Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex) (2008)
Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 94
Fresh: 80 | Rotten: 14
Intricately researched and impressively authentic slice of modern German History, with a terrific cast, assured direction, and a cracking script.
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 26
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 6
Intricately researched and impressively authentic slice of modern German History, with a terrific cast, assured direction, and a cracking script.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 15,494
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Movie Info
Director Uli Edel teams with screenwriter Bernd Eichinger to explore a dark period in German history with this drama detailing the rise and fall of the Red Army Faction, a left-wing terrorist organization that became increasingly active following World War II. Also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group, the Red Army Faction was formed by the radicalized children of the Nazi generation with the intended goal of battling Western imperialism and the West German establishment. Adapted from author Stefan
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Cast
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Martina Gedeck
Ulrike Meinhof -
Moritz Bleibtreu
Andreas Baader -
Johanna Wokalek
Gudrun Ensslin -
Bruno Ganz
Horst Herold -
Vinzenz Kiefer
Peter-Juergen Boock -
Nadja Uhl
Brigitte Mohnhaupt -
Stipe Erceg
Holger Meins -
Niels Bruno Schmidt
Jan-Carl Raspe -
Simon Licht
Horst Mahler -
Alexandra Maria Lara
Petra Schelm -
Daniel Lommatzsch
Christian Klar -
Sebastian Blomberg
Rudi Dutschke -
Heino Ferch
Dietrich Koch Horst Her... -
Jan Josef Liefers
Peter -
Hannah Herzsprung
Susanne -
Tom Schilling
Josef Bachmann
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All Critics (96) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (81) | Rotten (14) | DVD (3)
It doggedly refuses easy ways out, and it has the guts, brains and critical eye to plumb the roots of terror and its bloody consequences.
Top CriticThe Baader-Meinhof Complex is not an easy film to watch; its violence is ugly and brutish. And there's a lot of it.
Part thriller, part social history, this tense 2008 drama traces the rise and fall of the Baader-Meinhof gang.
It'd be nice to see an American filmmaker commit a similar reckoning with the Watts riots, the Weather Underground, or the Black Power movement, not simply resort to cant and kitsch but to really interpret those moments.
There are some literally killer performances here, most notably Johanna Wokalek as Gudrun.
There's a fine line to walk when making a film about outlaws: A few wrong moves and, presto, glamorization occurs. To its credit, The Baader Meinhof Complex almost entirely avoids this pitfall.
A stirring, bloodcurdling terrorist drama.
This flick was written by Stefan Aust, long-time editor of Der Spiegel, Germany's version of Time Magazine. Hence the lurid, superficial and reactionary tilt. The Baader-Meinhof gang was disgusting, but nearly as disgusting as the people they fought.
A sweeping docudrama of recent history in Germany regarding home-grown terrorism.
A glossy, pulse pounding pure Hollywood-style thriller designed for the express purpose of demythologizing its protagonists.
... the detail is fascinating and it is mesmerizing to watch this idealistic rebellion swamped by obsession, revolutionary fervor and the psychotic drive of Andreas Baader...
The Baader Meinhof Complex is a terrific entertainment, an action packed look at anarchy in the streets followed by the specious slacker malaise argued behind closed doors.
An impressive period reconstruction and a ripping yarn that never reduces its complicated and conflicted characters to stereotypes ... one of the best action movies of last year and a thoughtful essay on the futility of violence.
Filmed through tear gas and broken glass, Edel graphically depict the horrific violence (the group was responsible for nearly 30 deaths) while equally layering in substance.
One of the ten best films of 2009
The 150-minute-long, Oscar-nominated foreign-language film, based on a 1987 book, has a rat-a-tat pace and a lurid, film noir quality that captures the chaos and hysteria of the era that bred and sustained them.
Baad and Baader extreme women rule, in this bold, more-than-meets-the eye brand of moviemaking, while the impassioned political thriller dissects the Red Army Faction's ideological seduction of actually one fourth of the German population.
It's not surprising the film was Germany's 2008 submission for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
A richly detailed, emotionally complex, character-filled examination.
The acting is top drawer and everyone behind the camera is technically proficient with a workmanlike approach. The monumental task of editing by Alexander Berner deserves special mention.
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Foreign Titles
- Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (DE)
- Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (UK)
