Captain Berlin versus Hitler (2009) User Reviews

Jörg Buttgereit back at it again!

[Boba_Fett1138 · 6/10 · 27 February 2010]

16 years after Jörg Buttgereit's last movie there suddenly now here is "Captain Berlin versus Hitler". Well, it's not exactly a movie though, it's just a shot registration, from 2007, of the Jörg Buttgereit's stage-play by the same name.

For those who aren't familiar with Jörg Buttgereit's work, his works as a director are just, well, odd. His movies make him seem like a person who enjoys necrophilia, death and violence. His movies "Schramm", "Nekromantik" and "Der Todesking", among others, all show this. While "Captain Berlin versus Hitler" is a movie that doesn't feature any of these horrible and disgusting themes in it, it is still a movie that can be seen and described as an odd one but in a sort of good and campy fun way.

The movie is deliberately campy, with hilarious fake looking sets and completely exaggerated characters. What other movie can bring Hitler, Dracula and a superhero together?

While the movie is fun to watch, it also isn't really anything more than that. Because of the fact that this movie is just a filmed registration of a stage-play performance make this movie a far from an impressive looking one, although they tried to spice things up a little by adding in some comic book effects and a fun musical score, during its post-production.

There is of course very little to the story and you can tell the story its only purpose is to be fun and bring entertainment. There isn't anything too clever or renewing about the story, other than the fact that it's a German production that in essence is making fun of Nazi's.

The character of Captain Berlin by the way already got created by Jörg Buttgereit long before this stage-play. In 1982 he based his first movie around him and he himself also played the character.

No way that this is a must-see, not even for the Jörg Buttgereit lovers but nevertheless when you decide to watch it you wont be bored with it. It's fun enough all, just at the same time far from impressive or original and clever enough to leave a great, lasting impression.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

On par with the very old Captain Berlin film, nothing convincing

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 1 August 2017]

"Captain Berlin versus Hitler" is a relatively short German full feature film from 2009, so this one will have its 10th anniversary 2 years from now. The writer and director of this 75-minute movie is Jörg Buttgereit and for him it is a return back to the roots because one of his very early short films back when he was 20 or so also included Captain America. Actually, this one here is not really a movie and the only reason you could call it like that is that it was released on DVD I guess. It is actually a stage play from start to finish and you can clearly hear the audience's reactions on many occasions. Buttgereit does not play Captain Berlin himself like back in the early 1980s. Instead, Jürg Plüss does and Buttgereit is really just the man in charge behind the camera and stage. It is certainly not unexpected that the cast does not include any big names because Buttgereit never had famous actors in his many many works, including the most known ones like the Nekromantik duology. Instead it is all about gore and violence, frequently with an ounce of sexuality frequently too. So this one here is also an exception to the rule as there are more comedic situations in here with fantasy and history coming next. The way Hitler is depicted here is really all entertainment from start to finish and also his female Mengele as well as Dracula do not really aim at being taken seriously. All in all, this is probably much more entertaining to be seen live on stage than on the screen, where also all the weirdness is transmitted only partially successful. But it is still better than some other Buttgereit stuff I have seen, but the reason is not this one being particularly great, but the other stuff being very bad. I give "Captain Berlin versus Hitler" a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

I said Captain, I said what!

[CathodeRayTerrors · 10/10 · 27 September 2023]

OK, so maybe Captain Sensible's 80s single hit song has nothing to do with the mighty Captain Berlin. I couldn't come up with any other way to start this review, so sue me.

I have been a fan of Herr Buttgereit longer than I can remember. His early projects were very hard to get a hold of legitimately over here in the states, but many people were bootleging them. I believe it was the early 90's that someone handed me a blank vhs tape, telling me 'you're gonna love this S*^t!' Well, it was Nekromantik...and was he right. Oh boy. I have been hooked ever since. Jörg Buttgereit has the ability to do what very few filmmakers can do, which is assault you from the moment you press play. Which is what most of his films are; an assault on the senses.

This one is a little bit different. Not quite a movie. It's actually a stage play that is shot through multiple camera angles. Heavy in dialogue and props. It's very clean, no gore or too much craziness, yeah, he still manages to assault you, but in a different way. In a much more subtle way. Through a quite entertaining narrative, delivered lightly but dramatically by skilled thespians, and of course with that killer technokraut theme song.

I had watched captain Berlin years ago, also on a bootleg, and now finally on my own legitimate release. I am hoping that, like the comic book series, we see more of these. I may even write my own screenplay for it to present, humbly, to Herr Buttgereit. Very few cooler characters exist out there.

To those of you into Buttgereit's main body of work, do not expect that here, this is completely different. But it retains his originality. And if you do end up, loving Captain Berlin, there is a whole slew of comics out there although they have not been translated into English they are cool to look at.

If you can find this one, I highly recommend it. I think I picked mine up on Amazon so it's not too difficult to find. And the version I got does have English subs.

Long live the Captain...Captain Berlin.