Max Schmeling

If only someone could have stopped him earlier.

Max Schmeling was a hero and an icon in every sense of the word. He straddled the ethical and moral line as best any German citizen could have during a time of almost unimaginable social and political chaos. In the midst of a dark cloud surrounding Nazi Germany, Schmeling was the last, best hope for a moderate, admiring view of the eastern European nation.

Given his status and continuing popularity among Germans and boxing fans worldwide, one has to wonder how it came to pass that "director" (and this term is used quite loosely) Uwe Bolle (as executive producer) managed to foist his latest fiasco on audiences in the guise of a movie about the life and times of one of the world's premiere athletes. "Mak Schmeling, Fist of the Reich" can best be described as "Max Schmeling: F_sting the Reich." Not since Uncle Adolph himself has one man done so much to offend so many.

Low on plot points, completely lacking in style and pace and heavy on pretentiousness, "Max Schmeling" is the logical follow-up to Bolle's "Blubberella" as an homage to out-takes strung together in the guise of a movie. "Star" Henry Maske's debut as the iconic heavyweight champion should mark the fastest decent into disaster since the Hindenberg. He is wooden and talentless in the lead role of Schmelling, and speaks most eloquently when saying absolutely nothing. There is little positive to say about this movie; I won't bore you with the less than stellar specifics.

I got this movie in a video store bargain bin as an used copy. The cover was appealing as i am interested in WW2 and i like boxing as well. Then it was in my shelve for a while as i was intending to watch it with my cousin who likes both subject as well. But then at some point i decided to watch it anyway, and realize it was sporting the name of ... UWE BOLL on it. Oh boy... i decided to put it in the shelve and include it in my next pawnshop movie sell(i do that once in a while as i buy pretty much all my movies used in video store, i don't rent much and i hate video on demand) So as i was making my movie pile for the pawnshop, i decided i should at least give it a go, after all, my Boll hate comes mostly from him destroying video game licences and i actually did enjoy Rampage.

The movie is in German, but i choose to watch it English dubbed. I am not a fan of English dubbed, but i tough it was rather OK in this, the voices didn't bother me too much. I come from a french province so i am used to french dubbing, but not English ones. Anyway yes the acting was so-so, but not that bad. I could get into the movie. I think his boxing years where pretty well done, the fights whee numerous and entertaining, i was actually surprised. I think the war segments and how the Nazis saw him could had been way better done, but then again it was not the point of the movie per say.

Overall i am surprised... its a decent movie, even tough its made to by Boll. Got to give credit where its due, I'm sure if the movie would had been dubbed in french i would had even more fun watching it. There is nothing spectacular but the movie don't feel too cheap or whatever and i didn't knew Max Schmelling at all, so now i want to look him up on wikipedia.

So yeah, i liked the movie. Will i keep it or pawnshop it? I dunno yet, it was way better than expected.

I found this to be a very enjoyable movie indeed and in sharp contrast to the stinging comments made about the movie generally. Yes it is essentially a Boxing movie with a Nazi War theme but there is no blood, minimal violence, no bad language, no offending sex scenes and everything in the film, given the nature of the storyline to do with Nazis, is done in very good taste.

True, it is not a great film and I do not think the director ever intended it. He may have intended a personal message with the film and expressed a love of boxing and also of a German Boxing icon.

Max Schmeling was a respected fighter both before and after the War. Whether he was a Nazi or not is a concern or issue for the film and there are no scenes I recall in the film which show Schmeling in direct contact with anyone acting as Adolf Hitler. His respect for Joe Louis is humbling.

He lived a long life and was successful in business. He has stood the test of life in ways that modern boxing icons such as Bruno, Bugner, Tyson and even Mohammed Ali have not.

Max Schmeling had a Jewish manager and married a Czech woman. There is nothing about the film which could possibly give offence to a German or anybody else unless they were looking to be offended.

Yes the storyline is simplistic enough, there is no dwelling on Max Schmelings involvement in the war or on the exact nature of how he suffered injury and near death in the war. Enough to vaguely refer to it and not wonder more.

Remember the film is for entertainment and is not a documentary. If the latter then some of the films other comments will be more relevant.

Underrated movie. No rewinds were needed during viewing. Uwe.made it again. Seriously. Still can't understand why so many people are.so.prejudiced.

Not sure if Uwe had to make or decided by himself to make movie about german boxiing hero. Don't understand me wrong - Max Schmeling is not a masterpiece, but I wasn't bored watching it a bit. Boxing movies is not a really my cup of tea but if it's yours - give this movie a chance, Is the scenario perfect ? No. Would i change something to make this movie better ? Sure. Maybe it was a little bit too short. Some characters had no time to be deepened and maybe some of them had to be eliminated. Anyways... Decision is yours - take it or leave it.

So i did not know this movie was in german , thought it was in english lol but i continued to watch with english subs , this is a decent film , i dont get all the hate max schmeling has a good story and this film embodied it , another title to watch is joe and max another decent film.