A fascinating story, well-made, but also rather lumbering and lacking in any real focus.
Comment
11/14/08
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2009)
86
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:80
Fresh:69
Rotten:11
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: Intricately researched and impressively authentic slice of modern German History, with a terrific cast, assured direction, and a cracking script.
Theatrical Release:Aug 21, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $296,294
Synopsis: Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the still fragile German democracy. The radicalized... [More]
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz
Director: Uli Edel
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Reviews for The Baader Meinhof Complex
Despite the convincing cast and hefty running time, there’s no space left for reflection and insight.
11/14/08
This fascinating story may not be entirely accurate but it is certainly an engrossing film.
11/14/08
Very good, very smart, very clear.
09/15/09
Top CriticAlong with Downfall, with whom it shares a screenwriter, this is among the greatest of the recent new wave of German films.
11/14/08
In trying to cram a great deal into 150 minutes, the filmmakers necessarily jump scenes like puddles, and sometimes the audience gets lost. But I can excuse this flaw; for one thing, the patchwork or montage style provides the time frame
05/01/09
I have seen The Baader Meinhof Complex three or four times now, and, despite exasperation with its fissile form, I find it impossible not to be plunged afresh into this engulfing age of European anxiety.
08/24/09
An initially riveting and provocative thriller filled with intense action sequences and strong performances, but the suspense and thrills wane as the convoluted plot becomes slightly dull and monotonous.
08/23/09
... an exhaustive account of how a gang of self-appointed urban guerrillas traumatized Germany during the decade following the global paroxysms of 1968.
09/08/09
A long but powerful true-life drama of 1970s German terrorists features masterful storytelling and bravura performances.
10/03/08
There's an element of relatable humanity missing from the foundation of trying to tell a story that could have taken six hours in 144 minutes, but there's no denying the power of those 144 minutes.
09/15/09
A thoroughly engrossing tale of conflicting agendas and thwarted ambition. In its verve and verisimilitude, the film recalls such classics of political cinema as Z and The Battle of Algiers.
09/17/09
Simultaneously absorbing and alienating
08/20/09
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.
10/16/09
Top CriticThe film crams a vast amount of information into two-and-a-half hours, and makes an honest, intelligent attempt to portray terrorism from every angle, including the victims' and authorities' viewpoints.
11/14/08
Edel uses a variety of film stocks to match the patchiness of the vintage footage he weaves into his narrative, adding to the authentic feel. If he meanders off track at times, it is because there is much to cover here. This could easily have been a long
08/10/09
It's not surprising the film was Germany's 2008 submission for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
11/01/09
This starkly unromantic epic ultimately benefits from its 150-minute running time, immersing the audience in the RAF's journey from shared passion to collective madness as their movement runs its full, sad, bloody course.
08/21/09
I’d have been happy if this 2.5-hour film had been even longer than it is because, despite its immediacy and the skill with which the events are recreated, it only scratches the surface.
05/08/09
This impressively mounted and thoroughly researched film is so watchable, whatever one’s views about its fanatical participants.
11/14/08
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