DVD News

UK release details for Downfall

By M&C News Sep 16, 2005, 15:05 GMT

MOMENTUM PICTURES PRESENTS THE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED DOWNFALL IN A TWO DISC RELEASE WITH THREE HOURS OF IN-DEPTH EXTRAS One of the most highly acclaimed and controversial films about the last days of Hitler and the end of WWII, DOWNFALL was a 2004 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film and is now in the UK’s Top 10 of the highest grossing foreign films ever. Set for rental and retail release on 19 September 2005, this double disc release takes the filmic experience even further by including unmissable historical background information and insightful behind the scenes features as part of a truly absorbing three hours of extras on Disc 2. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Experiment), DOWNFALL features an astonishing performance by Bruno Ganz (The Manchurian Candidate, Wings of Desire) as history’s most notorious figure. Providing an unprecedented and controversial insider’s perspective, the film is a gripping insight into the madness and desperation of Hitler in the final hours of the war as the Russian Army closes a ring around Berlin. Beautifully photographed and brilliantly acted, this tour de force is at once dramatic, harrowing and remarkably authentic.
Presenting the main protagonists as human beings rather than caricatures provides the film with its unique power as it concentrates on the mechanics and mental processes behind the acts of evil perpetuated during WWII. The basis for the screenplay by writer-producer Bernd Eichinger came from two key sources: Joachim Fest’s book “Inside Hitler’s Bunker: The Last Day’s of the Third Reich”, and the recognition that the horrifying epic of Hitler and his people during his twelve years in power was reflected in those last twelve days in the bunker; and the memoirs of Hitler’s private secretary, Traudl Junge, in Melissa Mueller’s book, “Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s Last Secretary”, which provided an invaluable insight into the character of the man, and those final, fatal few days of the war.
Sixty years after his death, DOWNFALL brings back to life those final few days of the most malevolent and destructive man of the 20th Century. Unlike other directors, Hirshbiegel tells the story with such forcefulness, you cannot fail but be moved by arguably the most powerful film about the dictator, his confidants and confederates.
Release information: Rental & Retail Release Date: 19 September 2005
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 156 mins
RRP: £19.99

Disc 1:
Feature Disc 2:
The Making of Downfall (58 mins)
Cast and filmmaker interviews (55 mins)
The Historical Personalities and their actors
Biographies
The Bunker – A Virtual Tour (13 mins)
Shooting in Russia – Behind the Scenes look with
Production crew commentary (18 mins)
About Shooting – Behind the Scenes look with Director’s Commentary (30 mins) 'Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich' is available now via Amazon and available for pre-order via AmazonUK.

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Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich

Based on the novel Inside Hitler's Bunker by Joachim Fest. The book describes in riveting detail the final weeks of the war, from the desperate battles that raged night and day in ...more

US Release: 2005-08-02
UK Release: 2005-09-19

Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich DVD Details

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