Search - Mein Kampf - My Struggle on DVD

Inaccurate and dated

Candace Scott | Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA | 07/24/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the most poorly-made documentaries ever produced about Adolf Hitler or the Third Reich. Originally made in the early 60's, the sound and picture quality on this DVD borders on the dismal. Perhaps this would be acceptable in VHS format, but not for the DVD. The content of the film is flat, extremely dated and is burdened with so many errors one can't calculate them. Briefly, Martin Bormann died in Berlin in 1945, he did not escape to Paraguay (!), Joseph and Magda Goebbels did not have 9 children, Paul von Hindenburg was not half-Jewish and Hitler's mother died of cancer, not typhus. These types of errors are ridiculous and could easily have been avoided had any research gone into this product.As for the selection of video, it is all commonly used stock footage or Hitler, most of it lifted directly from Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. There are also grainy stills of concentration camp victims and others shots of Hitler's victims. There is no earthly reason to watch this video in the 21st century when dozens of other documentaries have supplanted this in content and form. Quite a disappointment."

Sensationalist Propaganda

Oswald | The Emerald City, WA | 06/16/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"In this Irwin Leiser production, interesting rarely-seen newsreel footage is marred by extremely hostile anti-National Socialist commentary. Many of their facts are wrong and other inconvenient historical aspects are completely ignored to fit their political agenda. (Sound familiar?) The reconstructed scenes with a Hitler look-alike from the "Hitler" bonus feature gave me a good laugh, but unless you have money to burn (and a mute feature on your TV), I recommend just renting this one--or skipping it altogether--until a more objective documentary becomes available."

Thankfully NOT an adaptation of the notorious book...

Gregor von Kallahann | 11/03/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The original Swedish title is "Den blodiga Tiden" (which means the "bloody era") and would have been more appropriate. The filmmakers in no way intended to honor or provide a cinematic equivalent to Hitler's vicious work of propaganda. The English speaking distributors doubtless realized that _Mein Kampf_ was a title which would resonate with viewers. It does, I suppose, but it also unnerves. When this was broadcast over a decade ago on A&E, I was a little taken aback--what was THIS all about?Well, it's a relief to report that this documentary is in no way an homage to Hitler and his murderous beliefs. It is, overall, an effective statement against such thinking--and in these perilous times, with Holocaust denyers and neo-Nazis of various stripes afoot, we can certainly stand the reminder. I'll leave to others to decide whether this is the MOST effective anti-Nazi statement possible. It does try to crowd a lot of detail into its 111 minutes, and sometimes comes off a bit sketchier than it might. The footage is, however, often dramatic (if sometimes familiar). "Never again" type messages are appended to the film's beginning and end--they are not really necessary and actually could be said to diminish the film's power. This is one instance where the pictures are worth at least a 1,000 words."

Engrossing, relevant to global issues today

James T. Wheeler | TUCSON, AZ United States | 03/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Until recently, I haven't considered myself a World War II buff. But with all the outstanding pieces that have appeared on the cable-TV channels and on DVD, there is a lot to learn about the subject. Moreover, with what has been going on lately in the Middle East, I feel it's important to know how fascism can take hold of a people and drive it toward disaster.

This black-and-white production, "Mein Kampf," deserves a place in any collection of World War II video history. Adolf Hitler was not a Martian or any type of nonhuman. He was one of us and became the greatest murderer in history. He was elected by the voters of Germany, a country that had produced some of the greatest artists and thinkers of all time, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Freud, Einstein, and others. "Mein Kampf" shows us how Hitler rose to power against all odds and how he consolidated his position until he became Fuhrer. The story could not be more fantastic if made up by some deranged author. Hitler preyed on the weak and seduced the strong, eliminating anyone who opposed him.

Despite all his early success and evil genius, Hitler made one catastrophic mistake: he underestimated the good sense and courage of his enemies. He convinced himself that since the British were similar racially to the Germans that they would eventually side with him. With Churchill as Great Britain's Prime Minister this could never happen. Hitler also convinced himself that the Russians, and all Slavic people, were inferior and would fold under onslaught from the Wehrmacht. This again was proved false. Of course, Hitler also misundertood America and how it would fight to preserve its freedoms.

Without the fears of communism and economic collapse, Germany would not have turned to Hitler and Naziism. In a strange and perverted way, Hitler really owed his rise to the Wall Street crash of 1929 and to the Bolshevik takeover in Russia.

Although the main feature in this DVD "Mein Kampf," is very well presented, the second piece on Hitler's life and times can only be judged average. Much of the video is grainy and subpar by modern standards. Funny, since a lot of the scenes seem to be derived from stock I've seen elsewhere in much better form. For other thought-provoking views on this same subject, viewers should consider DVD's entitled, "Architecture of Doom," and "Hitler in Colour." As counterpoint, get DVD's on Winston Churchill, the greatest man of the 20th century."