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Der Clown

  • 2005
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
4.3/10
686
YOUR RATING
Der Clown (2005)
ActionCrimeThriller

A crime fighter dressed as a clown has helped out the police. The now retired clown returns when the German gold reserve is robbed by a criminal gang.A crime fighter dressed as a clown has helped out the police. The now retired clown returns when the German gold reserve is robbed by a criminal gang.A crime fighter dressed as a clown has helped out the police. The now retired clown returns when the German gold reserve is robbed by a criminal gang.

  • Directors
    • Sebastian Vigg
    • Roland Leyer
  • Writer
    • Timo Berndt
  • Stars
    • Sven Martinek
    • Thomas Anzenhofer
    • Eva Habermann
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.3/10
    686
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Sebastian Vigg
      • Roland Leyer
    • Writer
      • Timo Berndt
    • Stars
      • Sven Martinek
      • Thomas Anzenhofer
      • Eva Habermann
    • 13User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Photos12

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    Top cast26

    Edit
    Sven Martinek
    Sven Martinek
    • Max Hecker
    Thomas Anzenhofer
    • Tobias 'Dobbs' Steiger
    Eva Habermann
    Eva Habermann
    • Leah Diehl
    Götz Otto
    Götz Otto
    • Zorbek
    Andreas Schmidt-Schaller
    Andreas Schmidt-Schaller
    • Führmann
    Xaver Hutter
    • Salbach
    Xenia Seeberg
    Xenia Seeberg
    • Mona
    Dirk Heinrichs
    • Marten
    Martin Brambach
    Martin Brambach
    • Kähler
    Patrice Bouédibéla
    • Daib
    Horst Sachtleben
    Horst Sachtleben
    • Wachmann
    Oscar Ortega Sánchez
    • Kameramann
    • (as Oscar Ortega Sanchez)
    Bernhard Hoëcker
    • Erdoan
    Thomas Born
    • Tom
    Claudia Mehnert
    • Antonia
    Stefan Gebelhoff
    • Wolff
    Frank-Leo Schröder
    • Leahs Chef
    • (as Franz Leo Schröder)
    Crisjan Zöllner
    Crisjan Zöllner
    • Zweiter Soldat
    • Directors
      • Sebastian Vigg
      • Roland Leyer
    • Writer
      • Timo Berndt
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews13

    4.3686
    1
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    10

    Featured reviews

    2denis888

    Banal, Obvious, Trite

    I love both Eva Habermann and Xenia Seeberg for their incredible performances in immortal Lexx Series. But here I was so badly shocked and so much disappointed that no words can come in. The plot is a real obvious silliness - bad guys, Xenia is among them, are always plotting some bad actions, only to steal some big chunk of gold from some place. Good guys, including Eva and some mystical Der Clown, as a modern day Robin Hood, always hinder them on doing that. There are many cars exploded, some helicopters, some airplanes, some cycles, some bombs, some more... It all looks like a cheap remake f some Commando or Rambo films, only with poor play and cheap budget. Xenis does not play, she only makes effective poses and shows her legs galore. Eva is better by a hair width, she is always cool but then frightened and brave. I say, this is a brainless, light weight ditty, not a serious thought behind. Do not waste your time on that. But it is good for laughs.
    6gridoon2025

    The sheer joy of pure action

    Apparently based on a German TV series of the same name and with much of the same cast, "The Clown" moves at a somewhat rushed pace, especially in the first half, that makes it feel almost like an extended series episode; the story also has some questionable points (they find the bad guys' first hideout via a pizza delivery?), and the direction is at times overly gimmicky, overusing the slow-motion and the split-screens. In spite of all that, the film satisfies on its intended pure-action level. The stunts, explosions and chases are exceptionally spectacular, easily on the level of a James Bond movie if not better, and seemingly all done for real, without the use of CGI. It's a film that seems to have been made only for the sheer joy of action, and it transfers much of that joy to the viewer. And of course my comment would be incomplete without mentioning Eva Habermann (the good girl), who is very very beautiful and very very physical, and Xenia Seeberg (the bad girl), who looks a lot like Angelina Jolie, from the expressions to the pouty lips, and gets to fire hundreds of bullets, one of them right into the gut of a man she had just kissed passionately. (**1/2)
    9lucent-3

    Pure action

    I like to agree with Markus Schnitzler , it's a rock-solid action movie, made to watch just for fun, not to consider the worlds biggest problems ! The stunts are incredible, cars and motorcycles of course, but helicopters, and not only one, they crash 2 and just an airplane too.

    And I like the split-screens too, they look good and they can give you a lot of information in a short time and the story rolls on.

    Of course the story is not the best , I've ever seen, but it is so far OK, cause you don't go there to ask for logic and depth, right ?

    If you like fast and breathless action, here you can get it ! It is certainly worth a try :-)
    3NemoAB

    Destruction without sense

    First off, I haven't seen the TV series about the same main character.

    I know there is an audience for movies like this. But I tend to expect at least a small storyline that is been followed in the film. After watching "Der Clown" I am not sure what story was told there.

    All I can recall is this: A guy, formerly a member of some sort of special forces, dropped out of that unit. Now he is free to break legal rules to successfully hunt down the bad guys. Of course his girlfriend had fought on his side and has been killed in action. We learn this in the opening scene.

    The bad guys have the famous idea to rob gold bars (can money be more difficult to carry away?) and they do it with ease. It took just a grenade on the highway to get rid of all the chasing police force.

    The Clown starts the hunt. A friend supports helicopters (yes, several of them, because they are wrecked one after the other). And a blondish journalist shows up, right in time to be taken hostage and later to kiss the clown. No other purpose for her to be in the movie. I already forgot how the bad guys were stopped in the end.

    Action in a movie doesn't have do be explosions. But in this movie, everything explodes. And as in the German TV series "Cobra 11", cars tend to lift off in slow motion as soon as they hit a little obstacle. This is dull entertainment, destruction for the lover of brute force. You don't care for any character in this movie. The makers tried to make us feel for that poor man that had lost his girlfriend, but it doesn't work just by putting in the scene of her death in slow motion.

    If you like TV productions like "Cobra 11", you will probably like this movie. But don't expect more. If you go to the movies to be touched and moved by the story, this is definitely not your film.
    2ofjeworstlust

    I *loved* the series

    But whoever came up with this crap? The series had more action, more funny lines, and a packed story altogether. The effects are crappier than I've ever seen before. Take the shot with the lorry that's being rocketed - you clearly see a dummy driving. Or the shot where a car passes a tram, it's clearly computer generated.

    Might not be that bad, but untrue characters that do really stupid moves, it might have been acceptable at the beginning of cinema.

    And then the soundtrack. After practically every scene a bit of English or German noise has to be added. Why, is it a musical or what?

    Really awful and unbelievable. We've seen many events in other movies before, and a lot better. I loved Kommissar Rex, Derrick, Der Alte, Der Klown, but this is major C*R*A*P!

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    Related interests

    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Holds a record for the most expensive German movie screenplay. During development, producers demanded constant rewrites from the original authors - who had to be paid for every single draft. Then, after the production had already spent around 250.000 Euro on the script, it was finally rejected and writer Timo Berndt started from scratch to write the script that ended up being used.
    • Goofs
      Eva Habermann has through the whole movie some cream boots except in the scenes where she sprang out of the helicopter on the roof of the building. There she had some terrain flat shoes in same color.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Worst Movies of All Time: Der Clown (2025)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 24, 2005 (Germany)
    • Country of origin
      • Germany
    • Official sites
      • Official site (France)
      • Official website with information and pictures
    • Language
      • German
    • Also known as
      • The Clown: Payday
    • Filming locations
      • Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
    • Production company
      • Action Concept Film- und Stuntproduktion
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €8,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $422,173
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 44m(104 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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