MovieChat Forums > Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973) Discussion > This film is better than Downfall in one...

This film is better than Downfall in one respect




Overall, Downfall is the superior film in terms of realism, scope, detail, and harrowing wartime action. Having said this, HTLTD is nevertheless a worthy film, introducing elements of irony and black humor to its claustrophobic setting.

In terms of the portrayals of Goebbels and Bormann, however, the edge has to go to HTLTD. In Downfall, the Bormann character is a complete non-entity, looking anxious most of the time with scarcely any dialogue. The Downfall Goebbels is more developed, but the performance seems to lack the ruthless authority of his real life counterpart.

In HTLTD, John Bennett's Goebbels commands the screen with his precise, cold delivery and withering gaze. Likewise, Mark Kingston's Bormann exudes menace, a truly frightening image of the "brown eminence."



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