User Reviews

As documentaries about Nazi Germany go, this one has its definite virtues. It gives more details than most about some aspects of how Hitler and his party came to power. In most such docs, Hitler's speeches are treated by excerpting them toward the end when Hitler is screaming, and translation is left out so often that we don't really know what he is saying, let alone how or why an audience might be taken in. In contrast, this documentary comes in at the beginnings or at least the middle parts of his speeches so that we have an idea how seductive he could be.

More importantly, key messages are quoted so that Hitler's program of ending democracy from within is laid bare. (In one speech to workers, Hitler acknowledges that many in his audience might begrudge his having outlawed the Marxist Party, but he maintains that this was compensated for by the fact that he had outlawed all the other parties, too.) The point that Hitler was twice banned from public speaking for lengthy periods of silence is stressed; a fact more often overlooked by similar docs (and by those who think that banning free speech is an effective weapon against extremism).

The Nazi's welfare programs, including soup kitchens and giveaways, are brought up, and a nod is made to the fact that planning for some of the public works projects, such as the Autobahn, although realized under him, preceded Hitler's rule. (No mention is made, however, of how frequently the Hitler government ran roughshod over people's land rights to build this superhighway.)

Many steps taken by the Nazis and many obstacles placed in Hitler's path get more of a mention here than they do in other docs of this type, but these steps are not always emphasized enough, nor kept in chronological order. Indeed, these obstacles are very apt to be mentioned out of chronological order, thereby under-emphasizing their potential significance. Alfred Hugenberg's objection to Hitler's appointment as chancellor is mentioned only after Hitler becomes chancellor, noting that it was "too late" to stop him. This doc makes a habit of mentioning many things when it is too late to register that these were, indeed, obstacles. Franz von Papen's well-received 1934 speech is not in this doc at all, even though it represented virtually the last time anyone in a position of authority criticized the changes brought about by Hitler; it was also too late but deserves to be mentioned. (Within a few months, the Nazis had put Papen under house arrest and murdered his speechwriter.)

The exploitation of young people and their unformed enthusiasm is mentioned only after the Nazis had gained power. This ignores the fact that all political parties-including the Communists as well as the Nazis-had been courting youth since the 1920s. Communist youth groups and Nazi ones had long vied to recruit young people. In connection with recruitment, the doc does not mention the Nazi program to recruit members from the Marxist groups. It says that when Joseph Goebbels became party leader of Berlin in 1926, he targeted Communists, but not only to fight against them in the streets. He also seduced many of them into switching sides, a program that Hitler himself heartily approved. This is not mentioned by this doc.

Other documentaries I have seen do a better job of covering all of the factions within the Nazi Party. This one only focuses on the biggest challenge from Ernst Rohm, the unruly leader of the Storm Troopers (SA), who along with other SA leaders was murdered early in the summer of 1934. (See "Hitler's Circle of Evil" for a better account of some of Hitler's other rivals within the Nazi Party.) Again, developments are not in order here; after Hindenburg died in August 1934 (You will notice how many major developments occurred in 1934!), yes, Hitler got the full support of the German military, but this was only the outward result of secret deal-making that had been ongoing since early that year when the Army agreed to support Hitler if he prevented Rohm from expanding the SA. It was the twin demises of Rohm and Hindenburg within weeks of each other that sealed a deal that had already been made.

Unfortunately, this doc, like several others I have seen, muddles its discussion of the crucial presidential campaign of 1932. It obscures the fact that the office that Hitler ran for was president of Germany and that he finally became a German citizen only this late in his career so that he could qualify to run for office. (How often this remarkable fact is not covered by documentaries about Hitler and the Nazis!) More importantly, while it does make the point that the Nazis made their best showing yet in the parliamentary elections even if they did not win a majority, it does not tell us that Hitler lost the presidential election to the incumbent chief executive, General Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. Hitler subsequently became chancellor at the end of January 1933, yes, through appointment by Hindenburg, a fact that is revealed in this doc. The viewer should be excused if confused because this doc does not mention the fact that Hitler lost the April 1932 election (or that it happened in 1932 and not in 1933-the doc mentions the 1932 election results only after discussing events of early 1933). It is rarely mentioned by any of these docs that Hitler never won a national election where there were other candidates on the ballot.

You can learn a lot from this doc, but you will be misled if you rely on it exclusively for the facts.

The passing years do nothing but enhance the reputation of this outstanding film. The editing is mesmerizing and the narration hypnotic. The script is faultlessly literary, and the history, scrupulously accurate. In short, this is the British at their very best - objective and calm yet passionately determined to get to the truth. This is nothing less than an attempt to answer the questions "why" as well as "how". In my opinion it succeeds. If I had to pick one film for a young person to see to get an idea of who this person was, this is it.

We watched this in History class, to follow up on having read about both World Wars. This deals with Hitler and his rise to power, WWII and a lot of the situations surrounding them. It's got a lot of detail, and an utterly immense amount of footage from back then, almost exclusively in black and white. There may have been some stills, but I don't believe there are any talking heads, interviews, in this. The material and narration are all. The editing is magnificent, and the quality of picture and sound are impressive(keeping in mind that what we see is decades old, and that this was put together long before the digital age, computers and smooth PC- or Mac-based systems for post-production that anyone with the capital required can acquire, that we take for granted today). This is a well-produced documentary that doesn't attempt to judge or pass blame, it presents and analyzes, goes into the facts with a certain depth, yet it doesn't point fingers. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in knowing more info regarding the subject. 8/10

My Rating : 9/10

At 2 hours 30 mins, this documentary tells us about the inner circle of Nazi Germany, the story of the rise of Hitler - a rejected painter and common man - elected by the German democracy to lead the nation.

Extremely well-made and filled with tons of information about Hitler, the narrator provides us with ample stories about the madman. This is the real deal if you want to know everything about Hitler.

Hitler-eine Karriere(Hitler-a career) is a very good and accurate documentary about the Austrian boy, who later became the dictator of Nazi-Germany: Adolf Hitler. There are three episodes, each covering a period of his life. First episode documents his early years until he became prime-minister(1889-1933). The second episode documents how Hitler ruled Germany until the second World War began(1933-1939). The third and final episode documents the war, how Germany lost, and his death(1939-1945). The episodes are accurate, and show us how Hitler became obsessed with killing the Jews and getting the "Lebensraum"(space to live on) for the German people. "Hitler-eine Karriere" is an important production, and I recommend all of you to see it.

If you want an unbiased historical account of Hitler's rise to power, and WWII this documentary isn't for you. What this documentary does have is excellent black and white footage that is rarely seen in modern documentaries. In high quality aswell. All in all this is documentary well worth the watch if you can ignore its biased nature.

If this film was made today half of it would be some harvard elites sitting in chairs and blabbing about what it all means. More PC propaganda to make sure the peasants don't have improper thoughts.

But this was made in 1977 and it's 150 minutes of archival footage about hitler and his germany. No talking heads though there is of course a narrator to describe what we are looking at. Many many scenes of Hitler giving actual speeches. He speaks in german but there are subtitles. It's really cool to watch and hear this outrageous figure from the past.

Man was this a disappointment.

Such a story to tell....but none told.

Yes, the archive footage is gold, but at no point did the makers tell a story, give insights. The only point IS the archive material and a voiceover that has nothing of note to tell.

Almost every minute I wanted to shout at the screen "Yes but how did this happen?" or "Why was this decided", "What was the idea behind this?", etc etc.

Halfway though I gave up.

This episode in World History deserves a more intelligent, insightful filmmaker.

I just saw this on Netflix and in my opinion this is a film that everyone should see. It provides a thorough portrait of the man who was perhaps the most evil man in history,

I've seen many documentaries about WW2 and have been missing one that examines Hitler in greater depth. This one does it, and it does it perfectly. It is just as good now 40 years later.

Every child should see this in school in the whole world. Some way or another, this man affected you, your country and your forefathers.

The only thing that I missed, is a bit more look into the extermination of jews, and how Hitler was involved. But it does mention it, and other documentaries have gone in depth about this subject.

It's difficult to complain about a narrator being bias against Hitler and not seem like some crazy Neo Nazi, but why describe a monster when we already know going in, he's a monster?

That wouldn't make for a good horror novel either. "The horrible, rude, ravaging beast took apart the city without any care of the people's feelings and frankly, he's obnoxious and downright ugly."

Instead, just explain how a powerful force did certain things that we will know are bad because of what happened, and that's that...

However, there IS a reason that this documentary is so one-sided against Hitler without just telling the story about a horrible man by explaining what he did, which explains his monstrosities enough...

It was MADE BY GERMANY, and if any country has the right to be bitter about the man their relatives once worshiped it's them...

So this really isn't a historical document.; it's Germany apologizing to their past mistakes but, for England and America, a British character actor is narrating what was written by a German...

That said, if you really want to learn about Hitler and how he rose to power, read John Toland's Adolf Hitler.

Using archival footage and still photos this documentary takes us along the path taken by what must be one of the most unlikely individuals to ever assume such worldly power. It isn't quite comparable to a Ken Burns production as it's dryer, and less imbued with relevant side stories, however, it still held me rapt with interest...Or more to the point, morbid horror.

My father was in WWII and because he was almost 46 when I was born I never really became mature enough to talk to him about the whole thing as an adult. Now I wish I could, but of course it's too late. So I read and watch what I can to learn of this unthinkable period in which evil came close to being dominant in our world. If a person unfit to have a real job or raise a family could fool a great country into leading it off a cliff how can the power of evil be underestimated? I've read that over 50 million deaths were directly related to Hitler's actions and subsequent World War. If we are not to repeat the mistakes of the past we must learn from it. I find this a good learning tool. A glimpse into one of the most evil men who ever ruled a people. I'm sorry to say "one of the most" as we still have evil rising to great heights today. We must not forget as civilized God fearing people we still have a mandate to fight that evil.

Seriously? This is psychoanalytic hubris at it's worst.

An example: 9: 38: "At first,he seems tense and uneasy. The efeminate face betrays submissiveness and sexual hunger."

Throughout, the commetator avidly imposes his own biased interpretation of Hitler's behaviour.

The viewer is advised to use extereme discretion in interpreting the commentators so-called 'interpretations' of Hitlers' behaviour!

Disclaimer: I am a psychologist, ex Bristish soldier, my uncle escaped Nazi internment and his father was a deserter from the German army who fought for the German resistance. I have no love for Hitler but the commentator is clearly operating to an ideological agenda and that does not serve the truth at all!

In short: A two-and-a-half-hour extensive look at the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler. Many aspects of his political career are explored and dissected in awesomely impressive detail.

Divided into three-acts, we first explore Hitler's early life and then his ambitious, angry rise to power beginning as a soldier with the German Army in WWI. The second act features his time in office after his release from prison in 1924; his incendiary speeches and broken treaties; and the rebuilding of the decimated German military while crushing anyone who stands in his way. The act ends with a close-up examination of his strategies and atrocities just before and during WWII. The third act centers on Hitler's life during the last years of the war; the collapse of the Third Reich, his suicide and the Allies' liberation of Germany; and a brief glance at Hitler's scale-model plan of what Berlin would have looked like had he and the Nazi's been successful.

Two things you'll LIKE about this documentary: 1) It's well curated and well edited with tons of footage (mostly black and white); 2) It doesn't glorify Hitler or the Nazi party.

Two things you'll DISLIKE: 1) Although it's broken into parts (or acts), it plays as one long, epic show totaling two hours and thirty minutes (information overload - I watched it over two nights); 2) As the title suggests, it's about Hitler's career, so there is very little information about his life growing up in Austria.

Would've been a stunning rendition of history if only the lousy narrator remained neutral.

Very biased narration, completely ignores Hitler's and Germany's interaction with Russia, while it spends a significant amount of time talking about how the British were the only ones who "stood up to Hitler". In fact while it talks about all the other allied leaders, it didn't mention Stalin even once.

Made in 1970s, this was probably made in a peak anti-soviet period.

Really boring but at the same time really interesting.

It is a documentary, there is not much to analyze. It is probably the most obvious documentary that one can see nowadays knowing some history but it doesn't matter, it is well executed, well narrated, well edited.

The ending is surprising, I would never have expected it to end that way since I completely forgot the year of release of the feature film.

I don't know if I recommend the film to anyone, it just exists. It's good if what you want to do is find out what you didn't hear in history class.

Cinematographically it is an "embole". Boring, rather empty, effective anti-Nazism propaganda.

This is a documentary that it shows material in black and white obtained of the archives done by own Hitler's government. Sometimes it shows calculating and intelligent Hitler, sometimes ruthless Hitler, sometimes humorous and sometimes crazy Hitler. The film advances and it shows those characteristics. His life is single his documented very well. It mixes the voice of a speaker with the ignitions speeches that it pronounced. Whoever to know its life it is a good film, carefully done avoiding to fall in a side.