Rating: 
Summary: Powerfully disturbing film with lack of credibility
Review: No doubt a powerful and disturbing film about THE MOST tragic time in humanity, and it broke my heart to see all the mistreatment and the carelessness/complete disregard for human life. I can't help wonder, though, if the story is really credible. Why would a German businessman risk his life and undergo bankruptcy to save people that his very people were against? If this story really is true, I doubt he did so out of the kindness of his heart, but more for reputation-boosting. I expected a lot from this film, after all, it outlines something horrifying and truly a tragedy, but I couldn't help thinking that this film undermined the sensitivity of this subject by including a greedy, selfish, profiteering, womanizing German businessman in the story. I think that if you really want to learn more about the Holocaust, it should not be through films such as this, but through actual real-life documentaries that include no "other" unnecessary characters/stories, but truly tell the real pain, the real hurt and loss of the Jewish people who were treated so badly just because they believed differently from others. Regardless, there were some truly powerful moments in the film: The pictures of the starving prisoners who were forced to strip and be inspected by Nazi doctors, who would determine whether they could work or whether they should be killed. The little girl in the bright red dress, the only color, the only sunshine, in an otherwise gray, dark period of time, the very essence of innocence, and her symbolism later in the film when her lifeless body is wheelbarrowed over to the ever-growing pile of dead bodies that were to be incinerated. When Amon Goeth's young Jewish maid asks Oskar Schindler why he shot an elderly woman who was just passing by, bothering no one, looking at no one; his reply: because she meant nothing to him, she was just one of those people who neither bothered nor pleased him, just that she was just a random person with no meaning to him, was the reason why he so cruelly took a life so easily.I do think this film is worth watching, no doubt, but please don't automatically assume you know everything about the Holocaust because you watched this film; this film portrayed life less harshly than life for the imprisoned actually was. Please watch documentaries on the Holocaust, research more through books and legitimate media, if you want the true facts.
Rating: 
Summary: Black and white and disturbing
Review: I've read that Schindler's List was Steven Spielberg's best work, but I avoided seeing the movie because I thought it would be something like the film adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank." Last week, I finally got around to renting it and it was definitely worth it. Schindler's List can be best described as "black and white and disturbing." It is difficult to criticize the movie because it would most likely sound ignorant if I did. The graphic violence in Schindler's List is enough to turn the head of the strongest person, but that's the reason it was made. Steven Spielberg spared no details. When someone thinks of Spielberg, we usually recall movies like Jurassic Park and E.T. Although these movies have moral behind it, Schindler's List is practically based on it. The display of black and white in the movie is appropriate; it signifies the bleak world of the Jewish people. The examples of color in the film have profound effect. When Schindler is watching the liquidation of the ghetto from a hill, he sees a young Jewish girl wandering the streets, the only color her bright red jacket. Later in the film, when the concentration camp director Amon Goeth is ordered to burn the bodies of Jews, Schindler sees the red jacket wheelbarrowed off to the bonfire. The look of shock and revelation on his face strikes your heart. It is like the blind has been raised from the windows of his eyes and he is appalled by what he sees. The second color (not many reviewers have mentioned this) are the flames of the candles that Rabbi Levartov and others light during their preparation for the sabbath in Schindler's artillery shell factory. The bright orange shines out of the bleak world of the Schindler Jews. See this movie, everyone. It will change the way you think.
Rating:
Summary: Never Again!
Review: This is Steven Spielberg's tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. Filmed with stunning precision, in Black and White to stress the stark bleakness of the situation faced by the Jews in Nazi occupied Poland, this is also the story of one man's attempt to bring humanity to a totally inhumane situation. Liam Neeson plays Oskar Schindler, a German war profiteer who comes to Poland with next to nothing but a plan to fleece the Third Reich and leave with "steamer trunks" full of cash. He takes advantage of the forced relocation of Polish Jews to the ghetto in Cracow and establishes, through somewhat shady means, the Deutsche Emailwaren Fabrik, where he manufactures enamel ware for the Wehrmacht. In the process of starting his business, he enlists the aid of Ben Kingsley (Itzak Stern) the former chief accountant of the company. Schindler then proceeds with his program, but he needs workers. Schindler, a master of the con, convinces several influential officers in the Allegmeine SS that hisplan can be mutually beneficial for all. The Jews in the ghetto will be the workers (slaves) and Schindler will "take care" of his Nazi partners. One of the most despicable is SS Untersturmfuhrer (later Hauptsturmfuhrer) Amon Goeth, played with chilling accuracy by Ralph Fiennes. While partnering with Schindler, Goeth amuses himself by randomly sniping into the camp from the veranda of his house (which overlooks the camp's perimeter). He also involves himself in many of the construction details and there is a frightening look at his character when he arbitrarily executes a female Jewish civil engineer simply because she points out that the foundation for a barracks was poured wrong. He orders one of his sergeants to shoot her and then, takes her advice anyway. He turns to his staff and says, "we will not argue with these people..." Arbeitslager Plazsow was not a death camp in the same way that Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen or Sobibor or Treblinka or any of the others were. It was a holding facility for the slave laborers who made Schindler andother Nazis wealthy as they provided goods and services for the Third Reich. Needless to say, Goeth's psychopathic behavior, along with the murderous policy edicts from Berlin ensured that many in the camp did die from unnatural causes. Spielberg uses the interactions between Schindler and the SS and Schindler and his Jews to deliver the emotional punch in this movie. As the movie reels out, the viewer sees the subtle transformation in Schindler, as he tries to do the right thing and save as many lives as possible. He even intercedes with Amon Goeth and tries to moderate his homicidal impulses when he explains the true nature of the power the Germans have over the Jews. There is an interesting conversation after a party, where Schindler tries to teach Goeth about pardons. After that scene, there are almost humorous scenes immediately after, where Goeth stalks through the camp "pardoning" inmates for offenses that would normally draw a bullet to the back of the head. Throughout the film, John Williams soaring score is intertwined with Jewish religious music used to reinforce religious and cultural ceremonies. This is an outstanding film and it provides an eye-opening look at the heroism of Schindler and the people he sought to protect and deliver from the Nazis. To be sure, this is not a pleasant or happy movie. The ending was just another beginning, for the survivors were now refugees and the Nazis had deprived them of everything. They had to start over again and find new homes. If you never see another movie on the depredations of the Nazi era, you must see SCHINDLER'S LIST. As the movie closes, Spielberg streams the real characters of the story (accompanied by the actors who played them on film). Oskar Schindler is buried in Israel and is considered a "rightheous person" by the Committee of the Yad Vashem. This movie, which is a celebration of life, is also a tribute to him, and others like him, who did NOT follow in lock-step or look away as the Nazi's butchered six million people. As this movie serves to remind all who see it of man's inhumanity to his fellow man, it is also a loud message that this type of inhumanity must never be allowed to happen again.
Rating: 
Summary: Balance your views please
Review: What happened in Deutschland during last century was very unfortunate. Especially if you were Jewish. It is not something to be taken lightly. However, there is a tragedy in the twentieth century that we are still dumbing down our media for sales. History should be left to qualified and balanced observers. There are many ways to murder people. It is easy to point the finger at someone with blood on his jackboots. Much harder to find the person who regularly adjusted the accounts book and drove a family or a society into poverty and starvation.The Deustche people were merely trying to assert their power in the world in the same way that the British were doing. Let's not forget the millions of slaves that Britain referred to as "subjects" working in the concentration camp called Asia. Why hasn't anyone made more than one decent film about these people? WE've seen the Nazi story a hundred times - and better produced by far. Why not address the Bosnian Genocide as it happens? This is media manipulation at it's worst. Dehumanising one side for effect and exaggerating the humanity of the film-maker's side. If you want an emotional wake for dead ancestors or relatives you are welcome to sit through this for three hours. Nobody should be mocking the nasty things that happened here. More balanced individuals may find a more accurate historical account in the 1940's film called The Young Lions. This addresses many of the issues on both sides in a humanitarian ways. Not least the factor of Jewish resolute non-integration with other societies ethics and inbreeding problems resulting thereof.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable!
Review: Simply said this is probably the best motion picture made to date. At least in my humble opinion. While driving away from the theater, after the first time I saw it, I began to cry uncontrollably. No movie has ever challenged me in this way or brought me to such heights and depths. It should be required viewing for every High School student in the world. Those who pass on this movie because of it's dark side (including my wife) will miss out on a true human story. It will be painful, but in the end it will make you both stronger and enriched. Enough said.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Importanat Film In Cinema History
Review: "Schindler's List" is such an overwhelmingly divine,noble and heart-felt effort,and it deals with such a painful,shocking,sad,and unforgettable chapter in our(meaning the world's) shared history with such grace,accuracy,candor,and respect for the survivors,that I called it the "most important film in history" Truthfully,though,it almost transcends it's medium,into a rarified place of it's own.It's very difficult to consider this film and,say,"Little Nicky" as being in the catagory(meaning film).Even the closest second to "Schindler" in terms of impact,quality,and subject matter,"The Godfather Trilogy",pales in comparison,simply because the subject it's dealing with covers a much narrower segment of society;the Holocaust affected virtually everyone in the western hemisphere,and the scars are still,and will be,felt by innumerable people.Steven Spielberg has accomplished something few have ever even attempted;he has made history accessible to everyone.Using his unparalleled clout and all the considerable resources he has at his disposal,he has captured forever the entire expereience of the Holocaust faithfully,and done justice to the unfathmable strength,dignity,pain,and humanity of it's survivors.Hopefully his efforts(for which,in my opinion,he deserves much more than an Academy Award;he deserves a Nobel Piece Prize) will ensure that no one will ever forget what happened--and,also ensure it is never repeated.
Rating:
Summary: Still affected all these years later
Review: I was thinking recently about films that have lingered in the mind and heart. An avid movie buff for years, there is simply no other film which has had the same impact on me as this utter masterpiece by Spielberg. I will never forget seeing it the first time in the theater. I was so stunned that I could not cry during the film itself. About 20 minutes later, while dropping my girlfriend off at her house, I simply lost it. It was as if all the impact of the film hit at once. I cried for 15 minutes straight. What a testament to the power of this film. That feeling has never left me. I am 30 years old and have no family relation to the horrors of the Holocaust, but Steven Spielberg made me feel, deep inside, the unspeakable anquish of this uniquely evil event in history. Simply put, every person on earth should see this film to truly understand the evil that is possible on this earth. "Schindler's List" is a testament of remembrance to the 6 million Jews and others who died. May there never be the need for such a film as long as life exists on this planet.
Rating:
Summary: Whoomp there it is!
Review: I was looking over schindler's list and i noticed that he forgot to add fran drescher to his worst dressed. Mr. schindler i think your losing it, although I think i'm with you on the gown that shelley long wore to the Grammys, don't go there girlfriend!
Rating:
Summary: A Portrait of Inhumanity
Review: People have written quite a bit on how wonderful this movie is, so I suppose there isn't much for me to add. The haunting images, the haunting music...I last saw this movie a few years ago, and I can still feel my throat tighten when I think of certain scenes. Not to short-change Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley (who are magnificent), but I must mention that Ralph Fiennes is absolutely convincing and terrifying in this movie. (I read that he was so convincing that the Holocaust survivors on the set refused to shake his hand.) His portrait of a man without values (or, perhaps more accurately, with his own, warped values) is a triumph that lingers and that makes you wonder how the existence of such a man is possible within the realm of humanity.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This movie has touched me in a way that no movie ever has, I find it interesting that in all the bad reviews about this movie, no one has yet to give a legitimate reason for their bad review.It's boring......Ok, perhaps you are too emotionally underdeveloped to watch this, might I suggest a movie that requires no though processes at all, like The Jerk, starring Steve Martin.It is racist toward Germans......This is the one that makes me laugh the hardest. Hmmmm, the germans WERE the ones who killed 6 million jews were they not? I guess spielberg forgot to place the disclamer at the end reading something like; "This film is not insinuating in any way that any german alive today is a evil, jew-hating monster."The movie is too long, the movie is in black and white....These ones are too retarded to even address....
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