Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall Directed By: Steven Spielberg Average Rating: Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: VHS Tape Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Original recording reissued, NTSC Label: Universal Studios Number of Items: 2 Release Date: August 29, 1995 Running Time: 197 minutes Theatrical Release Date: December 15, 1993
Amazon.com essential video: Steven Spielberg had a banner year in 1993. He scored one of his biggest commercial hits that summer with the mega-hit Jurassic Park, but it was the artistic and critical triumph of Schindler's List that Spielberg called "the most satisfying experience of my career." Adapted from the best-selling book by Thomas Keneally and filmed in Poland with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, Spielberg's masterpiece ranks among the greatest films ever made about the Holocaust during World War II. It's a film about heroism with an unlikely hero at its center--Catholic war profiteer Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who risked his life and went bankrupt to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps.
By employing Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army, Schindler ensures their survival against terrifying odds. At the same time, he must remain solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley) and negotiate business with a vicious, obstinate Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa overlooking a prison camp. Schindler's List gains much of its power not by trying to explain Schindler's motivations, but by dramatizing the delicate diplomacy and determination with which he carried out his generous deeds.
As a drinker and womanizer who thought nothing of associating with Nazis, Schindler was hardly a model of decency; the film is largely about his transformation in response to the horror around him. Spielberg doesn't flinch from that horror, and the result is a film that combines remarkable humanity with abhorrent inhumanity--a film that functions as a powerful history lesson and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the context of a living nightmare. --Jeff Shannon
Mandatory Viewing I believe this movie should be mandatory viewing by all seniors in the high school system, to show them how cruel and meaningless war was and is. I enjoyed the movie when it was first released, I found it shocking, brutal and touching. I didn't really care for the character Schindler (I found him to be ruthless money grabber), but the characters revolving around him in the chaotic times of WWII was where I found the real depth of the movie. If everyone of our children watch "Schindler's List" and walk away with a true feeling of how precious life is, then I think we can stand proud as parents, and feel as if we have taught them something that they can teach their own children in the future. That war is war, nothing more, nothing less. That war should be avoided at all costs, no matter what the price. I have two daughters and when they are old enough, I will sit and watch this most important and insightful film with them. I suggest you all do the same.
PORTRAYS JEWS AS HELPLESS WIMPY SHEEP: SCHINDLER DID IT FOR MONEY - POLE, IRENA SENDLER SAVED JEWS AS A HUMANIST. Poles, unlike the Jews, fought back and paid dearly for it. 3,000,000 Polish-Catholics were murdered by the germans and another 2,000,000 Polish-Catholics were murdered, worked to death and deprted to the gulags by Stalin. Hello, that's 5,000,000 Polish-Catholics murdered in WWII!
A thought: Schindler saved 1,200 Jews with NO risk to his life whatsoever. Irena Sendler, a POLISH-CATHOLIC, saved over 2,500 Jewish children, with the risk of death at any second. She carried Jewish Babies out of the ghetto hidden in gift boxes!!! The Germans broke both her legs and tortured her, but she never revealed ZEGOTA, a Polish-Catholic underground movement to save jews in german-Occupied Poland. So... WHO! gets the big and over the top Hollywood movie!? More ironic is that, Schindlers wife, was honest to say that Oscar stole everything from the Jews he was with, completely exploited them for profit and chrged Jews an arm and a leg. Spielberg chose the wrong person (Spielberg to me is a decent human being, with consciece), but again, he chose the wrong person. Spielberg changes the ending from the book,i.e., Schindler leaves these Jews in the end, again, taking all valuables from them and charging them for their safety, Irena, a Polish-Catholic, charged nothing and did this as a humanist. Read and acknowledge IRENA SENDLER, a true hero of WWII, unlike Schindler which is well....
A gross understatement.... To call Schindler's List, "a cinematic masterpiece," is a gross understatement. Unfortunately, I can't think of any better term than that. This is one of the most outstanding movies I have ever had the privilege to see. It has inspired me to reach out to the Jews of today who are still facing persecution in countries around the world. I want to start my own list of names. It will be of those Jews who I help make aliyah (emigrate to Israel). "The list is life."
Probably the greatest movie ever made Like many cinematic masterpieces, it's not possible to summarize this film in a TV-guide style and portray any sense of its monumental achievement. I'm not going to describe its content but it's a film that every person should watch as a lesson for not just where true evil can lead, but also how hope, honesty and humanity offers redemption.
It's even more of a testament to Steven Spielberg that he was reviewing FX reels of Jurassic Park in between filming sequences for this, since ever shot is vital to the film and perfectly crafted. It's also one of the few films that warrant buying a home theater system for - you simply won't believe the difference when viewing on a large LCD screen with surround sound.
I originally saw this three times at the movie theater, which is a major commitment for a 4-hour film. I've also seen it several times on cable and accidentally ended up watching the whole thing. It's simply one of the most compelling films ever made and, as a piece of art, grabs you from the very beginning to the very end.
--- PS - As an aside, I once saw this in the theater in London where a bunch of skinheads were at the front making constant derogatory comments and slurs. About 25 minutes in, a jumbo-sized container full of Coke whizzed passed my ear and hit one of them on the squarely on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious on the floor. The whole theater erupted with cheers and applause, and it's one of the most satisfying acts of swift justice I've ever witnessed!
Spielberg's Best Maybe the most affecting film I have ever seen, Schindler's List is definitely the film everyone should see at least once. Spielberg tells this Holocaust tale of an unexpected hero with a surprising mix of beauty and horror. Filmed mostly in black and white, the movie is at times tough to watch, but this is because of its raw power and ability to transport you to a part of world history that many would like to forget but cannot (nor should they).
This is definitely Spielberg's greatest film. He has never been able to match the power since.
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