Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

An epic adventure with qualities of an art film that's pleasant and easy to follow. Focus of the film seems to be on the alien environment and in obstinacy leading to insanity. There isn't a lot of dialogue, and all the little it has is oddly formal, adding to the already odd atmosphere. Film centers almost solely on Klaus Kinski's character, with other characters been set aside. Thankfully Kinski carries movie superbly, making phenomenal, mainly only physical performance. Technically film's solid work with some great shots and good editing. Considering all the craziness that happened during making this film, it manages to be one of the best films of it's era.

German director Werner Herzog is one talented film-maker, with some of his films among the finest of German cinema. Meanwhile, one of his most frequent collaborators Klaus Kinski was a somewhat larger than life actor in terms of screen presence with a seamlessly commanding if at times wild style of acting.Having heard nothing but good things about 'Aguirre Wrath of God' and finally getting back on track with my film watching, it was at long last viewed. Whether it is the best Herzog/Kinski collaboration is up for debate, to me it's among the best. It is still a crowning achievement for both Herzog and Kinski and a fine example of German cinema. No matter how much it has divided audiences it cannot be denied how much effort went into 'Aguirre Wrath of God', especially with its troubled production behind the scenes.'Aguirre Wrath of God' is quite brilliantly made. The cinematography and editing may not be some people's definition of "beautiful, but they are still impeccably crafted and enhance the harrowing atmosphere magnificently. Every bit as impressive is the locations and how they are used. Having real life locations rather than studio sets gave the film so much realism, and they are both stunning and atmospheric. The music is sometimes sparse but when used pretty haunting.Typically Herzog directs splendidly, delivering on the substance as well as the style. The script is largely improvisational but it is remarkable that it still flowed surprisingly well. 'Aguirre Wrath of God' is not a long film and it's paced in a way that while deliberate and nuanced one never feels every second or minute. Instead if in the right mood or taking the film for what it is and what it set out to do one gets swept up by the shocking power and poignancy of what is depicted.On top of all this, the acting is remarkable, considering the conditions and that the script was written in haste and apparently the actors weren't even permitted to see it, let alone read it. There is not a single weak performance but it is Kinski who dominates the cast and the film, a powerful and chilling performances that burns long in the memory. Not a subtle performance by any stretch but the role (which is a deliberately eccentric one, a trademark of Herzog being having eccentric character in difficult conditions) and the film didn't call for subtlety really.In conclusion, a crowning achievement in every regard. 10/10 Bethany Cox

As Bette Davis said: Fasten your seat belts, this is going to be a bumpy ride.A tough film to classify, let alone enjoy, "Aguirre The Wrath Of God" is at times an adventure story, a psychodrama, a surrealist tone poem, and a black comedy. What keeps it together is the visual splendor of its real-life setting – the Amazonian rain forest – and a mesmerizing central performance by the moldbreaking Klaus Kinski.In the beginning of 1561, a team of Spanish explorers are sent off by Gonzalo Pizarro to locate the fabled city of gold, El Dorado. They decide in short order to break away and declare their independence instead, as a self-declared empire under the nominal command of one Fernando de Guzmán (Peter Berling) but really run by the unhinged Lope de Aguirre (Kinski), who seems to be taking his orders from the wild jungles that surround him.Writer-director Werner Herzog gets strong mileage from riding the anarchy of both Kinski's performance and the Amazon River, delivering a powerfully immersive cinematic experience. It never quite gels as a story or character study, instead focusing on stand- alone images that remain in one's mind after the film is over."Our land is already six times larger than Spain, and every day we drift makes it bigger," Guzmán gloats."Have you seen any solid ground recently to support your weight?" Aguirre sneers.What is the point of the movie? Herzog himself says it was written in a sudden burst of creativity, without much attention to historic detail. I see it as a send-up of man's hubris, thinking they can build something ordered and profitable where "God's creation is not finished." But there are not a lot of signposts to work with here.It's a fascinating film, however muddled. You can watch the German- language version and the English-language version and get two very different experiences. Aguirre himself comes off a little less nutty in the English version, which also offers more context as to what is going on. Both versions are dominated by an awesome silence, however.Exactly when Aguirre and his crew go over the edge is hard to say. Actually, in the very beginning of the film, Aguirre is the sane one, telling Pizarro "we're all going to go under" when the latter airily pronounces the worst is over. But once Pizarro sets him loose, Aguirre seems to work up an appetite for self-destruction that only Indian arrows can cure."I'm the greatest traitor," he tells his crew, late in the movie when there's much less of them to order about. "There must be no other."As tedious as "Aguirre" the film often gets, with long static shots of non-actors talking to themselves and repetitious scenes featuring variations on cruel death and vainglory, it never bores with Kinski at the helm. His beady eyes and wild shoulder motions are used to masterful effect. Apparently, Herzog worked Kinski on-set to freak out often, just so the actor would then cool down and the director could then film shots that work. The result is a quiet but menacingly unstable performance that keeps an otherwise random- feeling film together all the way.I can't quite get on board with the masterpiece verdict many spout, but for 94 minutes "Aguirre" runs you through the mill and gives you a lot to chew on. Not perfect, just pretty good.

The news of a land rich in gold, consequently advance baptized with the name of Eldorado, induces Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of Francisco, to send an expedition of conquest over the Andes. The command is given to Don Pedro De Urrua; his deputy is Lieutenant Don Lope De Aguirre. The game end of 1560, the expedition is soon in trouble due the hostility of nature and the guerrillas led by fierce invisible Indians. Taking advantage of the moments of demoralization, Aguirre makes dismiss and then kill Don Pedro and get a collegial declaration of rebellion to Philip II of Castile. Crazy, no longer a man or a woman, the self-styled Wrath God dies at the end of February 1561, closing the tragically absurd conquest. Shot with few resources in Peru, the fifth film by Werner Herzog is readable at three levels: 1) the story of adventure and travel that the central theme of a desecration failed, to defeat is intended to have no historical echo, and for this perhaps even larger, 2) the tragedy of a hero of evil (with Kinski noisily neurotic) that you submit to a nature violets luxurious and deadly, preferring rather to fall under its shots, 3) political parable colonial imperialism. We live together one estrangement Brechtian epic tone and tension dream, hallucinated. The filming was very complicated and exhausting and Herzog He came to threaten with a gun because Kinski not leave the set and continue the film. Among the performers collaborated natives Cooperative Lauramarca in Peru.