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Movies / On DVD / The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Baader Meinhof Complex

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The Baader Meinhof Complex (2009)

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Reviews Counted:80

Fresh:69

Rotten:11

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: Intricately researched and impressively authentic slice of modern German History, with a terrific cast, assured direction, and a cracking script.

Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for blood and violence.

Runtime: 2 hrs 29 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:14-11-2008

Synopsis: Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the still fragile German democracy. The radicalized... Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the still fragile German democracy. The radicalized children of the Nazi generation led by Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu), Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold (Bruno Ganz). And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he’s only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.

Producer and scriptwriter Bernd Eichinger (PERFUME - STORY OF A MURDERER, DOWNFALL) brings Stefan Aust’s standard work on RAF terrorism, THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX to the big screen for Constantin Film. Director Uli Edel (LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN, ZOO) presents the dramatic events that shook the democratic foundations of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1967 to the “German Autumn” of 1977. --© Vitagraph [More]

Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz

Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz, Nadja Uhl, Alexandra Maria Lara, Karoline Herfurth, Hannah Herzsprung

Director: Uli Edel

Director: Uli Edel
Screenwriter: Bernd Eichinger
Producer: Bernd Eichinger
Studio: Vitagraph Films

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Reviews for The Baader Meinhof Complex

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Fascinating history, very good movie — but demanding, and its lack of easy answers will frustrate some. Lessons about 21st century terrorism are implicit, but not overly stressed.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/14/08
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As an action-packed pageant of events it is excitingly demonstrative and provocative, but as human drama it proves a mite too enigmatic and unyielding.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
11/14/08
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Along with Downfall, with whom it shares a screenwriter, this is among the greatest of the recent new wave of German films.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
11/14/08
Ali Catterall
Ali Catterall
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There is a real problem with a film that, although thoroughly researched and directed with integrity, struggles to move the audience.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment 1 Comment
11/14/08
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There are plenty of suspect devices and home-made bombs duct-taped to alarm clocks here, but we never find out what makes their creators tick.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment 1 Comment
11/14/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Baader-Meinhof Complex, directed by Uli Edel from a screenplay by Bernd Eichinger, represents a darker vision of the period that, given the ongoing war on terror and fear about home-grown militants, seems especially timely.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
11/14/08
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's an impressive achievement lent extra weight by masterful performances from Bleibtrau, Gedeck and Wokalek as the conflicted terrorists who became psychologically shredded by the unstoppable force the RAF had become.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
11/14/08
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

Despite the convincing cast and hefty running time, there’s no space left for reflection and insight.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
11/14/08
Total Film

The film crams a vast amount of information into two-and-a-half hours, and makes an honest, intelligent attempt to portray terrorism from every angle, including the victims' and authorities' viewpoints.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
11/14/08
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

A fascinating story, well-made, but also rather lumbering and lacking in any real focus.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
11/14/08
Daily Mirror [UK]

This fascinating story may not be entirely accurate but it is certainly an engrossing film.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
11/14/08
Sun Online

The Baader Meinhof Complex is the latest autopsy on an important and under-dramatised segment of European history. Those who do not learn from it risk being among those who might repeat it.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
11/14/08
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

Fascinating history, very good movie -- but demanding, and its lack of easy answers will frustrate some. Lessons about 21st century terrorism are implicit, but not overly stressed.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/14/08
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

His approach has simply been to cram everything he knows about the Baader Meinhof years into a running time of two and a half hours. It is really the most unhelpful and unenlightening film on the subject you could possibly imagine.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
11/14/08
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

This impressively mounted and thoroughly researched film is so watchable, whatever one’s views about its fanatical participants.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
11/14/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Impressively directed and superbly written, this is an engaging, thought-provoking and thoroughly gripping thriller with terrific performances from two of Germany's biggest stars.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/14/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Pumped with energy and authenticity, this film recounts the tumultuous events in 1960s and 70s Germany with vivid detail and an involving cast of characters. It's breathtaking filmmaking, in every sense of the word.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
11/14/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Edel wisely reveals the charismatic qualities of the terrorist leadership: without this element it would be impossible to understand just how popular the Gang became with the young.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
11/13/08
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

Engrossing on many levels -- except for, fatally, an emotional one.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
09/29/08
Fionnuala Halligan
Fionnuala Halligan
Screen International

It's not surprising the film was Germany's 2008 submission for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
11/01/09
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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