User reviews

Even though or rather because it has more of a family drama than of a thrilling sports movie, it achieves to entertain as well as touch the spectators for two solid hours. Actually, the family story is perfectly integrated in the circumstances of 1954's football world-cup and shows in a very sensitive way the changes that this game, especially the finals with their victory over Hungary, have on the focused family in special and on whole Germany - which is still depressed by the misery caused by the second world war - in general. Becoming - for the very first time - football's world champion gives the country back its hopes for the future and people's joy in life. Matthis' father, and with him the whole family finally finds back to themselves. This movie perfectly holds the balance between sad and joyful scenes which, together with a decent sense of humor, never lets the story drift to one side. The spectators can truly feel with the well played characters of the family members and their progress throughout the events. Finally, the movie leads into a satisfying end without getting trashy.

I just watched "Das Wunder von Bern" and I must admit it is really a good film, not only for football fans (for you Americans: we Europeans say football for soccer). The film is not just a sports drama but deals more with the atmosphere in post war Germany and with the problems and aspirations the people had during that period and what the winning of the world championship by the German national football team meant for the regular people.

Actually this atmosphere is covered excellently. The film shows that the people were still recovering from WW2. There are heaps of debris in the streets from houses destroyed during air raids and many men are still kept as POWs so that the women have to take care for the family. The children play football with a makeshift ball, and most people don't seem to have much money. Everything is shown in subdued colors which really contribute to this mood. Although the story is set in Essen, a city in the main industrial and mining region of Germany, it could have happened everywhere in Germany.

The colors only change during the scenes in Switzerland, where the world championship took place. In fact those scenes are shot in bright and friendly colors. And also the settings are quite different from those in Essen: whereas the location in Essen consists of small apartment buildings, narrow streets and those aforementioned subdued colors, everything in Switzerland seems to be posh and spacious.

Even though the actors are not exactly great names in German cinema, they are quite good. As far as I know the actors who play the members of the German national football team were cast not only for their acting skills but also for their ability to play football. Thanks to that aspect the football scenes are quite convincing (although the spectators in the football stadium in Bern look really fake).

What I really liked though was the fact that the filmmakers used the original radio commentary from reporter Herbert Zimmermann, which is legendary. Every German football fan knows the important parts of his commentary by heart.

All in all a good and entertaining film, although I didn't really like the ending.

Historically, few movies have been made about football (or soccer, for those in the United States). I believe this is due for two reasons: 1) Hollywood wasn't familiar and care little for the sport for many years, and 2) European directors, who one would have expected to be more disposed to made such a film, have generally been dismissive of football. You see, in their mind, I think they see it as the opiate of the people (the working class in Western Europe would rather go and see a match on Sunday than start a revolution to overthrow capitalism). Only recently there have been a number of movies that deal with the world's most popular sport. This is in my opinion the best of them, dealing with the surprise victory of Germany in the 1954 World Cup over the highly favored team of Hungary. This victory was of historical significance for the Germans, according to some people, since it was the first victory of any kind Germany have 9 years after the end of the war, and it meant the start of a new era of increased self-confidence for the country. OK, maybe this is an exaggeration, but this movie, which mixes real characters (the players, coach Herberger) with invented ones (the journalist and his newly married wife, the kid from the Ruhr region who has a bad relationship with his former POW father and wants to go to Switzerland to see the final match) is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

A wonderful little film, "Das Wunder von Bern" succeeds to capture the atmosphere of Germany in the mid-Fifties. The film is not so much about the football world championship of 1954 itself, but about how important this victory became for the Germans themselves. A nation torn apart and devastated by war, disoriented and sad, found new strength and something in which to believe in.

I first feared that I wouldn't like the movie so much as I am a Hungarian myself (the nation West Germany beat in the finals of the 1954 world championship in Bern), but in fact I was rather enchanted by the story. The excellent script brings the characters (above all little Mathias) to life. You start to care about them, to like them, to follow their ups and downs with interest. I especially liked the sensitive approach to the problems a family had to face when the father came back after years as a POW. As many other men in a similar situation, Richard Lubanski first wants to show strength and authority by being cold, arrogant and even violent towards his children - but later discovers that he also has to show his weaknesses and talk about his terrible experiences in war in order to get closer to his family again.

The parallel storyline of newlywed journalist Ackermann and his pretty and snobbish wife Anette was not very closely related to the main story, but I still liked it as the film showed through their lifestyle the beginning prosperity of the "Wirtschaftswunder" (economy miracle) years in contrast to the still bleak world of the industrial and mining town the Lubanski family lives in. And they also added some lighthearted comic relief to the film.

I would very much like people from other countries/cultures to see this film and understand better what Germany went through in these years.I am quite sure that they would not have big problems understanding "Das Wunder von Bern", as its main themes (family, war, traumatic experiences, failure and success) are quite universal.

Das Wunder von Bern would be a great movie for men who think they still are boys, if it just wasn't as naive as it is.

The movie is about a boy who in the middle of poverty finds inspiration in football - and a father he never had in a player of a local football team. Until his father actually returns from Russia, that is. Father is quite a serious character and almost every scene he's in has that dark tone to it. They have tried to lighten up the movie with a character of a sports journalist and his wife, but that's only confusing at best.

As usually, they have tried to write a sports movie that would be more than a sports movie. The result is, it's hard to tell what the movie eventually is. Das Wunder von Bern is at it's best as a nostalgic journey back to the rugged sceneries and interiors of the 1950's.

This movie is a very interesting case. The goods in this movie are amazing and some of my favorite scenes. However, the bads make me want to quit the movie. There was so much wasted time just for filler. The whole storyline with the couple was just a waste of time and did not add to the story at all. The ending football scene was disappointing. I did not feel suspense or excited for the outcome. It was obvious who would win and that is the case with most sports movies however they handled the rest horribly. A good sports movie will still make you question the outcome whether it's true or not. This did not. Not in the slightest. The father was a disappointing character. I feel like he was a necessary addition, however, they handled him poorly. Towards the end of the movie, I really enjoyed his character but at the beginning, he was very sloppily placed. I think for the time of this movie, they did ok. Not the best but understanding the time of production and how certain ideas were viewed helps me forgive the way they handled the father. I could go on about the bads, however the goods are there to. I enjoyed the boss and the kid's relationship, however it crumbled at the end. I enjoyed the story with Bruno however, that also crumbled at the end. The end sucks. I'm sorry, just because you make it emotional, does not mean it is a good ending. But that's just my thoughts... Have a great time... Don't watch this movie if you don't like sports though... it is a bit boring...

It's easy to appreciate how much of a morale boost to a country sporting victories are in international competition, particularly when that sport is almost the national religion as soccer is throughout Europe. But you don't need to be a soccer fan or a German to appreciate this wonderful film, where the pathos of a bittersweet family reunion when the father comes home from a Soviet work camp after 11 years is as much the centerpiece as the quiet optimism leading to the football win and the joy following it. Obviously Germany in 1954 was a country still rebuilding from its recently shattered past and that feeling is conveyed superbly. The end is charming, in fact the nicest closing scene I can remember.

I had initially expected to find mainly German comments and felt positively surprised that a lot people commented positively also on the things around culminating in positive reviews about Worldcup in Germany 2006. Why do i like the movie ? Whenever you ask older people about what defined "West Germany" after the lost war, there are basically three things mentioned: The Currency Reform to "Deutschmark", the Return of the 10.000 POW from Russia and the Miracle of Bern as the leading one. And the movie, as good as i can imagine it, captured it very well if you hear comments from the same people watching. Yes, there are no mountains between Essen and Bern and quite sure no Car Transport Trains between Suisse and Germany in 54, but who cares ? But they did poke some fun about women's equal (baby naming) rights and the real copyrights for the German National Coaches high quality punch lines and they had the final about right. I can always enjoy it !

Although I had some very high hopes for this movie, I was utterly disappointed. Maybe I had expected a nice sports-flick like the hilarious "Fußball ist unser Leben", I definitely did not expect such a shallow review of every single German post-war cliché. Count them, they are all there: the shell-shocked husband returning from a decade of Soviet labour camps, the wife who has grown independent in the meantime by having to run the family business plus the family itself, the son turned communist due to disgust for the crimes of his father's generation (and I would have liked to see that person put up communist party posters in a pub in the early 50ies, even in the Ruhr area... tar and feathers, anyone?). Add to that the entire "Wonder" of Bern myth (a fabrication of later decades) and the net result is a not too entertaining fairy-tale. If you want to see a good "sports" movie, watch "Fussball ist unser Leben" or, if soccer is not up your alley, "Major League". If you want to get a closer look at post-war Germany, there are also better movies around.

In a very moving and unsentimental Drama, Sönke Wortmann brings us the amazing story of the German National Soccer Team, who unexpectedly defeated the Hungarians in the final of the World Cup 1954 in Switzerland.

After being a prisoner of war for 9 years, Richard Lubanski comes home to his family, only to find himself in a world, strange and unknown to him. His oldest son Bruno is a communist, who plays Jazz music for a living, his daughter Ingrid helps her mother at the family's bar, and his youngest son Matthias is a soccer fan and a good friend of Helmut Rahn, a player of the German national team. Richard in his embitterment and desperation drives his family apart, and for a long time fails to realize that he's the one responsible for it. In the second plot line, the journalist Paul Ackermann gets the honorable assignment of reporting for the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" in Switzerland during the World Cup, news not to well received by his wife Annette, who was already planning their honeymoon. She insists on coming with him and during her stay in Switzerland she learns quite a bit about soccer and in the end knows more about it than her husband. The German National team, under Coach Sepp Herberger, is confronted with very difficult opponents and after an embarrassing defeat against the Hungarians, many Germans already see the team's chances gone of entering the next round. Rahn, who got drunk after the loss against Hungary, but learned from his mistakes, and Fritz Walter, the captain of the team, though, both very ambitious players, try to motivate the whole team and eventually they play in the final, once again against the Hungarians.

Whether you are a soccer fan or not is of little importance when watching this movie, as it is more about family, friendship and teamwork than about the sport itself. At times moving, at others funny, "Das Wunder von Bern" is a wonderful portrait of Germany after World War II, a desperate nation in desire of a miracle. The young Louis Klamroth gives an extremely good performance, as do Peter Franke, Sascha Göpel and especially Peter Lohmeyer as Richard Lubanski. All in all, an excellent piece of German history. (9.5/10)

The music is pleasant. The story is not fun The characters are simplistic and the father is brutal. The action scenes are simplistic and ordinary. Don't waste your time on it.

German director Sönke Wortmann manages to recreate an atmosphere that kept the young German nation after WW2: Depression, fear, no perspectives for many people that are still suffering from the mayhem of the war. But he also shows that society is developing under the influence of the allied forces. It is perfectly chosen to follow the main plot on the side of young Matthias Lubanski (Louis Klamroth delivers an overwhelming performance! As the rest of the cast as well!). He only knows about the aftermath of the war, not all the evil that it brought before, and he has to deal with all what is surrounding him. He needs to have something to believe in, and when his father returns after 12 years of russian captivity his world turns upside down, but not for the better. During the movie both, he and his father, have to learn hard lessons of life, but for each its a necessary development to find its place in life. So when father and son travel to Switzerland, the colours of the movie change from the dark and grey Ruhrpott to the green and blue of the Alps. The second plot is woven into this one: The progress of the German National-Soccer-Team at the World Cup in Switzerland. Different players from different teams have to become one team, each fighting for each other. One for all and all for one. This is transferable to the German nation itself, on the verge to a new democratic future where at the beginning everything is linked to each other.

The movie is heart-warming and shows, by the way, how fantastic soccer (or any other team-sport) can be. How it can carry away the audience.

When the German team beat the former unbeatable (for almost 4 years!) Hungarian team 3-2 - something nobody every dared dreaming of - the whole German nation felt as one and knew that there is a new future!

Just one thing that felt rather negatively. Why was it not possible to create a more exciting and realistic atmoshpere in the stadium of Bern? The spectators, all too apparently created via blue-screen, looked too artificial. There was no depth. You never felt really appealed by that audience, because it looked not real. I think Wortmann should have been more perfect with that. Regarding the fact that so many special effects professionals from Germany work in Hollywood (e.g. for Roland Emmerich) the result could have been much, much better!

But nevertheless, this is one of the best German movies in a decade!

I have seen this movie on November 2005 in an European Cinema Festival in Lima. It was really excellent, and I'm purchasing it on Amazon.de. The digital making of Wankdorf Stadion in Bern was awesome, and the story was touching. The performing of the final was a surprise, because before it, no football scene had been seen in the movie. Only one mistake: the boy went with his father from Germany to Bern by car (borrowed from a priest), but they returned by train. What happened to the car of the infortunate priest? Nevertheless, if you are a football fan, don't miss it and PURCHASE IT FROM AMAZON.DE!!! The DVD does have Spanish subtitles.

"Das Wunder von Bern", a movie about the first German World Cup victory of 1954, is surprisingly entertaining and one of the better German movies these years. The background is really good, featuring a war-torn Germany which is already in the middle of the "Wirtschaftswunder", showing the huge contrast between children of Coal Workers who do not own a real football, and a newly wed reporter with his wife, who are living in a modern house with lots of clothes, and would have made a trip to Africa if not for the world cup. In my case, the greatest part though was the heavy use of the different German dialects - it's hard to believe how funny simple jokes can sound if told that way - but at the same time, I doubt this will work in foreign-language versions. Therefore, for foreigners, I'd give only 6/10, because of the probably less interesting German history, and mainly because of the lack of adequate translations of language-related jokes. For Germans (or those few non-Germans out there who study German and watch the original version), I'd give 8/10, close to 9.

I have no doubt that the 1954 World Cup win for Germany was important to a nation trying to move out of the shadow of Nazism and the deserved defeat they suffered in World War II. This movie does a fairly good job of conveying that emotion, and of depicting life in a poor town less than a decade after Hitler. I also liked the music, which was supportive without being overly dramatic or emotional. Much of the acting was also good.

I can't say the same for the script or plot, which were predictable (I don't mean the historic truth of the World Cup, of course, but the fictional family developments), highly sentimental, and annoyingly manipulative. The father was a cardboard character whose actions I didn't believe for a second, and what he did to provide a dinner for his wife was totally implausible. If the movie was aimed at eight-year-olds who need something completely lacking in subtlety, so that every plot point is as obvious as a road sign, then it succeeded. Adults, though, will find it as thin as onionskin.

The trip by father and son to Bern for the final match cheated by having them drive through gorgeous Alpine scenery, when a real trip would not have been anything like so beautiful. If filmmakers will cheat on something like that to get an easy reaction from the audience, they'll cheat on everything.

I did not like this movie because the story of this film is boring. The action-scenes is not very good and the music is boring. Don't waste your time watching this movie.

This movie is clearly en par with "Die Feuerzangenbowle" or "Der blaue Engel"

In the background it describes the post war Germany, the desperation, the aggression, the losses, the private and public devastation. Fantastic the scene when the train arrives in Essen and all the women anxiously hope that their husband or son will be on that train (many many of them were actually disappointed). Amazing how Soenke shows the game against Austria where he lets children play the actual game scenes on some muddy grass pitch, with the original radio comment running.

In the foreground it tells the story about those 90 minutes which many consider as the turning point for Germany in the 20th century. I was not existent yet but my mother and many others that I know of her generation can still tell what they did during these 90 minutes in 1954. The movie is brilliantly made, with real soccer players as actors (that shows at times, see "The school of rock"). The goals in the final actually happened the way they are shown in the movie. The American movie goers may not understand many of the little details (all the Herberger Phrases are there, Helmut Rahn actually had a severe alcohol problem later in life). They also may not realize the importance of soccer in all the rest of the world ;) which cannot be overestimated.

As a football fan, this movie appeals to me indeed. It is true-to-history, honestly depicted, filled with genuine and sophisticated acting performances and based on a historical background. The entire plot centers around the boy, Matthias, and tells the story of the 1954 World Cup through his eyes mainly. He makes this movie special and revives the era of the 50s in Germany, a time when this nation was just recovering from the devastation and the scars of WWII. The story is solid and very sincere. The acting is wonderful and the depiction of the contemporary setting is superbly staged. I can just recommend this movie to all football fans and anyone who enjoys pervasive stories that provide first class entertainment.

I did not know until reading the comments at the IMDb site that winning the FIFA World Cup in 1954 meant so much to a Germany that was building a new, humanitarian society.

I want to add two remarks to what has been said so well by the others.

First of all, I think that "Miracle at Berlin" should be released worldwide with English sub-titles because it has such a good story to tell. It only had Thai sub-titles (not English) here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but I was lucky to understand enough of the German dialog. The theatre manager later told me the Thai sub-titles helped many natives here to enjoy and appreciate this, so he ran it an extra week.

Secondly, it is pleasant to see the Germans in the film express their patriotic pride in such a positive way. For example, it was fun to watch the young woman who agreed to delay her honeymoon so that her sportswriter husband could cover the World Cup in Switzerland. She had cared little about the tournament but in the final match came out in front of the German fans to lead cheers for their struggling team.

Since then it was also a pleasure to see and read how Germany hosted such a successful World Cup tournament in July, 2006, with their theme for visitors from around the world, "A Time to Make Friends." I'm reminded how Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court Earl Warren said he would first read the sports pages for news of human accomplishments before having to turn to the front pages to learn about the failures. Now that so much of the Middle East is once again in flames, we need stories like "Miracle at Berlin" to remind us that sometimes there are still happy endings.

I think the film is so-so, on the one hand we have an inconvincing casting, some scene are violent, the plot is dull. On the other hand we have great sound design and original story. When i went watching the film, i have sleep in the middle of the film on the shoulder of my friend next to me. However, if you like the football, this film is for you, but for me it's not woth for my money. Honorine.

For the very first time I went to the cinema the day after to watch a movie a second time. And I am a swiss citizen living in Germany, so it cannot be patriotic feelings. This film is just a wonderful film document of the great victory of the German soccer team against the Hungarian on in 1954. My father was 20 years old at that time and he watched this historical match live on TV in Bale (Basel). He told me many times that the German team surprised everybody because nobody was in a doubt at the beginning of the world championship that the Hungarian team will win. So this 3:2 victory of the German soccer time was really a historical event and cannot be really compared with 1974 or 1990 where they became world champion as well. I deeply recommend my father to go to the cinema as soon as possible to watch this movie. According to the scenery shown in the film Matthias and Richard must have crossed the Alpes when driving from Essen to Bern. But in fact this is not necessary because Bern is located at the north side of this mountain chain. Nevertheless a wonderful film!

The film is very disappointing don't go and watch it not action scenes the is strange because he killed bunny eat the music is good the film is not fun don't waste your money