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7.4/10
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German death camp in Sobibor, Poland, killed two hundred fifty thousand Jews. It had the most successful prisoner escape in World War II on October 14, 1943.German death camp in Sobibor, Poland, killed two hundred fifty thousand Jews. It had the most successful prisoner escape in World War II on October 14, 1943.German death camp in Sobibor, Poland, killed two hundred fifty thousand Jews. It had the most successful prisoner escape in World War II on October 14, 1943.
- Nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys
- 3 wins & 6 nominations total
Klaus Grünberg
- Sgt. Bauer
- (as Klaus Grunberg)
Featured reviews
It was interesting to read another viewer's comments about this film. I have seen Schindler's List and it didn't touch me anywhere near as deeply as Escape from Sobibor. I first watched it in my teens and it was this film, more than anything I'd seen previously about the Holocaust, which had the greatest impact. The story, of course, is based on truth and is full of painful, heart-wrenching scenes. Nothing has ever presented the Holocaust to me in a more vivid, more graphic, more powerful way.
It's amusing that some people can watch a film and it barely registers with them. Others can see the same film and have a completely different reaction to the experience. But that's people for you, the great variety that is the spice of life. For me, Escape from Sobibor was a very emotional experience and it had a major impact on me. But don't take anyone else's word for it. We all see things differently - go and see it yourself.
It's amusing that some people can watch a film and it barely registers with them. Others can see the same film and have a completely different reaction to the experience. But that's people for you, the great variety that is the spice of life. For me, Escape from Sobibor was a very emotional experience and it had a major impact on me. But don't take anyone else's word for it. We all see things differently - go and see it yourself.
One of the best films best about the Nazi holocaust,and the atrocities committed in the concentration camps,ESCAPE FROM SOBIBOR is based on a true story of an heroic uprising in one of these camps of death and horror.Some of the scenes depicted are so horrific that they are very hard to watch,but we are left cheering at the escape at the end as a reaction to the brutalities and inhumanity we witness beforehand.
The cast is excellent,with fine actors such as Alan Arkin,Jack Shepherd,Rutger Hauer on-hand,but a special note should be made of Harmut Becker's performance as the evil,sadistic,murdering monster Sgt Wagner.He is completely without any redeeming features whatsoever,and Becker is totally convincing in the part.I wished this character to come to a enormously nasty end,though he didn't get it;the end credits inform us that Wagner was murdered in a fascist South American country in 1978.
British director Jack Gold is a talented director who made a few decent big-screen films,but his best work was left for TV films like THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT,CATHOLICS,and GOODNIGHT MR TOM.This may be his best.
The cast is excellent,with fine actors such as Alan Arkin,Jack Shepherd,Rutger Hauer on-hand,but a special note should be made of Harmut Becker's performance as the evil,sadistic,murdering monster Sgt Wagner.He is completely without any redeeming features whatsoever,and Becker is totally convincing in the part.I wished this character to come to a enormously nasty end,though he didn't get it;the end credits inform us that Wagner was murdered in a fascist South American country in 1978.
British director Jack Gold is a talented director who made a few decent big-screen films,but his best work was left for TV films like THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT,CATHOLICS,and GOODNIGHT MR TOM.This may be his best.
I saw this movie about 13 years ago in school. It still sticks in my Mind. I think this is the best holicaust movie I have ever seen. I can remember a lot of the movie but I can't remember any of schiendler's List. It really made me think about the hardships and pain that those people went through. How young children either lost their families or lost their lives. One part of the movie I remember vividly is when a child got scared and ran away from the other people. and how a guard let the dog loose and it attacked and killed that poor child. I also remember how one man told a woman to say she had some kind of skill. Which she did and that saved her life.Lets not forget the many lives that were taken in those times. The young and the old. Its a very said part of history but the ones who were killed and the ones who survived should never be forgotten.
I first got this out on video many years back. Being interested in the holocaust from a young age,and having traveled through Poland in the early eighties I got this out of interest.Amazing to think it was done for television and not cinema. I,was on the edge of my seat all the way through,could hardly breath all through the film,did not take my eyes off the screen.The ending is both shattering and uplifting.Even more so knowing the outcome of some of the lives. And how simply fitting a denouement on the end credits the result of the police investigation, give that policeman a medal. On the whole the acting is exceptional, and by that I mean one forgets the actor and sees only the person as real. In fact it has that real life documentary feel to the story. Most satisfying to have seen it before Rutger got semi-famous.
This film has very direct blood and violence but it is never used in a distasteful way. The filmmakers have done a good job with the graphic scenes that also have an emotional impact. Compared to Schindler's List, this film has a more hopeful tone but it has the same amount of tension. There are so many characters shocked by the constant brutality of their situation but they decide to take action instead of resigning themselves. This film is gripping from beginning to end, with incredible tension and stakes.
Did you know
- TriviaOut of about 300 prisoners who escaped to the woods from Sobibor, only about 60 survived until the end of the war.
- GoofsShlomo Szmajzner actually had three "brothers" that he requested be kept with him (his real brother, his cousin, and his nephew).
- Quotes
Lt. "Sasha" Pechersky: Listen to me! Our day has come! Most of the SS are dead! It's everyone for himself now!
Leon Feldhendler: Those of you who survive, bear witness! Let the world know what has happened here! God is with you! Now let nothing stop you!
[escape begins]
- Alternate versionsSome television broadcasts of the movie, in particular the version which was shown on the History Channel, cut a lengthy scene after the escape attempt at the beginning of the film (attempted by a work detail cutting through the camp fence with garden tools) where the detail is shot dead with their bodies then displayed to the rest of the camp as a warning. In the cut version, there is no mention of what happened to these escapees after their escape attempt.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 39th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1987)
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