GamerTab That was an excellent one.

SunnyHello Nice effects though.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

elizajstocks Quite obviously, this was a movie adaptation of The Book Thief by Marus Zusak. I read the book for the first time a few years ago, and it quickly became one of my top favorites, however I'd never seen the movie until recently. I thought that Brian Percival did an excellent job of bringing Zusak's world to life.The artistic value of the film cannot be ignored. The production team did a great job on keeping the set and costume designs true to the time period, down to the tiniest of details. The simple piano theme during the intro not only fits beautifully with the time period, but it also portrays the simpleness of childhood while adding a darker element in minor. The cinematography was also impressive, which just adds to the overall artistry of the movie.As far as entertainment value goes, many people know and love the book (which is amazing!) but I feel like the film isn't getting the attention that it deserves. This was easily one of the best film adaptations of a book that I've ever seen.The Book Thief is definitely thought-provoking. Of course, there's the unique narration by Death himself. Then there's the fact that the story of WWII is told through the eyes of a young German girl who is hiding a Jew in her basement. It delves into the struggles with racism, especially in the Jesse Owens scene. It really shows the effects that war has on people, especially children. Then there's also the fact that books saved her life. One of the scenes that really illustrates this is when Liesel is reading to everyone in the bomb shelter. Earlier in the story, they had attended a book burning, but at this point, books are the only thing providing Liesel and everyone around her with hope and comfort. The plot line is so rich and juicy and yet so simple at the same time. The characters are all so three-dimensional and developed so well that it's like they're real people, which is part of what makes the final scene so heartbreaking---and I don't mean "Aww," single tear, and move on with your life type of 'heartbreaking'. No, I mean blotchy-faced, puffy-eyed, heart-wrenching sobs that leave you out of commission for hours afterward type of 'heartbreaking'. Seriously, buckle up.The only reason I omitted a star from my rating was because I didn't like how they portrayed Death in the movie. What he is lacking in personality, he makes up for in creepiness, which, believe it or not, is not in the nature of Death in the book at all. His character in the book seems much more genuine, and he looks at gathering the souls of the dead as a boring, dead end job that he desperately needs a vacation from, whereas Death in the movies is more stereotypical of the grim reaper. That's my only real complaint. Sorry for the long post!

ianlouisiana It's heart may be in the right place but "The Book Thief" suffers mightily from the almost impossible task of translating a book which was basically about the power of words into a medium that is often at its best when it uses as few words as possible. When an illiterate young girl is adopted by a poor but worthy German family prior to the outbreak of the second world war her desire to better herself is aided and abetted by her adoptive father. As the influence of The Party grows the family give shelter to a Jew thus endangering all of them. That's about it,really in basic terms,but the girl and the fugitive from Nazism develop a friendship and he eventually leaves the house in order to protect them all. The village is destroyed in a bombing raid and only the girl survives. In the end,a bit like in "Titanic",we see the mementoes of her long life and history. It's all very standard stuff but somehow unaffecting when we should be in floods of tears. What happened to "Death"?Here he is an almost peripheral figure whereas in the novel he binds it together and adds to our understanding of the actions of the characters. And the German accents ?They were very much of the "Ve have vays of making you talk"variety and merely distracted the viewer.We know they're supposed to be Germans,for heaven's sake,this isn't "Hallo,Hallo!" where Herr Flick of the Gestapo is going to limp in slapping his leg with his baton. Mr Rush and Miss Watson were particularly guilty of giving us 1950s British War film Germans,but then they say there's nothing like a foreign accent as a prop an actor. I did want to like "The Book Thief" and I did want to be moved by it.Unfortunately I didn't and I wasn't.

mohamed-nagui I have no idea what to say besides that this movie is beautiful. Please, do not misunderstand me, it isn't beautiful because of anything besides the story itself and the way it reaches into you and touches your soul in a way unlike any other movie will. I have never before described a movie as beautiful but there is just no other word that can describe this beautiful piece of art.

Mike B "The Book Thief" has good intentions but over-all I found it muddled. There were too many things going on – Liesel's relationship with her surrogate parents and with Rudy. Then there was hiding a Jewish person in the family household – and then Liesel's relationship with him. One could add other themes like the growing Nazism of the towns-folk, the Allied bombings, Liesel stealing books...The film just tries too hard when making any emotional statement. Aside from our central character I never felt any emotional connection to the others. Liesel's surrogate mother was a caricature.Although well-filmed and colourful cinematically it was bothersome to hear German accents and words popping up constantly (Ja, Nien...). The bodies of Liesel's surrogate parents and Rudy after the bombing raid look so pristine beside the ruined homes – giving additional phoniness to this film.Also that over-narration of Dr. Death added to the cloyingness.Overall the story held some interest, but I never felt much of a main focal point.