Dresden: The Inferno (2006)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Such a frustrating disappointment

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Even though this German television film is high melodrama, its quality and insight overcome any clichés that might appear in the plot. World War II in Europe is on the wane. Germany is basically defeated but refused to give up. On a mission into Germany an English bomber pilot and his crew are shot down. Those who do not initially die in the crash are killed by villagers all save the pilot who manages to escape. Wounded, he seeks shelter in a hospital and is discovered by a nurse. She hides him and gives him medical help. She soon discovers that he understands her, because his mother was German.The pilot is dumped into a melodramatic mess in which the father of his savior nurse - the head of the hospital - is withholding pain killer from the wounded German soldiers and citizens in order to sell them on the black market and buy his family a way out of Germany before the inevitable defeat. Not only that, the nurse's intended is a self-serving coward. It seems that the only one around who lives up to the German ideals is the wounded British pilot. Needless-to-say, a love affair blossoms between the nurse and the pilot.But surrounding all of this melodrama is the story of Dresden written and produced by Germans whose view of the situation and the lives of the everyday citizens of a city that will soon become an incredible, flaming oven of death is insightful and horrifyingly realistic.This film was excellently produced with a quest for accuracy - an accuracy that is hard to view but one that is necessary for anyone who contemplates the inhumanity of war. It is clear that the bombing of Dresden was more of a punishment of Germany rather than an attack needed to end an already devastating war.There is much to learn in the special features of the DVD that add to the rewards of the film. If you - like myself - knew of the firebombing of Dresden, have read a little, but didn't know much more, I think you will find this a worthwhile viewing. Plus, there's a nice love story with agreeable actors.

I was very moved by this film. The subtitles didn't bother me at all, but instead made the movie more realistic.It didn't quite end as i thought it would (characters wise), however it was a great insight into the "other side".I've always thought the obliteration of Dresden was over the top, and to this day it is controversial.Anyway, as another person said, this probably has more impact than a mere documentary.Oh, and Felicitas Woll - even though it is a VERY serious subject matter, the film is worth watching just for her :)

Although on the whole i thought the movie was good and showed a good account of what happened in Dresden that night, there are many goofs involving the Lancaster's. When Robert enters his Lancaster through the rear door, he turns left, as such he is heading to the rear gunners position not the pilots seat at the front of the aircraft. Not 2 minutes later when he is taking off he advances the aircrafts throttles on his own, Lancaster pilots did not do this as they had to use both hands on the control column to get the aircraft airborne, and operate the wheel brake on the control column to stop the wheels spinning so they could be retracted, the Flight engineer would advance the throttles with the pilot and then take over when the pilot gets the plane airborne. Moving on to the end of the film, the morning after the main raid, American bombers, and long range fighters attacked the city, machine gunning people, and bombing what was left of the ruined city. However the film is a bit too much like titanic in its plot focusing on a love story rather than what actually happened.

A fictional love drama set on the background of Dresden at the end of World War II achieves to illuminate the complexity of human characters under the life-threatening terror of the Nazi-regime and the war.The excellent cast with Felicitas Woll, John Light and Benjamin Sadler as main figures involve the viewer into a very personal drama. As the screenplay avoids black-and-white-painting, multi-layered characters invite the viewer to a differentiating point of view.Realistic fire-scenes, carefully computer-animated flying-sequences and the participation of both British and German historians in pre-production contribute to a gripping movie about a sensitive point in German history.