Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #489 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-02-20
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Black & White, PAL
• Original language: English, Turkish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 187 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Steven Spielberg had a banner year in 1993. He scored one of his biggest commercial hits that summer with the mega-hit Jurassic Park, but it was the artistic and critical triumph of Schindler's List that Spielberg called "the most satisfying experience of my career." Adapted from the best-selling book by Thomas Keneally and filmed in Poland with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, Spielberg's masterpiece ranks among the greatest films ever made about the Holocaust during World War II. It's a film about heroism with an unlikely hero at its center--Catholic war profiteer Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who risked his life and went bankrupt to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps.

By employing Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army, Schindler ensures their survival against terrifying odds. At the same time, he must remain solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley) and negotiate business with a vicious, obstinate Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa overlooking a prison camp. Schindler's List gains much of its power not by trying to explain Schindler's motivations, but by dramatising the delicate diplomacy and determination with which he carried out his generous deeds. As a drinker and womaniser who thought nothing of associating with Nazis, Schindler was hardly a model of decency; the film is largely about his transformation in response to the horror around him. Spielberg doesn't flinch from that horror, and the result is a film that combines remarkable humanity with abhorrent inhumanity--a film that functions as a powerful history lesson and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the context of a living nightmare. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Based on a true story, Schindler's List is Steven Spielberg's epic drama of World War II Holocaust survivors and the man who unexpectedly came to be their saviour. Unrepentant womaniser and war profiteer Oskar Schindler uses Polish Jews as cheap labour to produce cookware for the Third Reich. But after witnessing the violent liquidation of the walled ghetto where the Krakow Jews have been forced to live, Schindler slowly begins to realise the immense evil of Nazism. When his employees are sent to a work camp, they come under the terrorising reign of sadistic Nazi Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes). With the help of his accountant, Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), Schindler creates a list of 'essential' Jews. Bribing Goeth, Schindler manages to get 1,100 people released from the camp and brought to the safety of his munitions factory in Czechoslovakia. Spielberg's glorious film is wondrously evocative, visually stunning, and emotionally stirring.

Customer Reviews

Spielbergs finest moment
In the list of major films that Spielberg has made this is the one above all others that everyone should see.
Its the true story of Oscar Schindler, a paid up member of the Nazi party who saved the lives of around 1,100 Jews in WW2.
Liam Neeson plays Schindler brilliantly, but the whole cast are excellent. It would be unfair to pick out any one person, such as Neeson, since for example Ralph Fiennes is also brilliant as a ruthless camp commandant. I've seen the film 3 or 4 times now and its one of the few films that has brought me close to tears, as true horror of the Holocaust is brought to life.

What Schindler did shows a side of humanity that most of us will never see. At great personal risk, because he realised that people were being slaughtered, he bribed Nazi officials and ensured in the process that his factory never produced anything useful for the Nazi's. Scene after haunting scene is left etched on your memory. Perhaps for me, where Schindler hoses down the people who are packed into the trains in unbearable heat sums up the whole movie for me. He needn't of helped them, they were going to die anyway, but he did. We all know about mans inhumanity to man, but here is a demonstration of one mans great humanity. So whilst the film is very sad and emotional on one level, because of Schindlers actions the film doesn't leave you in a state of manic depression at the end!

Its a fabulous movie and at 3hours and 7mins it is long, but you will never look at your watch, its that good.

History in Black and White
Thomas Keneally's bestselling book was made into a movie of awesome power and emotional impact. Oskar Schindler was a Catholic war profiteer during World War II. He initially prospered because he went along with the Nazi regime and did not challenge it. But Schindler ultimately saved the lives of more than 1,000 Polish Jews by giving them jobs in his factory, which turned out crockery for the German army. Schindler lost his wealth, but gained salvation for many lives and the descendants that would spring from those lives.
Like Raging Bull and Rumblefish, this film is shot in black and white which accentuates the impact whenever there is the odd colour scene as in the end with the girl in the red coat after liberation of the prisoners. Despite the movie's considerable length, it is never slow or dull. It is hard to believe that Hollywood, which so often churns out mindless drivel aimed at making money, could produce something so important and powerful as this film.

Much credit is due to the three main actors -- Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ben Kingsley as his Jewish accountant (and, on occasion, Schindler's conscience), and Ralph Fiennes as the frightening Nazi commandant. The film won seven Oscars, but its best accomplishment may be reminding us that we must never forget what happened.

A masterpiece but flawed all the same
I agree with almost everything that's been written but I did have a problem with the last few minutes (not the very Technicolor present-day ending, which was very moving) in Oskar's factory when the German guards were sent home as the war was over. There's a believability threshold that, for me, was crossed here - it was too convenient, too filmic, as near-endings can be. I felt the use of colour just for the little girl in red was highly symbolic, but when you watch the film a second time you feel it is not necessary. The message is powerful enough without being reminded of the film-maker's presence. If you haven't seen this, clear your evening, grab a handkerchief and be prepared for about 3 hours of pain, which despite my niggly criticisms is one of the most comprehensive and important films ever made.