Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Welt am Draht" is a German movie from over 40 years ago written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. At 3 hours it is certainly among his longest works, which is only one difference from his usual approach. He rarely crossed the 2-hour mark in his other films. Then again, this one here is really 2 films in one. "World on a Wire" consists of 2 90-minute films basically. The lead actor is Klaus Löwitsch, who may not be alive anymore, but his name is still known here in Germany. And the cast includes other known names and regular Fassbinder actors, such as Lommel, Valentin, Lamprecht, Hoven, Raab, Carstensen, Caven and John. This may not seem spectacular today, but back in the 1970s this was among the best Germany had to offer. Fassbinder was still in his 20s when he made this one and yet it was far from early in his career. He was already a most prolific filmmaker at this point.Sadly, the cast does not match the film in this case. I may be a bit biased as I am not the greatest Fassbinder admirer in general, but nonetheless, there are films by him that I quite enjoy ("Angst essen Seele auf" / "Warum läuft Herr R. Amok"), Not so this one. I am also not too big on science fiction usually, so it was not a great combination to be honest. I also felt that Fassbinder's approach to film does not really work with the genre. His films are often beautiful in terms of set decorations etc, but very depressing in terms of character elaboration and the behavior he depicts in people. From that perspective, it is easy to recognize Fassbinder in here. So yeah, to me this film felt overlong and uninteresting, even if there were a couple decent scenes. But far from enough to me to let me recommend it. It was actually closer to a */***** than ***/***** for me. Thumbs down. One of Fassbinder's weaker films.

manfred-car This quite unknown movie impresses the viewer the longer one watches! Even more than 40 years after the release the idea of powerful computers being able to influence our lives has not yet reached the reality in a way as Fassbinder shows us. The camera settings are fascinating, regarding the actors especially Klaus Löwitsch representing Fred Stiller impresses in his actions. His ability to make the viewer believe the character he represents gives his role as a quite simple looking technical director (though he calls himself scientist) a certain kind of deepness. The female actors represent very much the type of woman of the 1070s as of course the total outfit of the furniture. I was amused that the same curtain with particular circular pattern shown in the movie can be found in our old weekend house. Mascha Rabben as Eva is convincing but not comparable to the acting of Klaus Löwitsch (Stiller). At first I thought a movie of 3 1/2 hours of that kind must be too long, but I would't like to miss one minute of it. The reason for only 8 points is the virtual reality movies are not my favorites.

elgaroo HIGHLY recommended to fans of classy/cheesy 70's sci-fi, very early "cyberpunk", and vintage German film: the recently re-"discovered" and restored, creepy mind-bender "Welt am Draht" ("World on a Wire") originally shot on 16mm film and presented as a 2-part miniseries on West German television in 1973. while it's obviously quite long, starts out kinda slow, flounders at times in cheesy existentialism, has no special effects to speak of, and has been ripped off so much it almost seems clichéd at this point (the massively inferior 1999's "The Thirteenth Floor" was based on the same book, and similar concepts have cropped up in a variety of stories throughout sci-fi...) it was SO far ahead of its time that it still packs a lot of relevant futuristic cyber-bite, albeit with a VERY sweet, classy retro style. it's very much an "intellectual" James Bond in Alphaville, though with some "2001" flourishes of design and cinematography... maybe not the greatest of masterpieces, but such an influential and unique sci-fi classic, it really should be seen by any fan of the genres or style, especially for the first time in decades!

paragate I saw Welt am Draht in German TV when it was broadcast first, sometime 1973 or 74 i guess. I was nine or ten years old then, and it left a tremendous impression on me -- World On Wires is definitely one of my Myths of Childhood.The two or three parts were aired again two or three times, the last time i watched it must have been in the eighties. I recorded them, but, very unfortunately, somehow these tapes got lost in the eddies of reality. It is hard to impossible to find Welt am Draht anywhere these days, which is really sad.Welt am Draht changed the way i perceive the world. It is its credibility, the haunting story, the atmosphere of Germany in the early seventies, the actors, everything. It was very up to date then, and i think it is very much so now. We used to watch a lot of SF on TV, and I remember several serials that were in atmosphere and outlook so close to RWF's Welt, it has almost all melted into a kind of emotion, some sort of dim remembrance of future.