Inside the Third Reich

Written by Speer to cover his crimes. Speer should have been hanged with the other war criminals. His efforts prolonged the war, resulting in millions of additional deaths. This is a bad movie because it allows a lying cover up. It is irresponsible for film makers to represent criminal behaviour as something less than it was/is.

Speer gambled that taking blame for Nazi crimes would save himself from the gallows. The prosecutors and judges at Nuremberg were taken in by crocodile tears shed by a monster. Slaves in factories run by Speer died in thousands under inhuman conditions. Speed's wife WAS NOT an ardent anti-Nazi as she appears in this film.

He DID work against Hitler to spare German basic services, but that's not saying much considering that it was about all gone by the end of WW II.

This is an adaptation of Albert Speer's autobiography by the same name. The story itself is, of course, told from one point of view, Speer's. However, it is a riveting story overall. But I didn't think that Rutger Hauer had his heart in this one. His performance just seemed a bit off and he, unfortunately, was the star, playing Albert Speer. I thought that Derek Jacobi did a wonderful job as Adolph Hitler and he even sort of looked like him. The story is a pretty strong one, and the film holds up pretty well even given Hauer's somewhat lame acting. The remainder of the cast, which includes Sir John Gielgud, Blythe Danner, Randy Quaid, Elke Sommer and Ian Holm, all do a pretty good job and the film is overall fairly enjoyable. However, as I mentioned, it is told from only one viewpoint. A good film but not a great one.

Based in large part on the memoirs of Albert Speer, Inside The Third Reich tells the story of Nazi Germany seen from the only Nazi insider to write his memoirs. By pleading guilty with a ringing mea culpa Albert Speer got 20 years inside Spandau Prison for his part in creating the Nazi machine which brought the world to war.

Rutger Hauer plays Speer who post World War I was a promising architectural student and protege of Trevor Howard who is the voice of old Germany. Hauer gets invited to a Nazi rally and hears Adolph Hitler speak and is convinced this is Germany's future and restoration among the great nations.

As an architect he wants to do great things, have his name on some indestructible edifices that will stand the test of time. Who better to follow than a man whose ambition is to create a Germany that will dominate for a thousand years?

Speer's family is also part of old Germany and are not thrilled with Hauer's decision to embrace the Nazi cause. John Gielgud and Maria Schell play Hauer's parents and Blythe Danner his wife Margarethe. Concerned with surviving in a country gone mad, Danner focuses in on being wife and mother and pointedly does not associate with Hitler or the gang around him.

A lot of very good players have essayed the role of Hitler. Coming to mind are Everett Sloane, Alec Guinness Bobby Watson,. I don't think he's ever been better played than by Derek Jacobi. What Jacobi does in playing Hitler from the 20s until the end is capture the charisma of the man. The guy who looks like Charlie Chaplin was a spellbinding orator. Even in English, Jacobi captures the essence of that charisma and his ability to move and sway a crowd. That first speech that Hauer hears leaves you no doubt why so many followed him as he reduces complex questions to simple answers, the great skill all demagogues have had through the centuries.

Inside The Third Reich, a great film and another telling of a tale that needs to be told and retold.

Inside The Third Reich is a great movie. Of course the central character of the movie is Hitler played by Sir Derik Jacoby. He does a masterful job of portraying Hitler. From reading a lot about the Third Reich time period and Speer's book, the film is true to the book, and to history.Many people have wondered why Speer was not hanged at Nurenberg. I think I know why the court spared him when the others were hanged. He was one of the few remaining Nazis that could attempt to explaining Hitler from a human point of view. The movie is fast moving and gripping. A great screen occurs at a lavish party when Hitler makes Blythe Danner(Speer' wife)shudder as he kisses her hand and fawns over her. She says to her husband Speer, I may attend parties for him but I will not have him in my house! This is one movie you will want in your house.

Excellent view of just how "cut-throat" Hitler's inner circle was. I do feel that the film portrays Speer too much like an innocent pawn in Hitler's tragic production on the world stage. He knew what he was doing and who he was working for even though he may have had in inner struggle with it.