Search - Nuremberg - Tyranny on Trial (History Channel) on DVD

Well made!

weirdo_87 | Rancho Cucamonga, CA USA | 03/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I watched this special on the history channel about a week ago. The documentary tells the story of how the trial was put together, the problems during the trial and the aftermath (Sentences, how the trial holds up today, e.t.c). I would reccommend this video to anyone interested in history, particulary Nuremberg and other famous trials. (Note: One fact I did not know before I watched this was that during the executions, instead of their necks snapping instantly, several of the convicted instead slowly strangled to death. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel alone took 28 mintues to die.)"

A bit to short

Håkan Ljung | Uppsala, Sweden | 11/12/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Overall this is a well made documentary. But 46 minutes is far to short to potray this important historical event. I think you need at least two programmes 92 minutes minimum for this topic. The other thing lacking is we never here these criminals talk with their own voices speaking German. Its very easy to have English subtitles below while Goering, Hoess and Ohlendorf testify. The latter person was not even shown in pictures! This would have added some more precense for the veiwer and it would get crystal clear for us what mentality these people actually had. This is something wich I think is greatly missed. For all of us who dont speak English as first language, a production like this should have English subtitles all over the programme as choice in the menu. Even if I like the style of how this documentary is done, with speakers voice together with floating images and filmstrips, I am also disapointed of this production. Its not going get more than three."

An unprecedented trial

Kerry Walters | Lewisburg, PA USA | 07/20/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm generally no admirer of History Channel documentaries. They tend to be either sensationalistic or too sketchy--which, I suppose, is a necessary consequence of the television format. But "Nuremberg: Tyranny on Trial" isn't half bad.

This is primarily because of the generous footage of both the actual war trial itself as well as the vintage clips from World War II and the death camps. The narrative that accompanies the clips is sound so far as it goes, and the people interviewed--including author Whitney Harris--are articulate and knowledgeable. Special emphasis is properly given to the fact that the trial was breaking new ground, because up to that point there was no formal international law that under which to prosecute war criminals. Eventually, the American prosecution team decided that criminal conspiracy was the best approach. The British, French, and Russian teams supplemented this charge with more formal charges of crimes against humanity.

"Nuremberg" focuses exclusively on the conspiracy charge, which isn't surprising because the film focuses almost exclusively on the American prosecution team, virtually ignoring the other three. This is unfortunate, because the entire issue of crimes against humanity gets sidestepped.

Also overlooked is the significant fact that the Nuremberg Trial put natural law back on the map. The prosecutors held that certain acts constituted crimes against humanity even if they violated no positive law. In making this distinction, they invoked natural law (although not explicitly), the same move that the framers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would make in a couple of years.

Overall, though, not a bad introduction to the trial."