It has some really great actors in it including, Friends star, David Schwimmer, Hank Azaria and other very famous actors and actresses. The story is very good and althouth on a serious subject is filled with excitement and suspense.

Some of the fighting scenes in Warsaw are really quite amazing especially when you see what few weapons the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto had compared to the Nazi army. It is quite amazing how they fighted against them in real life - and I think that this film does give the true story justice.


A fascinating corner of history   July 30, 2003
 11 out of 14 found this review helpful

This was one of the most interesting 2nd world war films I have seen. I don't know why this did ace the Pianist in the critical awards. It portrayed ordinary people in an extraordinary, almost surreal nightmare in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942-3. Instead of the predicable sentimentality and patjos of the period, which we overly accustomed to, we see a different side which may have repeated in many sectors and for many people in the civilian sector. The characterisations were haunting John Voight and Don Sutherland in uncharacteristic roles which came of better for that. Finally I didn't know that the Jews held out longer in the Ghetto (I understand from the history) than the Polish army had done during the invasion (only 4 weeks as opposed to 6 weeks). And unarmed! There is always a place we can be educated in History! There is alsways hope for the brave!


A wonderful movie - HIGHLY recommended.   September 4, 2002
 14 out of 17 found this review helpful

I had the good fortune to see this movie in New York last year and was blown away.

The movie tells the true and amazing story of the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw ghetto. Jon Avnets direction is maginificent, adopting a quasi-documentary style he truly captures the period and the feeling of being in moments as they happen.

The cast is stellar: Voight and Sutherland are their usual brilliant selves, Hank Azaria is a powerhouse of a leading man and David Schwimmer amazingly manages to make you forget 'Ross' ever existed with his wonderfully understated performance. Two of the lesser know leads really demand attention, Stephen Moyer (Quills) and Andy Nyman (Dead Babies) both deliver incredible performances in what are almost the best characters in the movie - I guarentee they are both names we will hear a lot more of.

The women don't fare quite as well, apart from leelee Sobieski who delivers the best performance of her career to date.

It's rare to see a movie that both moves and educates but this for me did exactly that. Without ever once feeling preached to I left the cinema profoundly moved and yet uplifted. Wonderful.