Kirpianuscus in a long list of films about Nazi Germany, this movie seems be an exception. first because it is story of people, seduced, proud, discovering the truth and the fall of a regime who, for a time, was the image of personal success. sure, the critics are many about it. because its ambition is to be a large fresco of a dictatorship. and an embroidery with too many motifs. because it use stereotypes who , not always, are real convincing. because , after its end, you feel something missing. but it is an interesting trip in the essence of the perceptions about a dictatorship. and this virtue remains not insignificant.

jalilidalili When I saw the DVD on sale I had no idea what I was buying, but it was cheap and I hoped it could be interesting. I got much more then my money's worth! It's a story of a German family (father, mother and three sons). In the years of the depression the oldest son joins the Nazi union - simply to get a job. He feels it's the right thing (the Germans having jobs in Germany, even if it meant they'd have to get rid of the foreigners). The other son is strongly against it (but then again he doesn't have to work, he's going to study and be an intellectual).But at the time that Hitler took power and he decided to deal with the brown-shirts the oldest son realizes just what the Nazi regime is all about. As many other common men he is disillusioned and when the war comes, he's sent to the Russian front (where he simply wants to perform his duty).The other son (who's studying now) was very much against the Nazi regime, but one of the tutors shows him that the Nazi way of thinking is the right was, that the goal justifies the means. He becomes an SS officer and s firm believer in the worst parts of the Nazi ideology.The war is nearing the end, the Germany is on its knees. Two brothers meet. Their little brother (still just a child) just became one of the kid soldiers defending the Raich. Only after he blindly goes and attacks a tank the older brother (the SS officer) realizes what the blind hatred of the Nazi ideology is doing to people, and how they have virtually brainwashed him as well.This is just the main part of the story - following the lives of this particular family. There are also many other sub-stories, which really make this film more then just a family drama.All in all it will help you understand how a common man in Germany was overwhelmed by the Nazi propaganda and how the common man had virtually no choice but to do what he did. It will also show you how important it is for any leadership to have a strong opposing critical voice - otherwise the society can easily be doomed (which is not completely unlike what we are witnessing today in many parts of the world).

lord woodburry Welcome to a world of lunacy where the horror is the transparent normalcy of those who buy into the nightmare. Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil tracks the lives of two brothers Karl Hoffmann and Helmut Hoffmann who take opposing views on the new idea of National Socialism sweeping the country; one is violently opposed; the other believes Germany can harness the energy but that the extremes and excesses can be controlled by people of character from within.The main story line in Hitler's SS is nicely complemented by an excellent performance by Tony Randall as the stand-up comedian a left-over from freer Weimar days. He may be too lost in the bottle to tell the difference but he does his bit for The Fatherland in the equivalent of USO tours on the frigid Eastern Front.Yet his sense of humour and timing are always impeccable as he reminds the other Deutchers drowning their sorrows in the bottle during an Allied bombing raid of Hermann Goerings' pledge in 1940 that the Luftwaffe would intercept Any Allied Bombers, "Meyer, Meyer my name is Meyer." A pity the Gestapo did not share the sense of humor.

theredcomet What I particularly liked about this movie was the fact that it showed a view of the Nazi regime from a different perspective, that of two young German brothers.In the beginning when the Nazi party is first coming to power we see the life of two young German men. Like everyone else in Germany at that time they too are caught up in Hitler's fanaticism. One brother joins the S.A. and is chided by the other for going along with that "rubbish". But he ends up getting caught up in the S.S. when he is confronted by Heydrich at his university who then persuades him to join not for his beliefs in politics but for his intelligence. Neither knew what they were getting themselves into.What's most interesting about this story is the emotional aspects. Seeing how the brothers reacted to things that were starting to happen in the Third Reich. It was all minuscule all first. Seeing S.A. officers push an old man down some stairs. The noble but innocent younger brother tries throughout the war to change the evil that was happening all around him but finds that he is blatantly overwhelmed by opposition from his fellow Germans. While the older brother accepts what he cannot change and tries to help his younger brother into being smarter about his actions. Both are forced along a path that is becoming increasingly harder to follow. It definitely shows how some Germans were forced to go along with what was happening or be killed themselves.The acting in this movie was really well done. My only gripe was that the actors had British accents all throughout the movie which made you wake up from the story and detract from the realism. Some parts I busted up laughing seeing these guys in Nazi uniforms talking in thick British accents. But the acting by the two brothers was very good and believable. It was very emotional to see what they were going through and felt as they watched people die and the world change around them.