Captain Berlin versus Hitler

OK, so maybe Captain Sensible's 80s single hit song has nothing to do with the mighty Captain Berlin. I couldn't come up with any other way to start this review, so sue me.

I have been a fan of Herr Buttgereit longer than I can remember. His early projects were very hard to get a hold of legitimately over here in the states, but many people were bootleging them. I believe it was the early 90's that someone handed me a blank vhs tape, telling me 'you're gonna love this S*^t!' Well, it was Nekromantik...and was he right. Oh boy. I have been hooked ever since. Jörg Buttgereit has the ability to do what very few filmmakers can do, which is assault you from the moment you press play. Which is what most of his films are; an assault on the senses.

This one is a little bit different. Not quite a movie. It's actually a stage play that is shot through multiple camera angles. Heavy in dialogue and props. It's very clean, no gore or too much craziness, yeah, he still manages to assault you, but in a different way. In a much more subtle way. Through a quite entertaining narrative, delivered lightly but dramatically by skilled thespians, and of course with that killer technokraut theme song.

I had watched captain Berlin years ago, also on a bootleg, and now finally on my own legitimate release. I am hoping that, like the comic book series, we see more of these. I may even write my own screenplay for it to present, humbly, to Herr Buttgereit. Very few cooler characters exist out there.

To those of you into Buttgereit's main body of work, do not expect that here, this is completely different. But it retains his originality. And if you do end up, loving Captain Berlin, there is a whole slew of comics out there although they have not been translated into English they are cool to look at.

If you can find this one, I highly recommend it. I think I picked mine up on Amazon so it's not too difficult to find. And the version I got does have English subs.

Long live the Captain...Captain Berlin.

16 years after Jörg Buttgereit's last movie there suddenly now here is "Captain Berlin versus Hitler". Well, it's not exactly a movie though, it's just a shot registration, from 2007, of the Jörg Buttgereit's stage-play by the same name.

For those who aren't familiar with Jörg Buttgereit's work, his works as a director are just, well, odd. His movies make him seem like a person who enjoys necrophilia, death and violence. His movies "Schramm", "Nekromantik" and "Der Todesking", among others, all show this. While "Captain Berlin versus Hitler" is a movie that doesn't feature any of these horrible and disgusting themes in it, it is still a movie that can be seen and described as an odd one but in a sort of good and campy fun way.

The movie is deliberately campy, with hilarious fake looking sets and completely exaggerated characters. What other movie can bring Hitler, Dracula and a superhero together?

While the movie is fun to watch, it also isn't really anything more than that. Because of the fact that this movie is just a filmed registration of a stage-play performance make this movie a far from an impressive looking one, although they tried to spice things up a little by adding in some comic book effects and a fun musical score, during its post-production.

There is of course very little to the story and you can tell the story its only purpose is to be fun and bring entertainment. There isn't anything too clever or renewing about the story, other than the fact that it's a German production that in essence is making fun of Nazi's.

The character of Captain Berlin by the way already got created by Jörg Buttgereit long before this stage-play. In 1982 he based his first movie around him and he himself also played the character.

No way that this is a must-see, not even for the Jörg Buttgereit lovers but nevertheless when you decide to watch it you wont be bored with it. It's fun enough all, just at the same time far from impressive or original and clever enough to leave a great, lasting impression.

6/10

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Jörg Buttgereit the German Cult B-movie Trash-Film Pope. He made Cult Films such as: The Death King, Necroromantic, Schramm and German Angst.

With Captain Berlin versus Hitler, Jörg Buttgereit has finally managed to turn his legendary Superhero of a different kind into a Stage play (unfortunately not as a Film).

First of all, be warned Captain Berlin versus Hitler is not a real B-movie Trash-Film but a play that was performed about four Times in the Berlin - Hebbel - Theater under the Direction of Jörg Buttgereit.

Thilo Gosejohann in Germany also known as Simon Gosejohann played in the German Prank Show "Comedystreet" and has made two Funny No-budget Trash - Films that have a small Cult Status in Germany (Captain Cosmotic and Operation Dance Sensation!). Reworked this little Masterful stage play as a Film and released it on DVD. The result is impressive

All the Actors in the Film really try Hard, but the one who really blew me away is Adolfo Assor, who plays a really good Dracula. This Acting Artist has Acting in his Blood.

If I had seen Captain Berlin versus Hitler live in the Theater earlier I would have given this little Masterpiece a higher score, but on DVD it is quite Entertaining but live on stage it would definitely be Excellent!

I give the film and especially the Idea itself a 7/10. I can only highly recommend the Audio commentary by Jörg Buttgereit and Thilo Gosejohann. So many background stories and it felt like a cool Podcast.

I have to honestly admit it was my first Film with Audio commentary and I will never regret it.

Captain Berlin versus Hitler would have been more Fun as a real Film, but as a Stage play it is still an Entertaining, funny, crazy Hitler Parody that inspires you with its creative idea.

You can call it a little Artistic Genius Prank.