Knockin' on Heaven's Door

This movie is not bad, but it is not to good either. I would classify it as a fairy-tale. Rudi and Martin, to about 30-years old man, have both cancer and flee out of their hospital. They make a journey to the sea und use their last days to fulfil their wishes.

By intention this movie is far from realism. For example, you never see symptoms of illness at Rudi, despite he is very sick of bone cancer. There are lot of gunfights, but no one dies or gets hurt. In one scene dozens of police cars chase the two guys. The two main gangsters, Henk and Abdul, are in their black suits a mixture of Tarantino-style guys and the typical german smalltown thug.

That makes the movie very light-hearted, but a bit stupid also. To me good fun for 90 minutes, but I would not look it a second time.

2 men who were sentenced to death by their doctors spent their precious remaining time together to experience something they never had chance to do before when they occasionally found a lot of money two stupid gangsters left.

This is a crazy comedy with good entertainment, and because we know the tragical end, so the highly contrast of the hilarious story really make me have a bittersweet feeling which is wonderful.

Their last wish is to see sea with their own eyes, a quite common wish but they never did before. We always think we have a lot of time to do things we want to do, but nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. We never have the courage to do something derailed from our normal track of life, and gradually lost the aim and fun of it, living numbly and waiting to the final destination.

The cast is good and I Love Til Schweiger so much, really a charming role! Moritz Bleibtreu is outstanding as one of the moron gangster too.

I rarely watch Germany comedic films, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" is an exception even it might be too crazy for some people, still need a good recommendation.

"Knocking On Heaven's Door" has been a big German box office hit in the winter of 1996/97 and is still considered one of the best German movies of that decade next to the international success "Lola rennt". This is a breath-taking comedy about two losers (Til Schweiger and Jan-Josef Liefers) dying of cancer and getting anything they want during their last days on earth. They are robbing a bank and nicking a car containing a gangster's suitcase with a million marks in it. Of course the gangsters and the police hunting the guys who just want to reach the sea to die somewhere at the shore.

Although this road-movie story itself isn't very new and has been filmed many times in Hollywood movies, it stands on its own. The story has dozens of quotes and references from American movies and film genres, but it also knows how to add a local, German and European style to it. You see two henchmen, a Turk and a Belgian, dressed in black suits and with sunglasses like taken from a Tarantino film. You see Hannes Jaenicke dressed as a fatally-looking leather cop U.S.A. style, drinking Jaegermeister (a popular German spice liquor). You see popular fifties girlie actress Conny Froboess playing Til Schweiger's mum, an Elvis Presley adoring fan.

There are plenty of funny scenes in this movie, many witty dialogues, absurd situations and brilliant performances by all actors featuring Corinna Harfouch as a doctor, "Sexluder" Jenny Elvers as a nurse, Dutch movie stars Huub Stapel and Rutger Hauer as gangster bosses, Ralf Herforth as dumb police officer, etc. Schweiger and Liefers are giving the best performances of their career, adding pain, sadness and tragedy to the all-action-comedy style. The photography, editing and the surf-rock-like sound track by Selig are also outstanding. Take a look at this example of best German nineties cinema!!!

The TV guide described the two leads in _KoHD_ as terminally ill gangsters, so when I came to watch it I discovered something quite different from what I had expected.

_KoHD_ is an excellent film that blends facets of gangster, buddy, road movie, comedy and drama genres together into a seamless whole. Initially, Martin and Rudi are, of course, hopelessly mismatched. As they travel towards the sea (their ultimate goal), the relationship between the two men begins to change. The nervous Rudi finds strength and confidence; Martin, on the other hand, who is initially by far the stronger of the pair, comes to rely more upon Rudi for strength and assistance.

Much have been made of the comedy in _KoHD_, and this is a major component - it is the humour that makes the film (which could have been utterly bleak) ultimately an uplifting experience. That being said, however, just when you forget that both men are dying you are reminded forcefully that they are both, as the title suggests, knocking on heaven's door. These two forces - the pathos and the comedy - provide a wonderful balance. Thumbs up.

This is easily one of the best films that I have seen in a long time and certainly the best of its modern gangster genre. The plot is maybe a touch formulaic but that fits well as the whole film pokes fun of many of the clichees that Hollywood pictures like Pulp Fiction take a little too seriously. Actually, I have heard many people compare it to Pulp Fiction, but the only real similarity I found is in its frenetic style and odd sense of humor. As for humor, the subtitles are well done, so you don't lose much in the translation.