The Bunker (1981)

Dramatization depicting the events surrounding Adolf Hitler's last weeks in and around his underground bunker in Berlin before and during the battle for the city.

Director:

George Schaefer

Writers:

John Gay (written for television by), James P. O'Donnell (based on the book by)

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Richard Jordan, Cliff Gorman

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Hopkins	...	Adolf Hitler
Richard Jordan	...	Albert Speer
Cliff Gorman	...	Joseph Goebbels
James Naughton	...	James O'Donnell
Michael Lonsdale	...	Martin Bormann
Martin Jarvis	...	Johannes Hentschel
Michael Kitchen	...	Rochus Misch
Andrew Ray	...	Otto Günsche
Piper Laurie	...	Magda Goebbels
Susan Blakely	...	Eva Braun
Robert Austin	...	Wagner
Geoffrey Bateman	...	Riebold
Graham Bishop	...	Helmut Goebbels
Kevin Bishop	...	Themmer
Nathalie Boulmer	...	Elga Goebbels

Storyline

In 1945, The Third Reich is in its death throes with the Allies relentlessly attacking the capital city of Berlin. Its Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler, retreats into his fortified bunker in Berlin with his senior staff. There, gripped with both delusions of grandeur and despair, Hitler commands a hopeless last stand with resources existing largely in his own mind. While resisting the pleas of rational minions like Albert Speer, basic reality finally comes unavoidable. With that, Hitler and his fanatical fellows prepare for their own end even as their grandiose dreams are becoming a smoking ruin above.

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Plot Keywords:

bunker | 1940s | last stand | nazi germany | marriage ceremony | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

27 January 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Führerbunker

Company Credits

Production Co:

Société Française de Production (SFP), Antenne-2, Time-Life Television Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

150 min 148 min (DVD edition) (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Reporters on the set said the sense of realism was so intense that at one point, when Anthony Hopkins entered the room to prepare for the next scene, actors portraying SS troops found themselves snapping to attention.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, the narrator enters Hitler's flooded underground bunker shortly after the German surrender in 1945. He wears the uniform of a U.S. Army captain, and says he is on assignment from Newsweek magazine. However, civilian publishing companies did not employ military officers as correspondents.

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Connections

Referenced in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Anthony Hopkins (2006)

User Reviews

Hopkins the best Hitler

As a military historian, I've probably seen every film depicting Hitler and the last days of the Third Reich there is. Some stand out. "Inside the Third Reich" with Derek Jacobi, and "Hitler: The Last Ten Days," with Alec Guinness, to name a few. But as slow and downright melodramatic as this film is, I think that Anthony Hopkins' Hitler is right on the money, A superb acting job with a difficult role. He brings the image of an old man, difficult, palsied, volatile, confused, distant and changeable as a chameleon on an acid trip to life for the screen. It's not hard to play the classic Hitler with fits of rages and dour looks, but there is a lot more to it, and Hopkins pulls it off magnificently. He literally ages before your eyes and the gray pallor of the Bunker's stone walls seems to seep into his skin with every scene. Jordan as Speer is believable, and the somber, dirgelike music pulls out the hopelessness of the last gasp of the Nazi rat pack's future. Accurately done, but Hopkins is the real star here. But as one other user commented, is it really so hard for a Brit or an American to manage a German accent? Do all civilized Germans sound as if they had been raised in coventry? Ach du Lieber!