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Summary: And what of the world which applauded?
Review: It is so easy in hindsight to vilify Leni Riefenstahl for making one of the most powerful and influential films of all time. After all, there is little doubt she was a genius in her field and the fact that she lent her talents to the Nazi Party to make this great propoganda film frightens us to no end. How could such an artistic genius serve pure evil, we ask. Well, what of the world that applauded "Triumph of the Will" in 1934? What of the French who gave this movie their highest honors and awards in 1935? And what of all the articles and reviews in England and in this country which tripped over themselves in praise and admiration for this film in 1934 and 1935? If Leni Riefenstahl is guilty of serving evil, so, too, is the rest of the world which paid this film incredible homage when it first appeared.
This is a breath-taking film! The direction, techniques and editing are truly remarkable.That Riefenstahl was way ahead of her time is not in question. The question is whether or not the times have yet to catch up to her genius as a film-maker. Moral certainty was a rare commodity when it came to National Socialism in the early and mid l930's. Admiration for Hitler was globally more common than we'd care to admit these days. Diplomats and journalists all over the world were praising Germany's economic recovery under Hitler's leadership. At the time when Leni Riefenstahl accepted the commission to film a Nazi rally in Nurenberg, Hitler had yet to expose the evil he would soon unleash upon the world. I am not an apologist for Riefenstahl. However,she never made another film for the Nazi Party after l934 and for that we should all be thankful. We should be thankful because had this woman chosen to serve the Nazis into the late 1930's and early l940's, those films would have served Hitler as well as any weapon system. If "Triumph of the Will" is Riefenstahl being non-political, one shudders to think what she would have created on celluloid were she a true believer. Riefenstahl frightens us with her talent. Her manipulation of the audience makes Hitchcock seem like an amatuer. Her techniques, lighting, editing and camera angles make "Citizen Kane" just another run-of-the-mill movie. And her ability to seduce the viewer is unparrelled. See "Triumph of the Will" and get a glimpse of a rare talent and a genius at work. And then be grateful that she stopped making movies when she did.
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Summary: All you need to know about the Republican Party conventions!
Review: They stole all the ideas from here! Check it out and I dare you to disagree! Watch this movie & watch a Republican National Convention. The colors are different but the techniques are the same.
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Summary: Leni = historicaly genious
Review: the movie IS a SERIOUS push - my family being Jewish and punished in concentration camps - still in this pic I feel it's serious negative strength. Try to get in your grandpa's shoes in 1930's when in central Europe - nearly no electricity, working at their fields or in the factories - and what you get is a persuasive documment that can convert even a present-time undecided may-be-undecided-antisemite to the side of the "dark power". The only thing you can be sure about is - Leni R. is definitely genious at her speciality. And - great thanx to "Synapse Films" - this is the 1st time I could view this historical documment of incredible value. And - thaaaaaanx to AMAzon.COM, too :-)
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Summary: Takes a couple of viewings to get into.
Review: I was watching the closing scenes to Titan AE when the mailman delivered Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. I subsequently popped it into the DVD player and decided to give myself a day to mentally change gears after about five minutes. Triumph of the Will covers the 5th to the 10th of September of 1934 in which various aspects of Germany's social rebirth under the Nazi party is celebrated, with stirring speeches by Adolf Hitler and his party associates as to the state of the nation and where it is headed. To convey this artistically, as opposed to a simple news reel type of programme, Leni Riefenstahl employed thirty six cameramen, who shot more than sixty hours worth of film. This raw footage was then edited down to one hundred and seven minutes of running time featuring pans, close-ups, aerial shots, jump cuts, linear and rotating tracking shots, and upward angled shots. To aid continuity, and to embellish the visual rhythm, a heavy musical score was added and underscored by interaction from the crowd. All this ends up as a documentary without a commentator, the speeches and crowd reaction being the only vocal element, the sound carefully edited to the pictures so that the dynamic qualities of the film are reinforced. Some still advocate the idea that Triumph of the Will was a propaganda / public relations exercise for the Nazi party. But this is an erroneous point of view. My DVD was gotten from Amazon .co.uk. The sound quality was very good to poor. The speeches had the best quality, with heavy applause and chanting coming off the worst due to heavy compression and print through artefacts. The picture quality was decent enough for a sixty eight year old film. My copy claims to be the complete film, and is released by DD video of England, so those who have experienced disappointing DVD releases might find this to be a better choice.
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Summary: A true work of art!!
Review: im a relly huge history fan of the world war 2 era,and this filled a gap ,that history books just dont cover.in the movie
it sets you back to that time of what really was going through there heads.leni a woman doing what she loved the most,clearly captured a time in history we'll never forget .this ones a keeper .good for any history fan of world war 2.
Rating: 
Summary: Transfer could easily have been digitally cleaned for DVD.
Review: The quality of the video on DVD is not as bad as some people have said, however, with today's digital technology it would have been fairly easy to digitally "clean up". Perhaps, there will be a Criteron Edition of this film.
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Summary: Triumph of the ... Divine Will ¿ of Freedom and Peace!
Review: The DVD-release of "Triumph of the Will" can only be applauded! It helps show that History inevitably makes the world the exact opposite of that planned by any terrorist dictatorship! For example, "The Triumph of the Will" certainly glorifies Hitler; yet, today, it has no value for nazi-advocates; quite the opposite! It only offers people the KNOWLEDGE that as soon as any nation, religion, ideology, or race is manipulated into a weapon of terror by a dictator, the dictator has started to lose power! The dictator's power dies because the parasite-dictator's propagandists become blind to the limitations inherent in concepts such as color, religion, nation or brotherhood, i.e., the dictator has made enemies of all people who have a different color, religion, nation or brotherhood! The result: the dictator is in the loser position of having to take on the rest of the world community. Bye-bye Dictator! To anyone who believes there is anything to gain through terror, please, watch "Triumph of the Will". Watch Hitler glorified (by himself! He commissioned the movie! The usual sick madness of egocentricity!); then, try and find one real gain of his in time or world ... there is nothing! History reversed all Hitler's plans! Try to find one monument of public respect for him ... there is none; not even an epitaph upon a gravestone! Leni Riefenstahl's masterpiece but mocks the Feuhrer and shows him as a liar, dreamer, and inculcater of children, despite being a master of rhetorical manipulation (in his short time). So, History has used "Triumph of the Will" to kind-heartedly remind that victory ALWAYS goes to those who value individual freedom and shared peace not only for self but for everyone... regardless of the others' nation, religion, ideology, or race. Nazi-ism was once propagated as an inevitable and holy-ordained world power; briefly, it had power (through violence), but now it is but an ideology that triggers questions of its advocates' sanity! The same will happen to all other religious or political dictatorships in the free world! "Triumph of the Will" helps remind what the world once fought for: to enjoy personal freedom! That is the great gift offered by the divine truth that is made manifest in History ... that is the one truly divine gift to mankind ...ALWAYS! "Triumph of the Will" has nothing at all to do with Hitler's will ... quite the opposite! A great film!
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Summary: Quality is a bit disappointing...
Review: I've owned a VHS copy of this film for 20 years or so and was eager to replace it with a DVD. I'd hoped for better quality than this. On the other hand, the optional running commentary by historian Dr. Anthony R. Santoro is worth the price of admission. If you want to understand the evil that was Adolf Hitler and Naziism, you gotta go to the original source material and this is the Real Deal. This is how Hitler and his people wanted the world to see them and, given the perspective of history, it's far more revealing than they could have known at the time.
No wonder than Frank Capra borrowed heavily from Triumph of the Will when he wanted to show the sinister aspect of the Nazis in his "Why We Fight" series of films for the U.S. armed forces.
If you're serious about history or film (or the history of film), this DVD belongs in your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Misleading advertisement
Review: While the ad for the DVD states the running time length for Day of Freedom at 30 min., it is actually the same old 17 minute version that everyone else carries and the visual quality is no better than any standard VHS. I bought the DVD for the sole purpose of seeing the 30 minute Day of Freedom and was saddened to see the usual version, which for academic purposes is missing all of Reel #2.
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Summary: Triumph of the Filmaker
Review: Put this disc in your player, turn up the volume, turn out the lights and prepare to be fascinated, horrified, stunned, assualted, and dazzled. This is not art but artful propaganda of the highest order. The full impact is only realized by viewing it beginning to end without interuption. Stay with it through the seemingly endless troop review and you will understand why that interminable sequence exists. Leave the historical commentary for later. This film is powerfully disturbing even 66 years after it was created. It is impossible to discern the power it might have had when first released. It must have at once reassured the German people and invoked fear in the rest of the world. The film is rife with premonitions of what the future will hold. It is not easy to sit through 120 minutes of Hitler worship but it has it's rewards. The editing is flawless, the changing rythmn of the edits building to a crescendo. The metaphors, sexual and otherwise are everywhere. In our sophisticated age the manipulation of the viewer is obvious, but the very obviousness of it reveals the insidious intent. This is such a powerful film that it is impossible to communicate its effect. It must be seen to be comprehended. A must see for every student of the motion picture, politics, mass psychology, or the power of myth.
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