Hitchcoc Ira Levin was really hot stuff in the 1970's. He had books like "Rosemary's Baby," "The Stepford Wives," and this, "The Boys from Brazil." This is social science fiction. Somehow cloning has been perfected and an aging Nazi creates a race of young men using DNA from Hitler. If that isn't going to spin your beanie, stop right there. So, people have speculated that Hitler and other Nazi leaders took off for South America after the war since many were never found. And, we all know that the Germans had some great scientists. So Levin extrapolates from that. Now we get a man who is hunting these guys played by Laurence Olivier (who was actually a Nazi in "Marathon Man"). The Hitler boys seem to be progressing nicely, being artistic and deadly. There is a lot of science and sociology that would dispute this happening. Remember, Hitler rose to power because of a shattered Germany. If you are totally willing to suspend disbelief, you may enjoy this. I never bought the premise.

Leofwine_draca Like its sister film MARATHON MAN, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL is a sinister and realistic thriller that looks at the question of surviving Nazis hiding out in South America. Did they survive and did some of them continue their sinister human experiments that were started in the concentration camps? While I think MARATHON MAN has the edge in terms of being an enjoyable, all-time classic, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL is still a very good, taut thriller that just happens to have an excellent ensemble cast to boot.Two old-time heavyweights are pitted against each other here: a virtually unrecognisable Gregory Peck as sinister Nazi scientist Dr Josef Mengele, and Laurence Olivier as the doddery old Jew hot on his tail. The two men don't meet until their climatic showdown, but what a treat it is when they do! Throughout the film, both actors remind us why they were considered worldwide stars. Peck is utterly repulsive as the ruthless Nazi, but Olivier steals the film as the sympathetic Nazi hunter in a reversal of the role he played in MARATHON MAN.The film is slow paced, but remains engaging throughout, and the suspense never ceases. There's globetrotting action, assassins and a scary storyline including cloning as well as Jeremy Black playing an extremely creepy child. This is an unashamedly old-fashioned film that doesn't rely on fight scenes or car chases to tell the story, and here intelligent scripting and fine cinematography win out over the usual humdrum staples. The supporting cast is remarkable: James Mason as a Nazi, Denholm Elliott as a shifty bureaucrat, Steve Guttenberg surprisingly good in one of his earliest roles as a tragic investigator, along with the likes of Walter Gotell, Michael Gough, Wolfgang Preiss and even a couple of British actresses in brief roles: Prunella Scales and Linda Hayden. The last twenty minutes or so are absolutely riveting as the story comes to a head, and it finishes in an extremely satisfying way too. As chilling a film as any horror, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL is a fine example of the thriller genre at its best.

Anon Mause If Hollywood starts turning out movies this good again, then maybe they will solve their problems with declining ticket sales.This movie grabs you from the opening scenes and keeps grips on you until the end. It makes me want to dig up the original novel (Ira Levin, Rosemary's Baby and a long list of others) and read it.I watched this on DVD the first time, which is the way to go. I've only seen scratchy versions chopped up by TV commercials before now. The DVD version looks like it's been taken off the master prints. It does not have the scratches and other defects of a circulation print.I knocked off a star because of Gregory Peck's congenital inability to master foreign accents and some continuity errors. These minor flaws are easy to ignore. Hollywood should learn from it past successes, and this is one.

meritcoba "I confess that I am prejudiced," Kristl said as she turned to Henry.She had to blink a few times before she refocused, because the lights had flooded the theater and temporarily blinded them. Henry had yet to fix that. He meant for the light to gradually increase in strength with the music, but instead it suddenly bathed in a blinding white light. He had however managed that the music would start softly and then rise to an acceptable level. Acceptable meant that they both could hear each other. Normally they would start talking when the credits started to roll, but on request of Kristl they had sat in silence until the black at the end of the credit roll would show. "Why is that? Because it is an old movie?""No... It is because it got some of the best actors from around that time in it. Laurence Olivier, James Mason and Gregory Peck. I can not help to like movies which contain the latter two. I am a bit so-so on Olivier, but he is considered by most to be one of the best actors to date.""Is it insulting when I say that it's an old men movie?""It depends on what you intend. Is an old man movie, something bad? It is true, that it is a remarkable movie in that way. It stars people who are well into the sixties.""Yeah. That fight at the end had something funny. Those two old men beating each other up. ""Oddly enough, I found that struggle quite unsettling. Shocked me more than fights from action movies. Maybe because I had not expect it.""And bloody to.""So.. no scantily clad ladies waving swords about.. did you like it?""It was okay. The story has an interesting angle. Actually you know what the bad guys are doing and how, but you don't know why. And you follow Lieberman, Olivier that is, trying to figure it out. I bet a lot of people figured it out halfway through..I didn't. Although it wasn't much of a surprise in the end..""Only an very implausible plot. It is impossible to recreate the same conditions that shaped the people in the early twenty century, in the second half. The world was just completely different. Just to name a few important changes: you got cars, airplanes and television. This alone changed the world. Totally impossible.""Yeah, but fun.Besides, maybe they thought: let's give it a try.""If you are a fanatic you do not even to think that. You just do it..""Right. And Nazis are fanatics… just look at Raiders of the Lost Ark…""Yes.. or you can be a scientist obsessed with a project.""Like Mengele.""A fanatic and a scientist.. a dangerous combination. They can make the world go boom just because they want to.""And it is fun just seeing them old actors act. Peck seems very there in every scene he is in. And his boisterous overbearing personality contrasts with the down on his luck old Olivier. Yet these Nazis can not touch the vulnerable Olivier because then other people will get on to them. Publicity has its advantage," Krisl said.Henry nodded."It is a nice movie.. based on a story of Ira Levin. Yet again.""And there was this German guy in it.""You noticed?""Yeah.. that guy from that German movie we once saw. Der himmel uber Berlin.. and the one that played Hitler in Downfall.""Bruno Ganz.""Ah, that is his name?""Yes.""Another movie about Nazis and that Hitler guy.""It is an infinite source for stories," Kristl nodded."Yeah.. he sure casts a long shadow over Germany.""It is a sad thing… It sure is." Kristl sighed."We call that..FUBAR!" Henry laughed.www.meritcoba.com