Recommended for purchase?

Buy it. the only films on your list which I am familiar with are Das Boot and Downfall (and I've read a little about Berlin Alexanderplatz). But I'd certainly put Heimat in that company - above it, in fact.

Great, great filmmaking. The prices do seem a little steep - if you have a multi-region player you may be able to get it a little cheaper (although not much) from the UK. But whatever the price, you must see this.

I suggest you try bol.com, a Dutch site which allows you to purchase Heimat 1 for about 22 Euro, the delivery costs are about 18 Euro. That sounds better than 75 bucks!

Have you tried you local library? I got both Heimat and Heimat II on DVD from mine.

I have no idea where you live. We are in the USA, we have a membership in Blockbuster.com (where they send you x movies in the mail, amount depends on your individual renting terms). We have rented Heimat 1 and 2 (3 not available yet), and we simply copied them (like we do with all movies worth seeing again). We are paying about 11 $ a month.

I would not pay that much money for this epos. But of course, this is a matter of personal taste and also a matter of finances.

I am German and just started to watch the first 3 episodes today. I am not enthused about it so far. The acting is mostly terrible.

They are hobby actors, and it shows. Only the role of Luzie is casted with a real (professional) actress. For example, when you hear "supporting acts" play their characters, they are trying very hard to speak a local dialect they have never spoken in their lives before.

Or worse: in a train, the old women listens to people behind her talking about the new eletric lights everywhere, and these people (2 adults, one child) are badly READING their texts. You can tell, they are not actors.
I find this annoying. Had I paid real money for this, I would feel stupped (if that is a word).

Not even a thank you???