I would like you people please to disregard the IMDb score and see this movie for yourself. It appears that view have watched this, and indeed if you remove the idiotic "bollbashers" (those who rate 1 on every film by Uwe), you would get an average of 6.4, a more suitable score for this film.
As a whole, this is not a great movie. But I had a unique pang of excitement when Joe Louis was on screen. Max Schmeling is played by Henry Mask, and the boxing matches were very similar to the real thing. The authenticity stems from both the director, who boxed at an amateur level for 15 years, and the "star" was a gold medallist, who had previously held the IBF world light-heavyweight title. This occasionally transcends into flat acting that on a whole was plainly mediocre. Still, Schmeling himself wanted him to play the role.
This film deals with 14 years of his life, and shows how the Nazis used him as propaganda, and how he went against their values- even saving Jewish boys from Kristallnacht. He has a blooming romance that comes across as a bit cliché, but in all this movie was interesting, and very truthful to Schmelings actual life. Some bits are omitted or mentioned in brief, but actual footage was organically placed into the film to make it seem more like the Nazi period of time. You can't help but feel your looking at true history - that of a German hero.
Concludingly, an average boxing film about an above average man. 6/10.
As a whole, this is not a great movie. But I had a unique pang of excitement when Joe Louis was on screen. Max Schmeling is played by Henry Mask, and the boxing matches were very similar to the real thing. The authenticity stems from both the director, who boxed at an amateur level for 15 years, and the "star" was a gold medallist, who had previously held the IBF world light-heavyweight title. This occasionally transcends into flat acting that on a whole was plainly mediocre. Still, Schmeling himself wanted him to play the role.
This film deals with 14 years of his life, and shows how the Nazis used him as propaganda, and how he went against their values- even saving Jewish boys from Kristallnacht. He has a blooming romance that comes across as a bit cliché, but in all this movie was interesting, and very truthful to Schmelings actual life. Some bits are omitted or mentioned in brief, but actual footage was organically placed into the film to make it seem more like the Nazi period of time. You can't help but feel your looking at true history - that of a German hero.
Concludingly, an average boxing film about an above average man. 6/10.