Manitou's Shoe

This is by far the best German film I have ever seen, and it is most definitely one of the funniest I've ever seen in my entire life. The comedic timing with Abahachi and Ranger were perfect, and Winnietouch added even more of a twist and even more laughs - being a gay Indian. This movie was meant to bash a German writer back in (I'm not sure) the late 1800's who wrote about the American Wild West, even though he had never been there. So of course, his stories were ridiculous and often hard to believe. "Der Schuh des Manitu" embodies everything a spoof should be, with love affairs, gay Indians, misunderstandings, random happenings, and, of course, a truly spectacular cast! I hope this encourages everyone who reads this to definitely check out this movie, because it's definitely worth it!!

The production values are OK, the cinematography, SFx, costumes, set design etc. are remarkably good (for a comedy) and the acting is OK, but personally I would rather not dwell on the fact that this was the commercially most successful German movie ever. In fact, the good visuals expose the script as rather lame -- jokes that work well in the "trashier" environment of Michael Herbig's TV show ("Bully Parade") come across as a bit lackluster (viz, not all that funny) in this feature-length movie (most of the characters and jokes have essentially been copied-and-pasted from the TV show, in case you haven't had a chance to see it).

So what about the tremendous box office success? I have a theory which sadly exposes the cinema audience as a rather unadventurous lot: the movie reaped its accolades not on account of the movie being so insanely great, but because it dependably serves the jokes from the TV show in a larger format; plus it has a low common denominator, meaning that you can take your mates, your girl friend or your nephews to see it, and at least none of them will be terribly disappointed. It's a bit like going to McDonalds, no-one would claim that the food is so exceptionally tasty there, but at least you know what you are going to get.

Overall the movie is bearable time waster if you get to see it for free on TV, nothing more -- it's like watching a Bud Spencer movie, good for a few chuckles. Foreigners: for the love of God, please don't mistake this for the "crème de la crème" of German comedy!

To appreciate the full nuances of this movie a very good grasp of German and particularly Bavarian slang is a must. Without it it's simply an average slapstick comedy and any review of it is destined to miss the mark. The movie simply lives from the German dialogue, especially the slang. I'd say watch it in English or subtitles, by all means, but don't write a review since you probably missed 50% of the real funny stuff. It'd be the same as writing a review about the German dubbed version of Romeo and Juliet. Why bother?

This wacky as well as raunchy spoof is packed with a lot of silly laughs and great entertainment and fun . Demystified parody based on Karl May's ¨Winnitou¨ , as well as amiable Western that changed the concept of this particular genre each bent on disproving a popular myth , yet tinged with humor , spoof and combining with anti-heroes , crazy Indians and many other things . Amusing take off on Indian movies in which a rambunctious temperance leader called Abahachi (Michael Herbig) , Chief of the Apache Indians , and his blood brother called Ranger (Christian Tramitz) maintain law and order in the Wild West . These two main characters "Abahachi" and "Ranger" who deliver their peculiar peace and justice were referred to as "Winnetou/Pierre Brice" and "Old Shatterhand/Lex Barker" in the skits of the Bullyparade . One day , Abahachi needs to take up a credit from the Shoshone Indians to finance his tribe's new Saloon . But Santa Maria (Sky Du Mont) , who sold the Saloon , doublé-crosses Abahachi , takes the money and leaves . Soon after , the Shoshones are on the warpath to get their money back , and Abahachi is forced to organize it quickly , then chaos and wreak havoc ensue . Luckily , Abahachi and Ranger go Winnetouch's home , his twin brother . There Winnetouch shows Ranger the picture of his father, (he actually shows Pierre Brice playing the title character in "The Desperado Trail" , 1965). He tells Ranger that his father could speak French fluently and nobody knows why (in fact , deceased Pierre Brice was born in France) . Then , Abahachi, his twin brother Winnetouch (Michael Herbig) , gorgeous dancer Uschi (Marie Bäumer) and the Greek Dimitri each own a quarter of a valuable map . But at a hidden cave , Santa Maria already awaits them to take their new treasure away as well . Unfortunately , he did not think about the determination of Abahachi's bunch formed by Ranger , Dimitri (Rick Kavanian) , Hombre (Hilmi Sözer whose role bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Going South's James Belushi¨) , all of them join forces to find a treasure map that leads them to 'the shoe of Manitu' .

It's an entertaining story and very amusing tale with the Farceur Michael Herbig as director and at double role . This bemusing movie is packed with tongue-in-cheek , slapdash and slapstick , a steady stream of gags , lively situations abound , sheer belly laughs , crazy humor , too much fun and to be perfect for the kiddies and adolescents . It contains simple and raunchy humor and lots of entertainment and funny scenes . The spoof is surrealist , extreme and gross-out with the ordinary bunch of loonies and loopies , but is also bold and intelligent with a myriad of imaginative sketches with no sense , many of them unabashedly tasteless . This movie basically is a big spoof of the "Winnetou" films/novels by Karl May , such as ¨The treasure of the silver lagoon¨ which are very popular in Germany , in fact the character Karl May in the tavern is a reference to him . The picture contains an unstopped string of gags each thirty seconds and silly jokes from the start to the ending with some lively touches . The comedy and humor are interminable for that reason the viewers will laugh uncontrollably with the habitual quirky and lunatic characters . The sympathetic Michael Herbig steals the show , the puts paces, grimaces , and overacting by means of excessive mimic gesticulation especially in his hilarious scenes as the Indian gay . Furthermore , it provides a sprinkling of self-parodyc situations with laughers and amusement from start to finish . The screenplay besides having more than its fair scraps of funny lines , throws up rich as well as amusing characters and it shows in the confused melange of styles and some bad taste . Lively musical score by Ralf Wengenmayr with catching songs and enjoyable musical numbers . Colorful and shimmer cinematography shot in Almeria , where in the sixties shot lots of of Spaghetti/Paella Westerns ; however , the Winnetou/Pierre Brice movies had been filmed in Yugoslavia .

This motion picture titled ¨Manitou's shoes (2001)¨, was well and originally directed by Michael Bully Herbig . It is generally considered as being the most successful German movie ever with 12 million viewers and the broadcast television premiere of this film earned German broadcaster highest rating in its history . Herbig is an expert on parody based on known characters , such as ¨Sissi¨ in ¨Lissi and ¨The Wild Emperor¨ and , of course , ¨Vickie the Viking¨ . This second feature movie he directed , became the most successful movie in Germany and Austria ever . The film will appeal to absurd , unruly , wacky comedy fans . This raucous Western spoof is a Michael Herbig vehicle , if you like his crazy, maniac performances , you'll enjoy this one . Rating : 6,5 . Acceptable comical Western film appointed for children and adolescents and , of course , for vintage series fonds . Well worth seeing .

I think this movie is great, one of the very rare funny German movies that made me laugh really hard. the accents are funny, it probably isn't that interesting in English. the gay jokes are good, but not mean, rather nice and funny!! the actors are great, the roles are too funny. even if some jokes might be a bit low, they still make you laugh like hell. simple, but great jokes make the movie so great to watch. I remember one scene, where Ranger talks to Uschi, who stands behind a mirror and you see Uschi's head and Rangers body :D great!! the names are all very fitting, you already know how the person is when you hear his name, things like "Listiger Lurch" get lost through the translation :( probably only interesting for a German speaking audience 4 1/2 stars out of 5