Nuremburg Movie and Other Thoughts
I just watched Nuremberg in the theater with my youngest child. He is a 23 year old boy with Down's. He loves going to the movies.
Russell Crowe knocked it out of the park with his portrayal of Hermann Goering. If he doesn't win some sort of award for this, the system is rigged. The movie was otherwise just OK, I would probably wait for it on video.
One thing that drives me crazy in movies is the lazy computer animation. For example, we all know that Rudolf Hess flew to Scotland in a Bf110. Now I understand that if making this movie 25 years ago, with the lack of an actual 110 to use, something else would have to be subbed in. However today, there is simply no excuse for using a computer animated Messerschmitt 108 as opposed to a 110. If you're just drawing it anyway, why not draw the right thing. The 110 is integral to the Rudolf Hess story because of all that he had to do to learn to fly that plane. That's a story for another time, but this kind of sloppy work in movies annoys me.
On the subject of Rudolf Hess, neither his nor Karl Doenitz's storys were even close to accurately represented. The movie really focused on Hermann Goering, which I get, they probably paid big bucks for Russell Crowe, so they wanted a lot of Russell Crow. Again, he really delivered. They did cut one scene from the movie, which I think was critical. Russell Crows talks about this in an interview. When asked why Goering followed Hitler, a "failed artist" and a "not very good soldier" they cut the scene in which Goering gave a very compelling answer and replaced it with some nonsense to make it more politically correct.
In short not a bad movie, but it certainly not what I would call real history either.
Greg
Comments (15)
Off Topic. New supporter posted experience with prop effects under P-47 discussion where you talked about P-factor and just re-watched the B-26 video where this came up again. I think you will find my post interesting.
Hollywood knows there's few in the audience, who can catch the bloopers!
New Patreon supporter but long time viewer. I rewatched/relistend to your Corsair/Hellcat vs. Fw190/BF109 video this morning. Hearing the comparison between the four made me think of an engagement between British Wildcats/Martlets and BF109G’s as detailed in this article: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-day-luftwaffe-bf-109gs-were-overwhelmed-by-fleet-air-arm-f4fs-and-why-the-little-wildcat-could-be-more-than-a-match-for-the-legendary-messerschmitt-bf-109/amp/ It’s a good vignette of pilot skill over raw aircraft performance.
i saw that clip on youtube...i also remember what Russell's Goering said had good effect,ah yes i remebered what he said - That he made them feel proud to be German again.
Well Greg to be fair, this is your fault. Who told you to know history? If you were part of the great unwashed, you would take Hollywood as 100% truth! Now don’t you feel silly?😎😀
Greg, you might like a book, "Vampire Economy", published a week after Germany's invasion of Poland by a "communist who valued private property", whatever that means. It discusses the Nazi economy and all the ways they hog-tied themselves. For instance, price controls on meat led one farmer (or maybe many, I do not remember) to sell their farm dog along with sausages for a high price, and the dog somehow always managed to escape 100 feet down the road and return home. Some vehicle manufacturer could not buy new tires, so he bought new vehicles from elsewhere, used the tires, and scrapped the rest.
Can you post a link to said Interview? Thank you.
https://youtu.be/REx8nsNUcFs?si=02u2yrZavPadLZZQ not sure if this is the exact interview that Greg referenced but this one does include the conversation he mentioned
I haven’t seen it. As far as the historical Göring, I think he has been treated far too generously by popular history, which tends to portray him as a silly buffoon, instead of the cold-hearted, cynical killer that he (also) was. As for his motivation - wealth and power go a long way to explain it. Most Nazis were thoroughly corrupt and enriched themselves in a grubby bourgeois fashion; Göring was corrupt and determined to live like a prince — and so he did. Ideology came a distant second. He probably always knew that it wouldn’t last very long and was determined to enjoy the good life for as long as he could. I think that he had no doubts about the outcome after June 41, certainly not after December 41, and that this explains his notorious laziness. His fall from power in 1945 creates an interesting what-if. “Apres nous le déluge” — Most far-right nationalist regimes end up treating their own people with destructive, withering contempt; the 3rd Reich was no exception. Dönitz deserves a bit of credit for deciding to end the destruction of Germany. I don’t think Göring ever wanted to save more than his own skin.
I recently saw a documentary about George Marshall. Basically, Marshall said that every general, even the allies, were cold-hearted killers, and they had to be. Apparently he suffered all the rest of his life knowing this, and he included himself among them. One example he gave was that during the planning of D-Day they though the landings on Omaha beach would be a disaster, that they would be slaughtered on the beaches, and thousands would die on Omaha alone, but they had to plan the invasion as if they expected success, even though they didn't, because they needed to bind the German troops so they couldn't bolster defences elsewhere.,no matter how many lives it would cost. These were absolutely brutal decisions that had to be made for the greater good, they hoped.
The Bf110 is like in "The Crown" where a formation of Lancs fly over in a scene taking place in 1940 and in "Rouge Heros" where Paddy Mayne's SAS team blows up Buchons in North Africa. It seems it is just not important to get it correct.
Sounds like the screenwriters set their sights on mediocrity and achieved it in full measure.
Thank you for the movie review. Knowing history assists in not having to repeat it. Being aware of history helps detect dis/misinformation.
How many more movies do we need about the perpetual victimhood narrative?
Nice movie report, thanks. CGI could really add to movies but is frequently done very badly as you mention plus I notice the physics are poorly modeled -- velocity, acceleration, momentum, etc. tend to be poor and not believable. I also don't appreciate the PC spin.