Escape from Germany

Good movie!

Good movie!

I need this for my history lesson

With so few original and new stories being produced right now, it's refreshing to have something like this come along. I suspect those that don't like this movie are either anti films with a Christian theme, anti Mormon, or honestly just don't know much about film. Escape from Germany is beautifully filmed, and, frankly, the writing, directing and acting is better than most Faith-based films. (The Chosen, of course, being the Gold Standard.) Regardless of whether you consider yourself a person of faith, or belong to any particular religion, I don't think you'll regret watching this wonderful Family Film.

I am German and my only excuse for watching it was represented as a daring escape from Nazi Germany on the eve of the Polish invasion. The acting and production were okay but the story was lukewarm at best. There is so much history and tension to find in this time period yet the writers built nothing into the script. Oh my gosh, a Nazi slapped a Mormon missionary! How awful! Well, a lot of us today would like to backhand the seemingly endless number of these young "Elders" that roll up our driveways today so not much has changed. There are so many other untold stories in this period that are filled with tension, terror and horror that deserve to be told, but not this one. Leave this one behind and save your money.

This is not a bad movie and most of the english speaking world probably doesn't even notice that most of the acteurs in this movie that trie to speak German have terrible translated scripts. You could say that it is normal to have americans with poor german accents but even the Germans are not able to pronaunce a normal scentance. All the german soldiers behave like stereo type Nazis, like a loony toons cartoon from the '50. Sadly the movie leans in too much on to mormon faith with makes it monotonous. Given that the production quality is so high and the acteurs are pretty good this movie had more potentionel.

Where to start? Think of the worst TV movie you've ever seen, then imagine how it could be worse in every possible way. This is like some ghastly vanity project where a child has been given hundreds of thousands to make a movie, and came up with this. I can only assume that some christian cult funded this, and it's intended for those people to watch. But surely even they would be fidgeting in their seats after the first five minutes of ghastliness - honestly, the Germans in this are more likeable than the movie itself. Please do not waste a minute of your time considering watching this rubbish; it's time you will never get back.

Escape From Germany purports to be the "incredible true story" of the evacuation of Mormon missionaries from Germany just prior to the invasion of Poland. While I'm prepared to believe such an evacuation took place, the film creates an entirely false narrative around the Mormon relationship to Hitler and Nazism - so the film qualifies as propaganda, not historical drama. From the outset Escape from Germany implies that Mormons were persecuted by the Nazis and in grave danger as war became inevitable. In fact, Hitler had no problem with Mormons and many German Mormons were enthusiastic Nazis. Moreover, the Mormon church was more than mildly enthusiastic about Hitler throughout the 1930s, not at all averse to anti-semitism and fully supportive of many Nazi policies, such as their laws against homosexuality. So when the film's Mormon missionaries are depicted as fearful and repulsed by SS officers, then kind and compassionate toward Jewish children, it is fanciful revisionism, not a believable depiction of Mormon attitudes of the time. Blatant propaganda aside, Escape From Germany - despite an obviously lavish budget - is hobbled by consistently lousy dialogue, some very ropey acting and loads of hilariously OTT German accents. About the only plus is the cast of impossibly good-looking missionaries. Oddly, most look as though they should have been cast as hot Nazis.

This story will make lift and inspire you. If it were not a true story, it would be just another cheesy religious film. However, not so fast. Regardless of your persuasion, this true story will cause you to believe that there is something more to life that makes it all worth while. Positive themes. Difficult subject (war, racism, Nazi occupation, etc). Just go and see it. Worth your time and $$. It is an independent firm produced on a budget, so of course it is not Hollywood big-budget quality. But is you love independent film, this is for you. You will be glued to the credits as the post-period characters lives are highlighted.

This movie was so incredible and shows that God's hand is in everything. Incredible true story, and a great reminder to turn to God in all things because He will direct you. Many negative comments about the dialogue not being realistic, but it was realistic because they are missionaries. That's how me and everyone else in my mission spoke pretty much. Very common to constantly quote scripture and talk about God. Absolutely loved this movie. One thing I loved was at the end they showed actual footage that one of the elders had taken while trying to escape from Germany. I loved that they also were able to interview the last living missionary that had escaped so they could get it as accurate as possible.