Winnetou II

Winnetou 2 war für mich immer die Nummer drei der Filmtrilogie, weil er bei weitem nicht an die Spannung des ersten Films und die überwältigende emotionale Offensive von Winnetou III heranreicht. Definitiv das schwächste Glied. Trotzdem wäre ohne "DDRibanna" dieses dreiteilige Kinoepos unvollständig. (27.06.2004)

Yeah, the music is beautiful, the scenery around Plitvice Lakes is gorgeous (I consider the idea of filming in the former Yugoslavia to be an absolutely brilliant move by the German filmmakers), and the Serbian gym teacher Gojko Mitic has muscles like a real Indian (lol), but as an avid reader of May’s book, I can’t avoid nitpicking, what on earth (if it's called Vinnetou) does this have to do with the source material? The answer is clear: nothing, nothing at all. In this regard, I can't help but think of the undeserved scolding of the Tolkien nerds in connection with Jackson's Lord of the Rings, but in the case of Vinnetou we can't even talk about the basic plot skeleton. This film trilogy has absolutely nothing in common with the books (aside from a few points of contact in the first part), and I’m forced to endure the screenwriter's banal plot, although – yes – nicely filmed. Still, I have fond memories of my childhood, when I used to relive all Vinnetou's adventures in a crowded cinema and passionately collect movie stills. (29.12.2004)

Forget about the template with Santer or Old Shatterhand's solo detours and come to terms with the fact that Harald Reinl took a different approach. And he did it so amazingly that even after many years since I first devoured this duo full of ideals, I am still equally amazed. (20.11.2005)

This is another classic for me, there's simply nothing I can do about it. Even though today I see how naive it is, how it maybe tries too hard to be funny just to entertain and not bore with serious topics, it still remains a film that I constantly like and it is beautiful precisely because of its individual characters and honorable heroes. (02.02.2015)