Product Description

Anti-communist East German swimming champion Harry Melchior (Heino Ferch) narrowly escapes the Communist regime just after the Berlin Wall is completed, and is determined to rescue his beloved sister, whom he was forced to leave behind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31299 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2005-10-04
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: German
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 167 minutes

Amazon.com
A gripping escape plan provides the narrative spine to The Tunnel, an exciting Cold War story. This film fictionalizes the true story of the digging of a 430-foot tunnel running under the Berlin Wall in 1964, as tunnel rats on the west side labor to find a way out for friends and family in the Communist East. The principals are led by a famous German swimmer (the excellent Heino Ferch, sort of the German Bruce Willis), whose sister is trapped in East Berlin. Juicy characters abound, including some compromised East Berliners and unlikely heroes on the West side. Also incorporated into this story is an American TV news crew shooting the digging as it goes along. Director Roland Suso Richter shot The Tunnel for television and if it is somewhat artless, it still grabs the viewer in irresistible suspense--and sustains the tension for 167 minutes. Like its heroes, this film is dogged and emotionally committed. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Tense, well acted, 2 1/2 hour+ escape flick.
This made for German television epic story of several people attempting to help their friends, families, and loved ones escape from East Berlin to free West Berlin. It is based on a true story, and in the DVD extras, you actually get to meet the real man responsible for the story in this film, whose name was slightly changed for the movie.

Popular German actor Heino Ferch gives a superb performance as the leader of a group of tunnel diggers, determined to get their loved ones out of the Communist side of Berlin, just after the Berlin Wall was built. For Ferch's character, Harry, it's his beloved sister, for Harry's friend Matthis, it's his spouse, and for the young girl Fritzi, who the group are quite suspisious of, it's her fiance' who is currently building the wall, but desperately wants out. There are many others helping, who don't necessarily have loved ones to help escape, including the American, Vic, who despite his leg injury, is just as determined as the rest, and even takes some of the biggest risks in the film.

The performances throughout the entire cast are top notch, and while there isn't a ton of action until the end, the tense atmosphere of the film really keeps you glued to the set. The emotions in the film are high, and the bonds between Harry and his sister, Lotte, and Matthis and his wife Carola, are so realistically portrayed, that it's easy to see why they are going through months and months of digging to get these people out.

The 167 minutes seem like they flew on by, and I could have gone on watching more of these intriguing characters. It's better than any other spy or war thrillers released in any country over the last several years. Hard to believe it was made for German TV, as it blows away several big screen productions. The direction, cinematography, script, and choice of actors cannot be faulted, and the only fault would be if you miss this gripping film.

Der Tunnel
For all you fans of cold war movies and spy thrillers....look no further. This is the movie we've been waiting for. Set in Berlin in 1961-62 this film is intense and thrilling. The viewer doesn't know what's going to happen right up until the end. This ranks to me, as one of the top spy/espionage/thriller movies of all time, side by side with "Day of the Jackal". All Star performances all around by the cast....especially the three female leads. This is a MUST purchase.

Up there with the best releases from Germany over the last couple of years
There have been some superb movies coming out of Germany over the past couple of years. Reunification seems to have unleashed a wellspring of creative, complex looks at what was going on inside the country during World War II and during the period where the country was riven into two parts, East and West. Head-On and The Lives of Others are among the best five movies I've ever seen. Other standouts include Downfall and Good Bye, Lenin!. I've even enjoyed softer fare like Mostly Martha (although steer clear of 'No Reservations', the off-target Catherine Zeta-Jones remake) and the inimitable Run Lola Run.

"The Tunnel" ranks among the best of these. Lots of familiar faces here to German film lovers - Sebastian Koch was playwright Georg Dreyman in Lives of Others; Heino Ferch was Albert Speer in Downfall (IMDB points out that Koch has also played Speer on-screen); Germany's most beautiful woman Alexandra Maria Lara (IMDB says she was "ranked #1 in a list by tabloid 'Bild' searching the '50 most beautiful Germans of today' (28 April 2005)") was Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge (she of the 'blind spot' - Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary - in Downfall. I'd never seen Nicolette Krebitz before, but she's the standout here, even amongst that stellar group.

The film is over two-and-a-half hours long, but you'll hardly notice the time. It's a suspenseful, bracing trip well worth your time. Make sure to watch the 'Making Of' featurette to see how they constructed the tunnel. It's eye-opening.