What to Do in Case of Fire

Amazon.com

A heavy-handed but engrossing German drama about a group of ex-radicals who try to escape the ever-closer clutches of the police after a 15-year-old bomb they planted accidentally goes off, What to Do in Case of Fire paints a questionably sympathetic portrait of people trying to erase their pasts. Occasionally the humor found in the group's difficulty grasping the changes the years have wrought erases the distasteful attempt to whitewash these anarchists' violent past. Still, it's a copout to pretend that these particular radicals never seemed to have hurt anyone seriously, and indeed, even the exploded bomb only slightly injures two innocent bystanders. It's up to the considerable efforts of a most capable cast--including Til Schweiger (Tim) and Nadja Uhl (Nele)--to draw us into their morally skewered story. --Kevin Filipski

Customer Reviews:

Great Anarchy Flick.......2006-05-28

If you're up for a movie that rages against the government and the police, you will most definetly enjoy this movie. And, what better language to do it in than German? This movie was kick-ass.

"What to do in case of fire? Let it burn!" (Well of course!)
In any case, the acting is excellant, NO crappy C-grade acting (you won't die from bad acting skill in this movie). Til Schweiger is the most Bad-Ass, Smart, Superb Actor; Awesome expressions.

Quick Cap Summary:
A bunch of rebel anarchists (in about there 20's) make a bomb and leave it in some abandoned house. 10 years later the rebel's are all living separate lives, (except for Tim and Hotte, still carrying their anarchist ways, living in a broken down house, refusing to leave) Two of the rebel's are well off with money (great jobs, or source of money) One of the rebels is raising two children on her own, and another is a paranoid freak who doesn't want to break any laws. When a lady is selling the house the rebels left the bomb in (no one has ever been in it for 10 years) she opens the house up to show her client around, BOOM! Off goes the bomb. Police raid Tim and Hotte house, take there film rolls and other belongings. The films contain all their rebel acts, even making the bomb, which would give the police the evidence they need to bust them (the police don't know this yet). Tim ends up grouping everyone back up and trying to get their stuff back from the police (either that, or blow-up the evidence). The mission is to not get busted and charged for attempted murder and so on.

Just watch it, it is most entertaining, there a good laughs, and good cries. Definetly worth the show!!

Film tells national history very intelligent.......2005-08-22

Firstly, I read all other reviews about "what to do in case of fire" and all in all I come to the following conclusion:

The movie is a veryy good movie an suprised my expectations in a good way. When I first heard about this movie, the title sounded to me like a usual dumb hollywood movie with lots of action and no significant plot. But it's a very good plot !

I think you have to be intelligent to understand this movie, you have to have a few knowledge of this particular historical time.
I just can say that most of the buyers who wrote a reviw and who rated the movie as bad or just average, didn't get this well done plot at all as you can see from their textcomments !!!

This One Doesn't Set My Soul On Fire.......2005-02-19

This film is not a classic, but it is an interesting portrayal of young adults growing up and moving on (or not.) It is 1987. In a rundown neighborhood of West Berlin, a group in their late teens or early 20s envisions themselves to be revolutionary anarchists. A dozen years later, all but two have grown up and moved into adulthood. Those two, now over thirty, are still painting graffiti on police cars and protesting the opening of yet another Mercedes Benz showroom. Suddenly, a bomb they had set (and had forgotten about) in 1987 explodes. This event brings the past back into the lives of those who had become an advertising executive, a lawyer, a mother, and a society girl. Their interaction with those still living the revolutionary life makes plain to the latter that -- for better or worse -- they are stuck in the past.

This movie has problems. For one thing, the premise is not terribly original, as this theme has been addressed before. Additionally, these so-called revolutionaries don't inspire much sympathy. How, exactly, did these people want to improve society? The German generation of '68 was rebelling against their parents, particularly their fathers, but what precisely was the cause of the generation of '87? And why set and leave a bomb in a building that someone might enter? The characters come across more as spoiled brats than as people who really wanted to change the world for the better.

The film succeeds in its various action sequences, involving a police station and an old homemade film. Overall, I'd give this movie three stars. Worth seeing, but not a must-see. A much more compelling look at German terrorists, and their lives in East Germany, is Volker Schlondorff's "The Legend of Rita."

A Childish Attempt.......2004-12-15

When I read about the movie I pictured it to be very differnt than what it really was. I was disapointed to find that it reminded me of some kind of teen flick, although I can't really put my finger on why. The charartors felt sterotypical and it seemed you were always one step ahead of them because the movie was never even slightly subtle. Overall the movie is pradictable and therefore boring.

Intriguing theme -- but silly, contrived and predictable........2004-03-19

The concept of this 2001 German film is intriguing. It's about a group of six self-proclaimed anti-establishment anarchists in Berlin who, in the 1980s, set off bombs in protest against the establishment. Fast-forward a dozen years, and two of them are living in squalor and still dreaming non-conformist dreams, one runs a successful ad agency, one is an attorney, one a mother of two young children and one is a socialite. Their lives are suddenly changed forever however, when a bomb that they had planted twelve years before goes off and there is an investigation. Good theme.

The problem with this film, however, is that it can't seem to decide if it's a comedy, a social satire, or a drama about how time changes people. It's filmed at a wildly fast pace and everyone is a caricature instead of a character. It held my interest because I wanted to see how the plot would turn out, which was silly, contrived and predicable. It was also mildly amusing as we get to know the characters and how they have changed. Acting was good and so was the creative use of cinematography with flashbacks shown in distorted colors. But I experienced neither laughter nor pathos nor interest even though I must admit that people who put this production together tried hard.

Average customer rating:

Great Anarchy Flick

Film tells national history very intelligent

This One Doesn't Set My Soul On Fire

A Childish Attempt

Intriguing theme -- but silly, contrived and predictable.

What to Do in Case of Fire [Region 2]
Starring: Til Schweiger , Martin Feifel , Sebastian Blomberg , Nadja Uhl , and Matthias Matschke
Director: Gregor Schnitzler
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

German | By Original Language | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
Schweiger, Til | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
German | By Original Language | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Advertising Rules!

In July In July

The Edukators

Good Bye, Lenin!

Run Lola Run

ASIN: B00008IASR

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Great Anarchy Flick.......2006-05-28

Film tells national history very intelligent.......2005-08-22

This One Doesn't Set My Soul On Fire.......2005-02-19

A Childish Attempt.......2004-12-15

Intriguing theme -- but silly, contrived and predictable........2004-03-19

Product Description

a thrilling dramatic caper featuring TIl Scheiger, legendart character actor Klaus Lowitsch and an amazing ensemble cast of Germany's hottest young actors.

DVD:

DVD

DVD