Werner Eiskalt unfortunately marks a new low for the series. The live action parts (yes, it has live action parts again) are far below any normal standard of acting or comedy. We have to watch Rötger Feldmann and his buddies share their memories about a moderately interesting motorbike race in the late 80s. Werner being his alter ego, the episodes are illustrated with the appropriate characters of the Werner universe, but apparently nobody noticed that many of them are not funny. The whole thing feels like a making-of or promotional TV special rather than an actual movie with a plot. It probably cost next to nothing to produce. Several clips from previous movies are cut into the film, which makes it appear recycled. It's just sad.
6 Reviews
Like a Greatest Hits"-album from a one-hit-wonder band
t_atzmueller16 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Cartoonist Brösel has fallen on hard times: Japanese manga comics are flooding the market, his publisher doesn't want to publish his newest "Werner"-comic (number 13) and so he goes on vacation to Corsica. There, while trying to impress some girls on the beach, he hits his head in shallow water and is pronounced dead. Though his body lies in the morgue, his spirit is still alive, watching how his greedy publisher tries to profit from his demise by illegally publishing his final work. In the meantime, Brösels friends and brother Andi, try to retrieve Brösels body from the morgue.
The 5th and presumably final "Werner"-film goes back to the roots of the original "Werner – Beinhart"-movie, mixing real-life action with animations, generally through the real characters reminiscing about Werner / Brösels past through animated clips, some new, some culled from previous movies. Many fans had complained about the acting-parts of the original and those fans, who were still willing to go to the cinema, will complain about it again. Brösel and his consort aren't actors and people came to see Werner, the animated figure, not the real-life Brösel.
As to the animated segments, they are mostly computer animated these days, giving it a clean, polished look that simply lacks the soul of the hand-painted animation of the past. Of course, it's really a matter of taste (and if you've been born after "Werner" was first published, non-CGI animation might even be too old-fashioned for you), but that rough, Ralph Bakshi-compatible animation is really missed. As to the humour, that hasn't changed much since the glory days, making it all very dated. Yes, there is as much fecal humour as expected, but with seen all this defecation and s**t-exploding many, many times before, be it in past Werner films or in similar products like "The Little Bastard" ("Das Kleine Arschloch").
"Werner – Eiskalt" is as worn-out, dated and anachronistic as the "Werner"-comics of recent years – we could say, obsolete-tism has never been so obvious.
3 points from 10 and the sincere wish, that Brösel can finally rest on his laurels and calls it a day.
The 5th and presumably final "Werner"-film goes back to the roots of the original "Werner – Beinhart"-movie, mixing real-life action with animations, generally through the real characters reminiscing about Werner / Brösels past through animated clips, some new, some culled from previous movies. Many fans had complained about the acting-parts of the original and those fans, who were still willing to go to the cinema, will complain about it again. Brösel and his consort aren't actors and people came to see Werner, the animated figure, not the real-life Brösel.
As to the animated segments, they are mostly computer animated these days, giving it a clean, polished look that simply lacks the soul of the hand-painted animation of the past. Of course, it's really a matter of taste (and if you've been born after "Werner" was first published, non-CGI animation might even be too old-fashioned for you), but that rough, Ralph Bakshi-compatible animation is really missed. As to the humour, that hasn't changed much since the glory days, making it all very dated. Yes, there is as much fecal humour as expected, but with seen all this defecation and s**t-exploding many, many times before, be it in past Werner films or in similar products like "The Little Bastard" ("Das Kleine Arschloch").
"Werner – Eiskalt" is as worn-out, dated and anachronistic as the "Werner"-comics of recent years – we could say, obsolete-tism has never been so obvious.
3 points from 10 and the sincere wish, that Brösel can finally rest on his laurels and calls it a day.
Not as good as the original ones
cldonna12325 January 2012
This movie was something I was looking forward to, and couldn't wait for its release to DVD. However, the crude humor and all the other parts of the original seem to be lacking from most of the film. The beginning looked promising, but as it progressed I was disappointing. Not saying there weren't parts that gave a good laugh or two because it did have them, its just not the constant rolling on the floor laughing we come to expect. And there were many of the scenes were from old movies, the movie seemed to burrow old laughs. I think its safe to say the everyone loved all the original Werner movies and this one didn't live up to its name. I just hope that this doesn't indicate the death or Werner for good. He is loved by many. Its worth a watch but just don't expect one like the original.
R.I.P. Werner
gutti426 June 2011
Yes, I am (resp. used to be) a fan of the Werner movies.
Maybe, because I grew up with the first ones or maybe because I like crude jokes and do not compare Werner with serious blockbusters like other people do.
But even with a lot of Bölkstoff (Beer), it is nearly impossible to get your intellectual level down to the level of Werner 5. While there where some decent parts in the beginning, the laughs of the audience faded away after some time which means that even the fans of the series - and there were surprisingly many people in the hall - realized that it's just about to die. Or maybe they just ran out of beer.
The life action parts are far beyond trash, but not as charming as in the original Werner. I do not remember that many comic scenes, because I was drunk as hell, but I can tell that they really lack actual jokes. If you liked the trailer, you may laugh at some scenes, but for me, the strange characters and funny voices (Röhrich!) are the only elements that save the movie from getting a 1/10 from me.
Compared to Werner 4 which almost made me choke, because I had to laugh so hard, this one is really really disappointing.
R.I.P. Werner
Maybe, because I grew up with the first ones or maybe because I like crude jokes and do not compare Werner with serious blockbusters like other people do.
But even with a lot of Bölkstoff (Beer), it is nearly impossible to get your intellectual level down to the level of Werner 5. While there where some decent parts in the beginning, the laughs of the audience faded away after some time which means that even the fans of the series - and there were surprisingly many people in the hall - realized that it's just about to die. Or maybe they just ran out of beer.
The life action parts are far beyond trash, but not as charming as in the original Werner. I do not remember that many comic scenes, because I was drunk as hell, but I can tell that they really lack actual jokes. If you liked the trailer, you may laugh at some scenes, but for me, the strange characters and funny voices (Röhrich!) are the only elements that save the movie from getting a 1/10 from me.
Compared to Werner 4 which almost made me choke, because I had to laugh so hard, this one is really really disappointing.
R.I.P. Werner
Basically a rehash of Beinhart!
SyCoREAPER2 August 2022
This is basically a rehash of Beinhart! That focuses more on Brösel than the Werner animation, the real entertainment. I hated Beinhart and I hated this.
Brösel's story is so pointless to the Werner plot and makes everything feel incoherent. It's amazing they pushed on after Beinhart but I'm glad they did because we got the other all animated Werner movies. I guess we've come full circle, beging with a terrible movie and end with a terrible movie in the franchise. A shame, I was really looking forward to a new (to me) Werner movie.
Brösel's story is so pointless to the Werner plot and makes everything feel incoherent. It's amazing they pushed on after Beinhart but I'm glad they did because we got the other all animated Werner movies. I guess we've come full circle, beging with a terrible movie and end with a terrible movie in the franchise. A shame, I was really looking forward to a new (to me) Werner movie.
A solid finish (?) to the Werner series
Horst_In_Translation25 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
When "Werner - Eiskalt!" came out in 2011, it was already over 20 years since the very first Werner film, and in my opinion the best. Maybe that is why they decided to use the formula from that one again to split the film into live action and animation sequences. Films 2 to 4 are exclusively animation. However, that was not the key to the first film's success. Even there the animated sequences were the highlight. So Brösel is back in the center of the story here, seemingly dying, but coming back to life for a spectacular race. The final animated scene implies that this may very well be the final Werner movie.
The animation here is different than in the previous films. I can't say if it is better or worse, but it is much more modern and you see that it's been 8 years since the last Werner film. Also it runs pretty long, over 90 minutes and this longer than the first film and much longer than the three in-between. Occasionally it is a funny movie, but as a whole I did hope for more. One of my favorite scenes was the early one with the milk van and you knew there's be a huge mess. However, I wished Röhrich, my favorite character, could have gotten more screen time.
All in all, it is a decent movie. If you enjoyed the previous ones, this one deserves a chance and I think it is unlikely you will stumble about this film without having seen any of the older films. I myself was a bit surprised it has been quite a bit in the past when Werner actually lived. Somehow I always imagined him more of a 21st century type, although that does not really make sense obviously with the first movie coming out shortly after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Lots of racing action in this film: buggies, Porsche cars, motorbikes and we even get to see a race between two urns. I also found interesting how the movie referenced other modern forms of imitation. Obviously the makers are not too big on Japanese anime. And there is an interesting Bee Maya reference at one point. Finally let me give you a little snippet. The director from this film here is the very prolific German cinematographer Gernot Roll. While his directorial body of work does not look too impressive, his efforts as a cinematographer include Caroline Link's Academy Award winning "Nirgendwo in Afrika" and many more films by noteworthy people like Eichinger, Wortmann, Dietl and most recently Edgar Reitz. "Werner - Eiskalt!" is possibly my favorite directorial work from Roll. Recommended, although I found the superficial girl with the soft spot for Brösel's manager much hotter than Brösel's actual girlfriend at the end of the film.
The animation here is different than in the previous films. I can't say if it is better or worse, but it is much more modern and you see that it's been 8 years since the last Werner film. Also it runs pretty long, over 90 minutes and this longer than the first film and much longer than the three in-between. Occasionally it is a funny movie, but as a whole I did hope for more. One of my favorite scenes was the early one with the milk van and you knew there's be a huge mess. However, I wished Röhrich, my favorite character, could have gotten more screen time.
All in all, it is a decent movie. If you enjoyed the previous ones, this one deserves a chance and I think it is unlikely you will stumble about this film without having seen any of the older films. I myself was a bit surprised it has been quite a bit in the past when Werner actually lived. Somehow I always imagined him more of a 21st century type, although that does not really make sense obviously with the first movie coming out shortly after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Lots of racing action in this film: buggies, Porsche cars, motorbikes and we even get to see a race between two urns. I also found interesting how the movie referenced other modern forms of imitation. Obviously the makers are not too big on Japanese anime. And there is an interesting Bee Maya reference at one point. Finally let me give you a little snippet. The director from this film here is the very prolific German cinematographer Gernot Roll. While his directorial body of work does not look too impressive, his efforts as a cinematographer include Caroline Link's Academy Award winning "Nirgendwo in Afrika" and many more films by noteworthy people like Eichinger, Wortmann, Dietl and most recently Edgar Reitz. "Werner - Eiskalt!" is possibly my favorite directorial work from Roll. Recommended, although I found the superficial girl with the soft spot for Brösel's manager much hotter than Brösel's actual girlfriend at the end of the film.
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