Hitler Movie Review. Plus Comparisons of Today.

CBS Documentary.

[ConservativeMan55]

I just finished watching the documentary on Hitler the Rise of Evil and had some thoughts I would like to share.

The first night was mainly about local politics and how Hitler used wheeling and dealing to get his way. He came to power through different deals made with other members of his and other parties.

The second night is when I began to notice the comparison of modern times. The movie could have been made by a liberal attempting to contrast to today's times.

The movie did portray Hitler as a fairly open minded man in the beginning who became less stable as he became more powerful.

Hitler was billed as a great speaker which led to his becoming the leader of the party. Hitler was also billed as a great artist and he created the Nazi sign.

He changed the name of the German World Workers Party to the Nazi party and used his design as the new flag.

Hitler then started using tactics which can be compared to modern day liberals. When his party could not get their way in the Reichstag (The Congress) they would walk out. Sound familiar?

Everyone in the Nazi party began wearing little Nazi pins and once Hitler dealed his way to become Chancellor he announced the suspension of all civil rights until the problem of "terrorism" could be taken care of.

Two points to make here. Hitler blamed the suspension of civil rights on "Jewish Communists" who were bent on terrorizing Germany. Hitler had the Reichstag burnt down in order to accomplish this. There were no real jewish terrorists in Germany at this time.

The second point I would like to make is that Hitler ordered everyone to start wearing the little Nazi pins. Most did not wear them because they wanted to, but because of Hitlers orders.

All in all I would say it was a good movie with some very interesting facts. Hitler was portrayed as crazy politically, but almost rational in his personal life even up until the end when the two started to mix and he became unbearable to deal with.

The movie did have a caption at the end about exactly how many people were killed. The movie ended with journalists who had written unfavorable about Hitler being sent to concentration camps. The beginning of the Holocaust was the end of the movie.

[Fred Mertz]

Did they imply that history might repeat itself?

[ConservativeMan55]

There was no narrative. It was a movie, but the implications in the script were obviously there.

[teancumspirit]

How interesting, kind of comparable to some modern day politics.

[longtermmemmory]

The texas Democrat walking out was the same as the Nazi party walking out of the german parlament.

Hitler ammending the law through executive order was the same as Clinton ruling by executive order.

The homosexuals as indicated in the SA is the same as the Gaystapo seeking "acceptance" today.

The wife who grew to love Hitler was the same as the democrat party appologists for hitler.

The oil contracts of the head of Germany's SA are the same as the oil contracts modern Germany had with Saddam.

Hitler was a pedophile and I don't even want to think about the deterioration of the US family.

[ConservativeMan55]

Excellent Analysis. Towards the end of the movie Hitler is seen at a dinner party with two kids on his lap. It was not shown in a negative way either. The kids were perfectly happy according to the movie.

[pepsionice]

True, it is simply a movie and the amount of truth or fact behind the entire thing is not absolute.

[John H K]

Everyone in the Nazi party began wearing little Nazi pins and once Hitler dealed his way to become Chancellor he announced the suspension of all civil rights until the problem of "terrorism" could be taken care of.

Two points to make here. Hitler blamed the suspension of civil rights on "Jewish Communists" who were bent on terrorizing Germany. Hitler had the Reichstag burnt down in order to accomplish this. There were no real jewish terrorists in Germany at this time.

As has been much discussed in the controversy of the person associated with this movie being fired for his comments comparing Hitler to Bush, in the comments after the Reichstag fire, apparently Hitler ACTUALLY used the term "Communists" and not "Terrorists" and it's possible it was changed as a dig at Bush.

And apparently much of historical opinion has recently shifted back to the idea that the Reichstag actually WAS burned down by a Dutch Communist, and wasn't burned down by the Nazis.

That said, I thought Carlyle's performance as Hitler was amazing; always dangerous trying to play any well-known historical figure, but the most dangerous is Hitler. He was neither too "over the top" or too "nutty." And his speeches actually had more hypnotic power than the old newsreel footage(usually late 30s material)we see of the actual Hitler with the subtitles, which seem a little ridiculous; Caryle was probably more "real" in the way a young Hitler might have seemed to an audience hearing them in their native language.

[ladyinred]

I didn't watch since I already knew they had played with the truth to make the public think this was Bush in a few years. Having read many books on Hitler, I can see fiction in the report you wrote. Liberal propaganda is not history.

[longtermmemmory]

The second point I would like to make is that Hitler ordered everyone to start wearing the little Nazi pins. Most did not wear them because they wanted to, but because of Hitlers orders.
* * * **** ***

After Sept 11, most the flags appeared because people spontaneously wanted to show support for the USA. There was no order or demand. In fact the hollyweird were fanatical in their NOT wearing american flag pins.

[John H K]

Hitler ammending the law through executive order was the same as Clinton ruling by executive order.

Umm......I suggest you ask the nice men in the white coats to adjust your medications.

While the above is obviously not Democratic Underground-style content, it's Democratic Underground-quality frenzied hyperbole and exagerration.

[ConservativeMan55]

Exactly. Bush has not ordered any of the boycotts that have happened against France, or against the Dixie Chicks, or the wearing of flag pins, or car flags, or just patriotism in general.

Bush led us to being more patriotic as a country, but he didn't order it. Mainstream America did this of their own free will.

[longtermmemmory]

the irony is that much of current events of the democrat party as a minority party can be paralleled to the actions the Nazi party used to usurp power. The texas democrats come to mind. The fact of the matter is that these democrats must have gotten this idea from EUROPEAN parlaments. Sad to think that not only are democrats acting like cowards and socialists, the texas democrats are acting like EUROcrats.

[John H K]

Most did not wear them because they wanted to, but because of Hitlers orders.

It's pretty clear that Hitler did have the support of the majority of the population in Germany, and not through coercion. All the successes of the Nazi Party in the elections prior to Hitler becoming dictator were in more-or-less fair elections.

[ConservativeMan55]

I'll agree to some of that. Hitler wheeled and dealed himself into power and he would not have stayed there without the support of the majority but once he got out of hand Germany became like Iraq. Nobody liked Hitler and nobodu liked Saddam, but there was such a surge of fear that if anything against either of these men was said, that you would lose your life.

[ConservativeMan55]

nobodu = nobody

[montag813]

As one who has studied the history of the Third Reich in detail, and read innumerous biographies, I thought the producers did quite well. They went a little light on the homosexuality rampant in Ernst Roem's S.A. (either to avoid offending gay groups, or because it would have been a distraction), but otherwise accurate EXCEPT FOR ONE THING....the part where Hitler proclaims that "in order to fight the foreign enemies, civil rights must be curtailed" (he never said this), and his quoted speech rgarding "freedom of speech, of the press and of assembly" following the Reichstag Fire was heavily edited. This part was clearly where the producer (who was fired by CBS) wanted to draw parallels to Bush and the 9/11 aftermath. I found this rather obvious and was somewhat offended by it.

[VietVet]

The thought "Hitler" raised in my mind was, what was it about the 20th Century? Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Idi Amin ... There were tyrants before in history, but can anyone name another 100 year period in which so many followed such obvious madmen to such destruction?

Individual freedom won, eventually, and at great cost. And compromise.

VietVet
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

[longtermmemmory]

Compare Regan and Carter. Carter lecture the the US public about a malaise in america. Reagan offered us "Morning in America" and told us we can. Bush in a moment of crisis did not say we need to pay more taxes or offer liberal guilt, he has offered the equivalent of "Morning of America, Again". The democrat party HATES this. Their theories of power taking can't work unless people feel BAD.

BTW the dixie chix will be on the country music awards on cbs. Just a note to not watch the show.

[ConservativeMan55]

This movie did deal with homosexuality a little bit.
When Hitler found his top general in bed with another man he had him put in prison and later shot.