Andariel Halo this miniseries film is so outrageously over the top in dehumanizing Hitler as to make him into a cartoon character. Someone like Hitler was genuinely frightening, and movies like "Downfall" do an excellent job of portraying how he could so easily charm people, and also his delusions and irrational tirades and constantly blaming others that are disturbingly reminiscent of modern day leaders.Here, from childhood he's depicted as an uptight bratty phuc boi. The childhood is gone over in a semi-montage form, and from that point all throughout the WW1 sequences, every scene ends with you laughing at how absurd it's been.Robert Carlyle is utterly phenomenal as Hitler, managing to perfectly encapsulate his public persona and his speaking style and mannerisms. He does the absolute best with what the script and direction gives him, which means that there is no subtlety or humanity to this character at all. In his private moments, he's the same semi-coherent jibbering loon as in his public moments.At no point is there any reason given as to why people would flock to him over some other rabble-rousing speaker. He treats everyone with the sort of detached, pent-up hysterics of a bad imitation of a person with aspergers or some other odd personality disorder.Whether or not it would be accurate or true to Hitler's character can't fully be known, but the movie goes out of its way to only present Hitler as perpetually dumb, stupid, unbalanced, and shrill.Even if accurate to his personality and temperament (before the war and the drugs), the shrill, unsubtle way it's directed makes it come across like a psychotic anti-Hitler hit-piece not directed at condemning him for his evil actions, but basically just condemning him for being a loud-mouthed weirdo.The overall direction is done with a clumsy lack of any sort of subtlety or realism. Overly dramatic shots and musical cues are abundant, as if the characters are supposed to somehow know just how EEEEVIL Hitler is every time he's in the room. There's literally no redeeming characteristics of this depiction of Hitler.Real life Hitler loved dogs. The Hitler in this film is depicted violently whipping a dog for not sitting on his command.The man was responsible for tens of millions of deaths and a poisonously suicidal ideology that has managed to persist to this day, you don't have to invent reasons for us to hate him like this film seems to try to do.

Paul Magne Haakonsen Everyone knows who Hitler was and what he set out to do and what he actually accomplished. But just how many know the backstory of the man who waged war on Europe? Well, worry not, "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" is an means of immersing yourself into a history lesson by means of the entertainment of a movie.What is interesting about "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" is that it follows Adolf Hitler during the years prior to his conquest for world domination and the years that molded and shaped him into what he became. It is a movie that gives an insight into the more personal aspects of the man and the tyrant.One of the more impressive aspects of "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" was the cast. Because they had managed to get together some good acting talents for this project. And it was quite interesting to see Robert Carlyle in the role as Adolf Hitler, and he did pull off that unique look quite well, and he also portrayed his quite good. But other talents such as Peter O'Toole, Peter Stomare and Liev Schreiber were also complimenting the movie quite well.It is a good and entertaining movie, especially if you have any interest in the history of the world. However, the movie does suffer a bit under the fact that it is an English speaking cast, as that just takes away some authenticity from the story."Hitler: The Rise of Evil" does offer a good portrayal of how Adolf Hitler came into a position of power, and just how much can be accomplished with a charismatic force behind the voice of a nation. And it does portray Adolf Hitler as a man with desires, needs, fears, aspirations and so on, and not just as a tyrannical fascist dictator.If you enjoyed "Der Untergang", then you should also enjoy "Hitler: The Rise of Evil". I think that it is definitely worth spending the time to sit down and watch this movie. And it actually sustains more than just a single viewing.

t_atzmueller There were various reasons why it took me almost 10 years until I felt like watching this TV two-parter: for one, I'm from Germany and if you ever switched on German TV to some random channel, there's a good chance you'll get to see some Hitler film or documentary. "Hitler: What did the gardener know", "Hitler: Man or Demon", "Hitler: how guilty was his chauffeur", etc. Indeed, many of my countrymen have developed a certain Hitler-fatigue; or, as some acquaintance once said: "Another bloody Hitler documentary and I'll vote for some Nazi party in the next election". He was only half-joking.Second reason, I'm a little suspicious of none-German-speaking actors portraying the long-dead dictator. Anthony Hopkins: great actor but less than impressive playing Hitler. Same goes for Sir Alec Guinness or Frank Finlay. Call it a form of cinematic chauvinism but something doesn't sit quiet right with a "foreign Hitlers".Whether Robert Carlyle speaks with a broad Scottish accent, I cannot tell (having seen the film in dubbed German, where the accent is very authentic Bavarian/Austria) but it must be given to the actor: the plays one of the better Hitlers that far. Sure, Carlyle is no Bruno Ganz but Carlyle plays "the Fuehrer" to a tit, aided by an almost demonic stare that gave viewers the creeps in "Ravenous" just a few years earlier. At the same time, Carlyle doesn't portray the man Hitler as some super-evil fiend, rather showing us a bitter man, who is possessed entirely by his ideas, mental complexes and convictions – for better and, as we now know, for worst.What really strikes the eye is that few major characters physically resemble the real thing: Peter Stormare chillingly plays the brutal, psychopathic head of the SA-units and early Hitler-supporter but looks nothing like the real-life Ernst Röhm (who was short, overweight and effeminate). Worst yet are the depictions of Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring and Rudolf Hess; unless they're addressed by name, you'd never guess their identity. Matthew Modine and Liev Schreiber are on auto-mode, but it seems to be the 'curse' of charismatic people with limited acting abilities that they repeatedly have to play themselves. Peter O'Toole as Von Hindenburg plays the role of dignified yet doomed-one-foot-in-the-grave character he's been playing for the last 15 odd years.Is there any deeper insight, do we learn something new about the person Hitler? No, not really. It's a historically accurate recounting of Hitlers rise to power, no more and no less. But, speaking as somebody who knows the city of Munich like the palm of his hand, the first part of the film almost had me convinced.I'd give it a decent 6.5 out of 10 points.

wirrack Since I no longer expect or believe Hollywood has the capacity to make historically accurate films, I will leave this one's many factual gaffes alone.This is a good effort at covering a touchy subject -- my rating reflects only my estimation of the film's entertainment value. The filmmakers were bold to hint at Rohm's and the S.A. leadership's homosexuality (even the rumors about Hitler) and the part their lifestyles played in creating tensions between Hitler and President Hindenburg.I liked that this film was shown in black and white (whether or not it was released that way). The graininess and gray-tones served as a visual reminder that these events transpired long ago, albeit during a time when color film already existed.The most interesting portrayal of course was the title role; I was not familiar with this actor prior to today. I do think it was a mistake to portray Hitler as a robotic maniac, rather than as a sick human being (which he was). This is, of course, the politically correct but intellectually lazy view. It is essential for students of history, politics and warfare to see Hitler as human in order to learn any lessons about how to prevent the rise of future leaders like him. The actual Hitler often showed glimmers of his humanity from beneath his hatred, bitterness and cruelty.All in all, not a bad, but certainly not a great film.