Os Reféns de Gladbeck

Honestly, the police in this situation were terrible! This should be shown to every police force in the world on how not to manage a hostage situation. Unbelievable!

I never would have expected that a movie / documentary created by only using news snip-its, could be so good.

It is the first time that I see this type of documentary, and the story just captures you. I never before heard of the events so I was really at the edge of my seat, watching how the situation would develop.

As "Gladbeck: The Hostage Crisis" (2022 release from Germany; 91 min) opens, it is August 15, 1988" and we are in Gladbeck, Germany. Two deranged criminals have just robbed a small branch of Deutsche Bank, and decide to take the 2 bank employees as hostages. They demand 300,000 Deutsche Mark and a BMW as getaway car. It marks the beginning of a couple of shocking days...

Couple of comments: this is directed by veteran and well-respected German documentarian Volker Heise. As the film notes at the very beginning, the entire movie consists of actual footage and audio from 1988. No talking heads looking back and commenting. This is all happening in real life. And some of it is absolutely surreal. How 2 kidnappers were to in effect hold an entire country hostage, with plenty of help from the media's actions AND the police's inaction it must be said. As we watch these events unfold, I, and I suspect many other viewers, had absolutely no idea how it would all unfold, and that makes this such a compelling documentary. Afterwards both the media and the police were heavily criticized for their roles in the hostage drama.

"Gladbeck: The Hostage Crisis" premiered on Netflix two weeks ago, and I just caught up on it. If you have any interest in true crime documentaries, or in a late 80s time capsule of what West Germany was like at that time (one year before the reunification), I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

This is a bizarre and enthralling watch. I recommend it. But what it confirmed to me is how the media are parasitic scum and only getting worse. Yes it is their job to report on something like this, but not get involved in it and not place themselves right in the middle of it hindering any attempt the police would have of controlling the situation. Disgraceful, and we've seemed to have learnt very little as the media are still doing this crap to this day. Becoming the story not just reporting on it. Journalism is dead. Has been for a while now.

This is without a doubt one of the most painfully disturbing documentaries I've ever seen and believe me when I say I've watched a lot over the years.

The filmmakers have done a stellar job of pulling all the key events together, and making a 1hr 30min movie from what must of been over 50+ hours of footage.

If you've ever had an axe to grind with how morally bankrupt the news media is and how inept the police can be this drama is only going to solidify your position further.

I came away from this film in pain for the innocent people involved and pretty wrung out from the intensity of the situation. It has stayed with me and I've thought on it long and hard. One can only imagine how the key news men and women and police must have felt afterwards. I'm surprised if they could ever look themselves in the mirror again without feeling pangs of guilt.

The poor victims of such pointless rage makes the heart bleed. My only gripe is that you don't feel anyone was really taken to task over their poor handling of a very traumatic situation. I think I'll need to do some extra reading to find out what happened to key figures after the dust settled.

This is well worth a watch but beware of the gruelling intensity and the days of analysing you'll undoubtedly feel after viewing!!