Furcht und Begierde

The film, long lost and considered by Kubrick himself as an incomplete work, was found in 2010 in nearly complete form and was restored, which I had the good fortune to see. The film has its interesting elements. For example, the sound design doesn't let you catch your breath and you constantly feel like you're truly in the war. However, the acting performances are somewhat restrained, even overly calm. I was surprised by a few quite entertaining scenes that arise from the oppressive situation of four soldiers in enemy territory. Considering that Kubrick had only made short documentaries before, this is a leap forward. (25.03.2014)

Little actual tangible terror in a story about what tangible fear does to people. The theme of a fictional war in an unknown territory makes for a clever and interesting backdrop, and Kubrick was already a gifted filmmaker with a great visual imagination, but the script simply doesn't yet match his awakening genius. A number of impressively edited scenes still retain their quality, but many dubious and unconvincing twists, together with unnecessarily philosophising characters bring the whole narrative value down a peg. Anyway, for Stanley fans, an enjoyable hour. 60% (07.03.2016)

I don’t know if it’s worth rating such a poor copy, because it’s really terrible. Although it doesn’t prevent you from understanding the story (which is pretty good and has several intense moments), you can’t appreciate any aesthetic values. But it’s certainly not a piece of crap the kind Kubrick would want to erase from the face of the earth. :-) (29.03.2010)