User Reviews

If you are interested in WWII movies and enjoy a very realistic dramatic movie rather than an action movie this is the one for you. Great acting by German actors, realistic plots and much detail spend on uniforms, armor and real live settings in WWII. The Geman language enhances the reality of the movie. Ulrich Tukur plays Rommel with great resemblance and talent.The movie reveals the man Rommel and his aversion of Hitle in the afterdaysr and the Plot to kill Hitler (you must remember Valkyrie: with Tom Cruise). Though casted very well, it is hard to identify yourself with the main character. The actors each are casted very well, with actors who play the German Generals and officers with great resemblance. Hope you enjoy the movie!

It's an exceptionally good television movie. The performances are uniformly fine, the photography is crisp, judicious use is made of computer-generated effect, and the narrative covering the last seven months of Field Marshall Ervin Rommel is convincing.

It's less dramatic and more believable than James Mason's tortured Rommel in "The Desert Fox," less corny actually. This Rommel never kisses his wife, Lucy. He just nuzzles her. And he does not stop on the doorstep every time he leaves and whisper, "Good-bye, Darling." Ulrich Tukur's Rommel marches through his battles and finds himself in a conundrum with only one solution. He's all business and dignity. The effect is less dramatic but more believable.

In "The Desert Fox" we are never told exactly what it was that Rommel did that earned him a death sentence. Here, we learn that he knew of the plot against Hitler but refused involvement. He would have gone along with Hitler's arrest but not his assassination. That accords with what I've read elsewhere. He knew something was afoot, and he knew many of the men behind the plan, but not exactly what they intended.

In "The Desert Fox," Mason as Rommel protests that he is a soldier, not a politician. Here the message is spelled out in boldface. He had wistful dreams, not mentioned in this film, of surrendering peacefully to the Western Allies and perhaps even forming an alliance with them against the Bolsheviks. That's not a politician speaking.

The story is a kind of docudrama in which events are presented pretty much as they happened. Private conversations, of course, are fabricated. However, it's gripping throughout -- a docudrama, yes, but a very carefully thought-out and executed docudrama.

After being promoted to field marshal and being nicknamed the "Desert Fox" in North Africa, Erwin Rommel (Ulrich Tukur) is put in command of the German forces in northern France to defend against the imminent Allied invasion. Meanwhile there's a plot to assassinate Hitler and negotiate with the Allies since the writing was on the wall. What did Rommel know and not know about this intrigue? Benjamin Sadler (Gen. Speidel), Tim Bergmann (Hofacker) and Johannes Silberschneider (Hitler) are on hand.

A German/French/Austrian production, "Rommel" (2012) focuses on the behind-the-scenes events of the German high command mixed with occasional real-life B&W footage. It's a war drama rather than action flick and is a nice counterbalance to "Saving Private Ryan" (1997), which shows the Allied invasion, and "Valkyrie" (2008), which details Colonel von Stauffenberg's modified Operation Valkyrie to seize control of Germany from the Nazis. The events shown in "Fury" (2014) occur several months later.

While made-for-TV, this is a top-notch production in the same league as "The Longest Day" (1962) and "The Young Lions" (1958), albeit in living color and without the action. It boggles the mind to consider how the filmmakers were able to keep all the details in order to produce such an engaging war drama. I should add that the bulk of the dialogue is in German (or French), so you'll have to use the subtitles if you don't know those languages.

The film runs 1 hour, 58 minutes, and was shot in France (La Roche Guyon & Audinghen, Pas-de-Calais) and Germany.

GRADE: B+

admirable ambition to present Rommel's last months. and, in same time, to create an answer to Walkiria. only problem is the result, the film itself. it is half documentary, half artistic movie. it seems be a kind of labyrinth and this fact is almost strange. maybe, the sin is viewer expectation. and the pieces from another movies about events. but the great effort, the too realistic scenes, the portrait - obvious pledge for a hero - are too much and, in same time, too little. sure, it is a honest film. the good intentions of director are basic virtue and it is difficult to ignore that. the preoccupations for details gives not the expected result. but, must see the glass half full - it is a German attempt to present a great man. and, after all, each portrait is subjective.

The film is a Rommel biography written and directed by Niki Stein . It's based on true events and real roles . In WWII Field Marshal Erwin Rommel won reputation as Germany's most popular General but he played an important part in the invasions of central Europe and France . At the same time he was regarded by many Allied officers as a master of desert warfare and as a fair-minded professional . Erwin Rommel (Ulrich Tukur) really achieved fame as the commander of the German Afrika Korps , operating against the British in North Africa and he captured Tobruk ,the key to the British defenses . Quick to see advantage and profit from it , he ran rings round the British for almost two years before being stopped at Alamein and then driven out of Africa by General Marshal Montgomery . Later on , Rommel was given command of Army in northern Italy to prevent an Italian defection and to counter an Allied invasion of Southern Europe . In 1944 he was transferred to command of an army group in northern France , his task is the defense of the French coast against the long-anticipated Allied invasion . Rommel has to reinforce the incomplete state of the defensive fortifications , the slow pace of constructing the Atlantic Wall, and the lack of preparedness of the defending units mostly comprised of poorly-trained conscripts . On two occasions, Rommel and Von Rundstedt (Hanns Zischler) saw Hitler and attempted to convince him that he should end the war while considerable German forces still existed . The pale and shaken Fuehrer met their frankness with angry diatribes . The picture concerns about the previous and post days to the D-Day invasion , known as ¨Overlord operation¨. As Rommel has disputes with the German High Command as well as urges his troops to hasten the pace of the Atlantic Wall construction , resolves the complications on subordinates and he puts the most veteran battle-hardened divisions under his command . Five beaches -codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold,Juno and Sword- were selected as the landings points for the British and US Corps , the operation will be preceded by a month-long bombing campaign to disrupt communications , preventing reinforcements from moving quickly into the threatened area and destroy vital bridges and gun positions . The German response commanded by Rommel was hampered by the damage done to their communications ,by a rigid structure which required a personal directive from Hitler before any significant move could be made and by belief that the landing the major Allied attack would come in the Pas of Calais,a belief fostered by Allied deception operations . Allied casualties during the day amounted to 2.500 killed and about 8.500 wounded .Allied air forces flew 14.000 sorties in support of the operation and lost 127 aircraft .After the Allied invasion of Normandy (June 6,1944) , Rommel was severely injured when his automobile was strafed by a British plane,and he was sent home to Ulm to recover along with his wife Frau Lucie Marie (Aglaia Szyszkowitz) . By this time , he had become increasingly disillusioned not only by Hitler's unrealistic military leadership but also by the worldwide reaction to Nazi atrocities . He opposed the project assassination attempt on Hitler's life on the ground that this action would only create martyr . Rommel never took an active role in the July Plot executed by Colonel Klaus Von Stauffenberg , although the conspirators wanted him as Chief of state after the elimination of Hitler . However the plot failure ,one of the conspirators , before he died in agony on a meat hook , blurted out Rommel's name to his tormentors and his doom was sealed , offered the choice of a court-martial or reprisals against his his family or suicide .

The picture is well starred by Ulrich Tukur as Erwin Rommel who gives a notable acting . In the film appears famous Nazi characters who are well interpreted by awesome actors , as Benjamin Sadler playing General Speidel , as Gen. Feldmarschall von Kluge acted by Thomas Thieme , as Gen. Feldmarschall von Rundstedt played by Hanns Zischler , Gen. Feldmarschall Keitel performed by Joe Bausch , General Guderian by Klaus Behrendt and Hitler featured by Johannes Silberschneider who provides an excellent performance (but he doesn't reach to Bruno Ganz in ¨The downfall¨) . The motion picture was professionally directed by Niki Stein . Rating : Good , above average and well worth watching .

Others films appearing this mythic figure are the followings : ¨The desert fox¨ (1951) by Robert Wise in which Rommel's James Mason displays a first-rate interpretation and he'll repeat role in ¨The Desert Rats¨ (1953) by Robert Wise ; furthermore : ¨Battle of Alaimen¨ by Giorgio Ferroni played by Robert Hossein and ¨Raid on Rommel¨ by Henry Hathaway played by Wolfgang Preiss .

To paint career German military in a better light. Lets not forget that the Wehrmacht swore an oath of allegiance to Hitler and kept that oath until things stopped going their way. When Rommel started having a crisis of conscience about the brutality of the Third Reich, Rommel's wife summed up the state of mind of the average German at the time, "Let's not talk about those things".

If you are interested in Second World War history this is for you. Especially if you want to know what happened the days before the invasion in Normandie by the Allied. Rommel played a role key trying finally to find a peacefully end between the Führer and the Allied. I don't spoil more details just watch it. The story begins some months before and shows shortly the victories of Rommel so far and his new role as the Feldmarshall. He was also ordered to be involved in the strategical battle fight of Normandie. If you liked it see the other historical movies Saving Private Ryan or the top season All Light We Cannot See.

6/10.

This movie has the German stamp of quality: Good acting, good attention to details (uniforms, military equipment), great scenery and great sense of authenticity. If you are interested in history, this movie will take you in the atmosphere of those days. And it will do that so good that you'll have the impression that you see the actual events taking place. However, it lacks the story. Yes, the events did take place as they were presented, but the subject had tremendous potential: Hitler was a crazy and was obviously leading the entire country to disaster. Edwin Rommel could have been representative to all generals around the world who were torn apart between the sworn allegiance to their country and the resistance to the lunatic currently in charge. This could have been the symbol movie for all other military in similar cases: The STASI police, who let the Berlin wall fall although in other occasions they shot everyone who fled into West Berlin. The Romanian generals who refused to shot their own population, although they were ordered to do so by Ceausescu. And all other crazy dictators like Antonio Salazar, Rafael Trujillo, Mohamad Gadaffi, Saddam Hussein, Mobutu Sese Seko, François Duvalier or Kim Jong Il, they all had honest generals in their army serving their countries. Maybe not many, but some of them had problems with their conscience in one way or another and they were forced to make difficult decisions.

Same with Rommel here. Yes, he betrays the Fuhrer, but Hitler is not Germany. Yes, he could be killed if he fails. He will probably be killed too if they're on the losing side of the war. But this maniac would rather give cyanide pills to all Germany than to surrender. What's the right thing to do? To whom does a military sworn allegiance to? To the leader or to the people? Instead of exploiting all this drama, the director of this movie chose to make this film a documentary.

a correct film. the choice of actors, the atmosphere, the portrait of Rommel who is not only realistic but, in same measure, useful for discover the man behind the hero are inspired ingredients for create coherent fresco of principles, sense of duty, courage and wise vision about the situation of Germany from a Nazi officer who represents the traits of a lost world under dictatorship. a film about principles more than about a man. because the actions of Rommel are fruits of a faith who , translate in smart manner in each scene, represents a kind of map of the contemporary society. a correct film. and that is more important than great, beautiful or profound. because it propose not only a biography but a model.

Paging James Mason! Paging James Mason!

You know, the Desert Fox wasn't a perfect movie. But at least James Mason looked like he was having a good time. He got how Rommel could light up a room, throwing together a battle plan in the desert like a master chef cooking up a snack for his best friends. He got how Rommel could be in the hospital sick and in trouble with Hitler, and still look forward to having coffee with his wife. He got how Rommel could look a couple of real scumbags in the eye, accept his own pointless murder, and still walk off looking and feeling like a patriot.

None of that happens in this movie. Rommel looks depressed all the time, except when he's confused. His wife is portrayed as a real witch. The story keeps getting sidetracked, and minor characters keep stealing the spotlight from our hero. There's the pretty French countess -- is she really with us or with them? There's General Speidel -- is he supposed to be Clark Kent or Jiminy Cricket? Von Stauffenberg's cousin Elvis shows up, makes a big speech, and then vanishes. The whole movie wanders around and around and ends up nowhere.

Now the Desert Fox only had a couple of scenes of Rommel working his magic in the desert. Even though it was called the *Desert* Fox. But Rommel is even worse. It's called "Rommel" for God's sake! I mean, it's not exactly a biopic of the man's whole life. It doesn't even show him in the desert! I mean, come back to the desert again, Erwin honey.

And come back James Mason -- all is forgiven!

This is a very even handed portrayal of the last days of Rommel. Some WWII movies intentionally ramp up the drama just to sell tickets. This was a very authentic feeling conveyance of Rommel's last days. We get to see that he was a man who desired to serve his country but not take part of the war crimes. He was also portrayed as an honest, intelligent, and honorable man, not one to side with the butchery or perverse desires of Hitler. Enjoyed the film from start to finish. Great job

Outstanding movie, even better than Valkyrie. It really keeps moving and holds one's interest. Highly recommended. Just imagine a movie about nazi germany without tom cruise!

Rommel ist ein cooler Film.

Musik 10/10 Film an sich 11/10.