Schindler's List [1994][VHS tape]

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 womanizer 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

Amazon.co.uk Review
Both an artistic and a commercial triumph, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List manages to find some small glimmer of hope for the human spirit amid the abomination that was the Holocaust. The true story of flamboyant entrepreneur Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) and his attempts to save Jewish lives under the very noses of his Nazi associates gives Spielberg a focal point of conscience and humanity in an otherwise unrelentingly grim depiction of mankind's worst traits, here memorably embodied by Ralph Fiennes as the sadistic Nazi commandant Amon Goeth.

Spielberg's determined and unflinching vision is supported by a dignified score from regular collaborator John Williams, and evocative black-and-white cinematography by Janusz Kaminski, which alternates a semi-documentary feel for the harrowing ghetto and concentration camp sequences with an altogether more decadent sensibility for the Nazis. The single use of colour tells of horror more shocking than any words could convey. It's true that towards the end Spielberg lets his sentimental streak off the leash when he chooses to focus on Schindler's grief, but otherwise this is filmmaking of the highest kind: compellingly dramatic, profoundly educational, and unfailingly emotive in the very best sense.

On the DVD: Schindler's List is thinly spread across two discs, with a break at just over two hours into this three-hour movie. It's a little surprising that the feature could not have fitted onto one disc, especially given the absence of commentary or other additional tracks. The 1.85:1 anamorphic picture is fine, though displaying the graininess of the original film stock. Sound is available in highly detailed DTS. Extras on the second disc are limited to Voices from the List, a 77-minute documentary featuring the personal testimony of Schindler survivors, and an 11-minute feature on Spielberg's Shoah Foundation. There's nothing at all about the making of the movie. --Mark Walker

The boxed set really adds nothing to the standard release of Schindler's List on DVD, which is beautifully packaged and has some interesting extras. On top of this standard release you also get:

Soundtrack of the CD - John Williams' excellent score is strong enough to be listened to aside from the film but can be found separately and doesn't justify the additional cost.

A book containing stills from the movie - whilst the book is beautifully produced and the stills are evocative, the question has to be - what is the point? The images within the book mean far more as part of the movie itself. A more sensible approach would surely have been to produce a book containing real documentary evidence of the Holocaust.

A "limited edition" stenotype of a scene from the film - one of Universal's favourite extras in their limited edition DVD releases. Everybody gets the same film still, and the number on the back of mine was 188843, which suggests the limited edition isn't particularly limited. This sort of thing only has any value if it is genuinely scarce.

A "certificate of authenticity" - somewhat tackily containing a quote from Roger Ebert about the film, moderate quality printing on thin paper. Very cheap indeed.

It's a shame that a film as important as Schindler's List receives the same treatment from Universal's marketing department as usual and this boxed set is definitely not worth the extra money that you'll pay over the price of the standard release which, ironically, does show genuine effort having been made to match the product to the quality of the film within.


We can never forget!   August 9, 2003
Mr. A. Privett (Oxofrdshire)
34 out of 36 found this review helpful

Schindler's List is a very important movie chronicling the Holocaust. This is probably the best film ever made about this terrible period in 20th Century history.

Speilburg did a superlative job in directing this true story about one man's attempt to save as many Jews as possible from the gas chambers of Hitler's Final Solution.

Filmed in black and white, the full horror and desperation of these innocent people is brought to the screen, etching it onto the mind. Speilburg started to chronicle as many surviving Jews as he could from this film, so that their stories would always be there as a warning to us all.

In an age where we let some questionable things into our minds, it seems fitting to let something aweful yet necessary into our conciousness. There is a sense of duty in watching this film.

It's harsh, raw, beautiful and harrowing. Speilburg's most important film, in my opinion.

I've been waiting a long time for this film to be released on DVD.

I urge those who haven't seen it to do so!


Excellent movie -- "limited" extra value   April 21, 2004
30 out of 31 found this review helpful

A perfect edition for a perfect motion picture: I expected no less afterwaiting for such a long time for "Schindler's List" to be released. Sincethe film itself needs no further comments, I would just like to say a fewwords about the DVD editions.
The Limited Edition Box contains about75% air - the size of the box is apparently meant to justify its price, asthe contents itself is no larger than the DVD box itself. The bookcontains mostly stills from the movie, the soundtrack comes in anunimpressive cardboard sleeve, and the "senitype" is - don't be fooled -of course NOT an actual piece of film (it just looks like it). So, youhave to decide whether you want to go with the standard edition or pay thebalance and get the Limited Edition with its "limited" added value.


Schindler's List is powerful, moving; Spielberg's finest!   March 12, 2004
Alex Diaz-Granados (Miami, FL United States)
26 out of 27 found this review helpful

Even though Steven Spielberg had made some of the most successful -- and profitable -- films in movie history (E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Jaws, the Indiana Jones series), he was always perceived as a master craftsman but never as a "serious" director capable of making a grown-up film. This is an odd perception, considering that in addition to such crowd-pleasers as Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. (along with the plethora of projects he has been involved with as executive producer -- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and the Back to the Future trilogy), Spielberg had directed such serious fare as 1985's The Color Purple and 1987's Empire of the Sun, which deal with such weighty topics as race and the effect of war on children.

One film, released in late 1993 -- the same year that Jurassic Park set worldwide box office records -- changed that perception forever: Schindler's List.

Based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German philanderer, member of the Nazi Party, and war profiteer whose desire to make money from Hitler's European war slowly but irrevocably morphed into a desire to save over a thousand of his Jewish labor force from the Nazis' genocidal "Final Solution," Schindler's List is a powerfully moving film. It not only never flinches from the inhumanity of Hitler's willing executioners -- there are all sorts of terrible things going on in here, including torture, manhunts, mass executions, and random acts of cruelty -- but it also touches on the central belief felt by Spielberg himself that decency and righteousness can triumph over even the most implacable tyranny and hatred.

Working from Steven Zaillian's adaptation of the fact-based novel by Thomas Kenneally, Spielberg chose to film Schindler's List in black and white because most of the documentaries, records and photographs he had seen were in black and white. As a result, whenever he does use color, especially in the key "Special Aktion" sequences where Schindler (Star Wars: Episode I's Liam Neeson) catches a glimpse of a single scarlet-clad girl as the Jews of the Krakow Ghetto are ruthlessly rounded up by SS troops. Spielberg draws the audience's -- and Schindler's -- attention on this single little girl by inserting the coat's red color into the otherwise stark shades of gray, black and white that dominate the film (which is the most expensive black and white movie made, displacing Darryl F. Zanuck's 1962 war classic The Longest Day).

Spielberg also chose to shoot Schindler's List on location in Krakow, Poland, where most of the movie takes place, painstakingly recreating the look and atmosphere of the period. A full scale set of Plaszow Labor Camp was built near the site of the real one from existing maps and blueprints, and a few scenes were filmed outside the infamous Auschwitz death camp.

Neeson's top notch performance is matched by those of Ralph Fiennes (SS Commandant Amon Goeth), Ben Kingsley (Itzhak Stern), and Caroline Goodall (as Schindler's long-suffering wife Emile), as well as Jonathan Sagalle and Embeth Davidtz. Fiennes in particular is outstanding as the homicidal and capricious SS commandant of the Plaszow labor camp, who thought nothing of picking up a rifle and using unwitting and unfortunate inmates for morning target practice.

Schindler's List won popular and critical acclaim, winning seven Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Music (by long-time collaborator John Williams), Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, and Art Direction. It is not only a fine example of filmmaking at its best, but it also serves as a memorial to the six million victims of the Holocaust, as well as a tribute to a flawed but righteous man who gave up his fortune and risked his life to save a handful of his fellow human beings from history's greatest criminal act.

The DVD presents Spielberg's 196 minute masterpiece on one double-sided disc in a digitally enhanced widescreen picture and 5.1 digital sound. The audio and video content are excellent, although fans of extra features may bemoan the lack of "the making of" behind-the-scenes featurettes present in other Spielberg-directed movies on DVD. Instead, there are the dicumentaries "Voices From the List" and "The Shoah Foundation Story."

Nevertheless, the recently-released Universal Studios Home Video DVD is a worthy addition to any serious film lover's collection.


One of the greatest epics ever made   January 18, 2004
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

I'm arab and muslim, I've seen a lot of movies, but no movie has effected me deeply as Schindler's List. The movie is an epic, when I've seen it, I stayed shocked for whole day. Some scenes would let you freeze and some others would make you hardly breath.
Spielberg is a great director, always felt he should make something for his people, so when he made this movie he used his experience and skills in every frame, every scene to tell the story in a way would slip deeply inside you and never leaves.
If you're a normal viewer, looking for a great movie you'll be satisfied and completely effected, and if you're a film student you'll find a great material to learn from about film making.
There are many great directors, but the greatest are the ones who have something to tell and use their art to tell it to the world.