Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

ma-cortes Overwhelming as well as devastating portrayal of survival against Nazi villains and all irrational obstacles . The true story of Martin Gray (Jacques Penot as young boy and Michael York as mature man) , a Polish survivor of the holocaust, from how he survived the German invasion , how got captured . He is sent to a concentration camp , there victims were brought to the camp in unventilated transports . Thus , when the incoming transports , mostly Jews , SS soldiers made instant decisions , those who were fit to labors were sent into the camp , others including the children , were dispatched immediately to the gas chambers where lots of Jews were executed . And all but a handful were gassed after arrival , the gas chambers could accommodate hundred prisoners at one time , most of their corpses were burned in open pits . He subsequently escaped and he fought back with the rebels, to his life in the Soviet army as a KGB agent, and the building of his new life in North America , there he marries a beautiful woman (Brigitte Fossey) but again takes place astonishing tragedies . This is an emotionally tale and very decent drama about a Jew and his family from uprising until terrible ending in the Warsaw ghetto . Roberto Enrico correctly directs a spellbinding portrait about the holocaust with intense drama , emotion and spectacular as well as sad scenes . A splendid French all-star-cast gives magnificent acting in real-life characters . The picture is based on real events , these are the followings : It deals with ¨Varsovia rebellion¨ and ¨Death Camps¨ such as Sobibór , Chelmno , Majanek , Belzec and Treblinka were four large death camps in the Lublin district of Poland transformed into extermination centers to implement the policy of genocide thought at the Wannsee Conference . In 1939, after the invasion of Poland, Reinhard Heydrich chief of Gestapo began to place all Polish Jews in ghettos, where they could slowly die of hunger and disease. The campaign was to be administered by the Waffen-SS the party's military formations that fought as integral units in the armed forces . The Warsaw ghetto was the largest of these segregated areas established by the Nazis in Poland. In 1940 Heydrich, using the excuse that the spread of typhus had to be contained, set up a special section 11 miles in circumference enclosed by a brick wall 10 feet high . The cost was paid by the Judenrat , the Jewish Council of twenty-four-members, which was in charge of Jewish affairs inside the ghetto . The daily struggle against hunger and disease is aggravated by the German demands for "deportations to the east" that many begin to suspect are camouflaged mass murders . Later on , there takes place the upheaval by a handful of fighters until the final destruction . The Nazi authorities began intensified measure on July 22, 1942. As a memorial to Heydrich, Heirich Himmler ordered all Jews except those already in concentration camps to be deported .The ghetto and all labor camps would then be destroyed. Mass deportations to the gas chambers of Treblinka began. In two months 300.000 Jews were eliminated. The Judenrat was ordered to deliver 6.000 Jews daily for deportation. Each day thousands were driven by guards through the gates.Young Zionists, pioneers training to go to Palestine, mobilized first to be followed by members of the Polish workers party . On July 28, 1942, the Jewish Combat organization consisting about 1.000 men and boys was formed. All resolved to kill as many of their tormentors as they could before they died. The Jews fighting from rooftops, cellars, and attics,Poles outside the ghetto now began to send in more revolvers, grenades, and dynamite. In 1943 the guerrillas divided into twenty-two groups built an intricate network underground cellars and tunnels ,linked with command posts .The motion picture was stunningly directed by Robert Enrico . He was a good professional who shot interesting films as ¨Jailsbird vacation¨ , ¨Rum Runners¨, ¨The wise guys¨ ¨The old fusil¨ and of course his masterpiece ¨The adventurers¨ . Rating : 7,5 , better than average. The film will appeal to French cinema lovers

Qui Queg i have watched stuff like this, e.g. holocaust and some b/w movies in the 70s and 80s, like "der fall Gleiwitz". i can remember one scene of this movie, the protagonist trying to hide from the German SS in a hole under a restroom. i did not read the novel, but if i have some spare time, i will do so. As far as the title is concerned, martin gray was arguing with his parents because he put his life at stake to help others in the Warsaw ghetto. i was reading the documentary "the yellow star" in the 70s and i remember there was a young boy being asked, what he wanted to be, and he replied:"a dog, because the German guards like dogs". i thought "the poor boy" but what could i do? and so just the protagonist Martin G. has to deal with a lost childhood, as he struggles for survival of his family and others since the Nazis were occupying Poland. there is just one little reference that this is not a Hollywood movie, as the smugglers leave two bags of food in front of the "Orphelinat Juif"(=Jewish orphan's home). What it makes worth watching, is the language and the history of people who really existed and suffered. I for my part can be more neutral since i was born in the 60s. even if someone should read this who lost family members in this time wants to ask questions or visit some important places. i was in England and later traveling to Auschwitz in the 90s and i just don't feel like arguing with people who don't like Germans because of world war 2. I had just the idea of looking for some old movies on youtube so I suddenly remembered this. So, i do not arrogate to judge the behavior of people whose country was occupied by the Germans. What the movie and the author tells us is that the sacrifice of the people who fought for their freedom must not be forgotten. this movie deserves for sure, more reviews than it got yet, as it is not based on figments but on true facts. if you like it, you will also like "hitlerjunge Salomon", "Holocaust", "Jeder Stirbt Für Sich Allein", "Sansibar Oder Der Letzte Grund", or "swing kids".

babylon_5fan I was 17, and living in France when this movie was made, and even then, I found it very inspirational and sad at the same time. I never forgot it. Even today, I still remember the face of the actor who played young Martin Gray, and that was 20 years ago. This movie had an impact on me and it would be a treasure to own, as much as Schindler's List.Michael York plays a middle-aged holocaust survivor who tapes his account of how he used his survival instincts as a young teenager to escape his possible fate. Unfortunately, his pain didn't end there.This movie demonstrates the incredible strength of the human spirit, the desire to survive, and how one can never give up, no matter what.FH

iaintwoeyes Although I saw this film in 1980' s I was been moved by it so much I can still remember most of it today. The plot is brilliant as is the acting. I just wish I could get my hands on a copy of the video (VHS). I have been looking for over three years for the English version of the video with no success.