down on the Eastern Front? Hint: They weren't military ones.
Cohen argues that the Nazi project was that of producing a better and more beautiful human being and race, a project that integrated art and the science of the day. The Nazi aesthetic was not just propaganda to get people to become committed Nazis, but was a goal in and of itself, from the earlier optimism of producing a better humanity (or at least Aryan race) to Hitler's eventual--but not unmotivated by earlier commitments--desire for an ending befiting classical tragedy.
The beginning is marvellously done. The portrayal of Nazism is so sympathetic that one is drawn in, and may even wonder if the film maker does not have Nazi sympathies. Any such wonder disappears within twenty minutes, but the film maker's ability to see what was so attractive about the Nazi project is crucial to the success of the film. In the end, one realizes that the Nazi project was evil in a way simultaneously subtler and yet deeper than one may have thought at the outset.
The film maker never draws parallels with our time. Still, the film should make one reflect on how the desires for perfect human beings and for the elimination of the imperfect are manifested now.
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Summary: masterpiece.
Review: This is the best documentry i ve ever seen aboat the Third Reich. It really shows the core, what it is all aboat. A Masterpiece is really a very good name for this movie.
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Summary: A crystal clear perspectiveof Hitler's primary motives.
Review: This would be the ideal "package" for anyone who is interested in what Hitler's motives were. A totalitarian who used glorious nostalgia to express his ideas to the people of Germany in the 1940's. This movie is the best documentary on the Third Reich. The director does not take a biased view but rather takes a blatant approach to describing Hitlers frightening plans to create a fantasy like German nation. The movie is perfect for college courses.
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Summary: Fascinating and Disturbing
Review: You get a pretty good insight in this fascinating documentary on what made Hitler tick. Hitler appeared to only know other races basically through what he had read & heard. He didn't see that as a problem though. The film points out that his favourite author was Karl May who wrote childrens adventure books which were set in exotic places, and Karl May had never met the races he wrote about either. Hitler used the example of May to justify his view that you could form opinions on entire groups of people without ever having met them. Perhaps if he'd actually met some Jewish people in his life, he would not have been so full of hate against them and realized that they were just normal folk. Hitler truly was a disgraceful piece of work. The documentary illustrates how Hitler believed he was the expert in every field, especially art and architecture. No wonder he had no real buddies (with maybe Albert Speer an exception). After Germany won the war, Hitler was planning on living in a new gigantic palace the size of which would put all other previously built palaces to shame. So much for the Socialism in National Socialism. The word 'humble' does not spring to mind. Anyway, I recommend this DVD to everyone as it contains a great deal of insight and rare footage not seen before. It is both disturbing and enlightening.
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