Conspiracy Movie Reviews

A very well acted movie. It combines dialogue from the actual trial transcripts with interviews with most of the main participants. I highly recommend it.

This film has historic value, as it was written from the actual court records. It was made in cooperation with the original Chicago 8. The film documents the insanity of this particular trial, highlighting the in-court binding and gagging of Black Panther activist Bobby Seale. It confronts the injustices of our legal system with unflinching hilarity. This film is a must see for every American, as it will force the viewer to question all assumptions about Constitutional law.

Of all the Lupin movies out right now this is the second best, behind The Castle of Cagliostro. AnimEigo calls our favorite thief "Rupan" because back when the film was licensed, there were some legal issues with using the name "Lupin" and decided to use the new name as an alternative to get it licensed.

The humor has the same lighthearted humor as Cagliostro and the action is also satisfying. All the characters flow well with the story well without feeling forced into it or ignored. The only problem with this DVD is its english dub. This has the same 1994 dub given to it, which is just awful. I highly recommend watching it with subtitles instead.

An gerat addition to anyone's anime library.

"Conspiracy" is a perfect example of what happens when you pair a first-class cast with a first-rate script. You discover (or re-discover) that you do not need explosions, MTV-style editing or gimmickery to tell a good tale. This movie has all the budget and movement of a play, and is entirely dialogue-driven. But it works. Oh boy, does it work.

It is generally credited by historians that the infamous "Wansee Conference" of January 1942 was the real beginning of the Holocaust, i.e. of the Nazi Reich's all-out effort to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Prior to that, the Reich had contented itself with kicking them out of public life, taxing them into beggary, subjecting them to every form of humiliation, and essentially negating their status as human beings. When the war started, however, this policy, known as the 'emigration solution' (i.e., solve the "problem" of Jews living in the Reich by forcing them to emigate) became obsolete. The inefficient and corrupt Nazi bureaucracy was ill-suited even to handle the relatively small population of German Jews; and Nazi conquests, however, quickly increased the number of Jews in German-occupied territories to around eleven million. In other words, the very success of the German military effort in Europe had actually increased the size of the 'Jewish problem' a hundred times over. And since forcible emigration of 11 million people outside the German sphere of influence was not possible, something else had to be done to tackle this 'problem.' But what?

"Conspiracy" is about the bureacratic genesis of the Holocaust. It shows, in more or less real time, a fictionalized version of a real-life conference of 15 officials from the SS/SD, Gestapo, Railway Ministry, Interior Ministry, Government General, and Ministry of Justice, which was chaired by Reinhard Heydrich and organized by Adolf Eichmann. As a movie, however, it is really a study in the essential amorality of bureacracy and, to use a tired phrase, the banality of evil.

First off, the performances are superb. Kenneth Branagh gives probably the best turn of his career as Heydrich, a man who has absolutely no philosophy, ideology or morality other than a Terminator-like determination to carry out his orders, whatever they may entail, and to crush any obstacle in his path. You get the feeling he would be just as content to kill everyone with brown hair or webbed feet if that was his assignment, and if a few fellow Nazis happen to oppose him, then he would be just as happy to 'evacuate' them as any Jews. In fact, the description that Dr. Stuckart uses for the Jewish people in the film, "arrogant, self-obsessed....(but) sublimely clever, and intelligent as well" is actually a very good description of Heydrich. Branagh portrays him as a man with no human qualities himself, but excellent instincts about human nature. He knows when to condescend, when to bully, when to threaten, and when to appeal to self-interest, and he can shift from one to the other and back without a trace of discomfort.

Stanley Tucci, as Eichmann, is also very good. Like Heydrich shifts his personality around like a revolving door depending on what is required of him, but he is also a true-blue bureacrat in the worst sense of the word. To his superiors, especially Heydrich, he is utterly subservient; hovering about like a dog, laughing politely at jokes he doesn't find amusing, attempting with limited success to be 'one of the guys' when Nazi vulgarity rears its head. But to his subordinates he is a coldly arrogant bully, slapping one soldier in the face for throwing snowballs outside, telling another he will pay for a dish he broke by accident. In fact, he reminds me of a couple of schoolteachers I had growing up....and at least one boss.

Colin Firth is brilliant as Wilhelm Stuckart, the lawyer who drafted the Laws for the Protection of German Blood and Honor (better known as the Nuremburg Laws), and who is perfectly content to see all the Jews of Europe sterilized and shipped off
to be used as slave labor, possibly even exterminated wholsesale, so long as it is all done within a 'legal framework' (HIS legal framework). Eichmann characterizes the bureaucrat from hell, then Stuckart is certainly the lawyer from hell; a person who has no gods before the law, and simply cannot abide the idea of the whole crazy scheme being perpetrated without benefit of a legislative blessing. Eleven million murders? That's nothing. But without enacting a law first? Unthinkable!

Ian McNeice, as Stuckart's nemesis Dr. Klopfer, a corpulent Nazi Party bigwig with a disgustingly smug and vulgar way of handling himself. .... He's a raging anti-Semite who is all for killing the Jews, so long as the Party doesn't lose any administrative turf to the SS in the process. He has no respect whatever for the law despite being a lawyer himself (as is almost everyone in the room....go figure that one....); and unlike the brilliant but rather naive Stuckart, Klopfer has no illusions about rule of law in Nazi Germany. We have the power to do what we want, he says; we can always re-write the laws afterwards.

"Conspiracy" was written by Loring Mandel, who deserves special praise for penning a movie that is nothing but conversation but which is still very gripping. I'm surprised some people would quibble with his dramatic interpretation of what happened; how could you make an entertaining about what the actual conference was probably like -- fifteen Nazi lawyers drinking wine, eating canapes, and reading figures about mass deportations and what does or does not constitute a Jew? Mandel's script gets to the heart of the mentality behind the Holocaust, which was that despite being at war with the British Empire, the Soviet Union and the United States of America, despite being outnumbered six to one in manpower and 20 - 1 in industrial capacity, despite fighting on multiple fronts and lacking most of the natural resources necessary for war, and despite the unspoken consequences to themselves and their country's reputation if they lost the war and their 'secret' was exposed, the mentality of WWII Germany was still open to the idea of diverting massive resources into slaughtering defenseless civilians by the million. If that isn't the bureacratic blindness from hell, what isn't?

"Conspiracy" is a brilliant reenactment of the fateful meeting that implemented the logistics of NAZI genocide. The film shows how easily an idea as horrific as one of mass murder can be politely discussed by a committee having a nice lunch on a quiet day.

The peaceful surroundings of the chateau where members of the NAZI apparatus met parallels the ease with which most of the individuals contemplate the mass homicide. Most members seemed disturbed not at all with the concept, but simply the logistics of its implementation: firing squads vs. gas? If gas, what kind? Carbon monoxide or cyanide; Xyclon-B perhaps? How large should the facilities be? How many undesirables can they "evacuate" per day? How to dispose of the bodies? Should they be used for work?

Kenneth Branagh plays SS Chief of Security Reinhard Heydrich convincingly; showing his cool resolve and functional outlook in carrying out the will of a madman. Colin Firth shows more the hippocricy of party members who esoterically intellectualized the advacement of racial hatred with moral gusto but soon found their morality at odds with the all too obvious political ramifications of what they preached. Stanley Tucci also renders an exquisite performance of Adolf Eichmann, Heydrich's devoted disciple and ultimate successor in implementing The Final Solution.

The movie is as concise and to the point as Reinhard Heydrich's sinister oversight of the committee's progress. Staying on track and keeping the listner focused on the morbid task at hand, the audience is mesmerized by the bureaucratic dryness of the proceedings until its chilling end. There's obviously some poetic license as to the dialogue of the characters outside of the meeting minutes, but it's believable in every way.

A great film that everyone must see so as to be warned about human nature. This film doesn't only show the horrors of NAZI Germany, it also shows how easily the human mind can rationalize and trivialize the large scale implementation of amoral if not criminal policies; it's interesting to note that most of those attending that fateful meeting were attorneys or had a legal professional background. Finally, as the film reveals the logistics of bureacratic function in general, it is perhaps an ominous portent as to how our corporate establishments (or any other human institution)can both rationalize and trivialize human life when evaluating loss and profitability: a common symptom when such entities are deciding to market or dispose of goods they know are dangerous or even deadly: it's just on a smaller scale and less discriminate.

CONSPIRACY serves as a reminder of the banality of human evil, even at its most horrific.

On January 20, 1942, with Nazi armies stalled in the snow at the gates of Moscow, a lakeside mansion in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee is the venue for a conference. Fifteen government bureaucrats and high ranking officers of the SS gather. History is advised to remember these otherwise appallingly ordinary representatives of the human species: SS General Reinhard Heydrich (Reich Security Main Office), SS Lt. Colonel Adolf Eichmann (Office of Jewish Affairs), SS Lt. General Heinrich Müller (Gestapo), Gerhard Klopfer (Nazi Party Chancellery), Wilhelm Kritzinger (Reichs-Chancellery), SS Lt. General Otto Hofmann (Race and Settlement Main Office), Dr. Georg Liebbrandt and Dr. Alfred Meyer (Reichs-Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories), Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart (Reichs-Ministry of the Interior), Undersecretary Martin Luther (Foreign Ministery), SS Major Rudolf Lange (SS Taskforces in Latvia), Director Erich Neumann (Office of the Four Year Plan), Dr. Joseph Bühler and SS Colonel Karl Schöngarth (Government-General of Occupied Poland), and Dr. Roland Freisler (Reichs-Ministry of Justice).

Even after coerced emigration, 132,000 Jews remain in Germany. As the Wehrmacht gobbles up territory, millions more - potentially 11 million - will come under Nazi control. As it's put in this film, there's a burgeoning "storage problem", and the chairman of the meeting, Heydrich (Kenneth Branagh), is calling for unanimous agreement on a "final solution".

As the viewer sees, it's not the concept of the eradication of the Jews from Germany and the occupied territories that fuels the debate, it's the modus operandi, and which individuals, particularly those of impure blood resulting from a confusing variety of mixed marriages, are to be targeted. At one point, even the semantics of the process - "evacuation" vs. "execution" - are at issue. And, of course, it all must be done legally as proscribed by the Nuremburg Laws. Finally, after the group dances around the issue of method, Heydrich and his deputy Eichmann (Stanley Tucci) get to the crux of the matter. The Jews are to be gassed in special camps established for that purpose. At the current stage of technology, the gold standard is apparently 60,000 exterminations a day.

The impact of CONSPIRACY derives from the chilling ordinariness of the conference and its tone. These fifteen might just as well be the top management of a large corporation discussing the eradication of rats from one of its manufacturing sites, or the construction of an assembly line to produce more and better widgets. As a note of interest, nine of those present were lawyers by training.

Branagh renders a positively brilliant performance as the ultimate devil's advocate, who steers the meeting to its foregone conclusion with a mixture of charm and quiet menace. When Kritzinger (David Threfall) objects that Hitler has declared to him personally that execution of the Jews is not his intent, Heydrich cooly reminds him, "Yes, and he will continue to do so." Plausible deniability, you see. And later in a private conversation when Heydrich demands Kritzinger's full support, the SS General remarks that the latter would be a difficult man to bring down - but it could be managed.

At the film's conclusion, the fate of all involved is provided in text overlay. Heydrich was assassinated by Czech partisans. Eichmann, Bühler and Schöngarth were tried and executed. All the rest either went free for lack of war crimes evidence, served time and were released, died of natural causes, were killed in the closing months of the war, or just disappeared. Indeed, Klopfer sold insurance after the war and presumably died in his bed.

The Final Solution took planning. As Eichmann angrily berates an Army chauffeur for engaging on whim in an undignified snowball fight with his fellow drivers awaiting their masters, "Things just don't happen."

The record of the Wannsee Conference which served as the basis for CONSPIRACY came from Luther's copy of the minutes discovered after the war. Ironically, Luther himself was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1944 for plotting against his boss in the Foreign Ministry.

Just when you thought that the intrigue surrounding the conspiracy to kill President Kennedy couldnt be at a higher level, Robert Groden's "JFK, The case for conspiracy." DVD comes out.
This Dvd is extremely interesting and unique.
Groden, along with the narration of fellow JFK Assassination researcher Mark Crouch, takes us for a ride in JFK's motorcade.....literally!
This Dvd has VERY rare footage (some of it possibly never before seen by the American public) of that fateful day in Dallas.
From the moment that JFK left for Dallas, until the moment that the gunmen fired their shots, to the biggest lie in American political history (You know it as "The Warren Report"), this DVD covers all of the bases.
Groden, who is a photographic specialist, has meticulously studied all of the photos and films made in Dallas that day, and shares them with us, along with giving us his conclusions on what the photos show (Some of these conclusions will shock you to your core!) Beware though, as Groden also shows some of the JFK autopsy photos, although they SHOULD be included in this DVD, because to understand this case, you need to understand the medical evidence and how it was manipulated to deceive the American public.
The picture quality on this DVD is obviously not equal to an Oliver Stone movie, but still, Groden and company manage their limited resources and they have created an extremely interesting DVD that you wont forget anytime soon. In fact, you will have the "Pause" button on your DVD player worn out, because you will want to take in all of the minute detail of Groden's studies.
If the picture quality on this DVD was better, I would have given it 5 stars. It is that good!
If you are a JFK Assassination researcher, or just someone who wants to learn some fascinating American history that the history books Omit, this DVD along with Groden's other DVD about the Kennedy Assassination are a MUST HAVE!
Jesus said "The truth shall set you free". Well America doesnt have the truth about who killed our President. So what does that make us?

One of the best DVD's involving Kennedy's life and tragic death. From his childhood in Lee's Summit, MO to his short stint as a minor league baseball player with the Toledo Mudhens, no stone is left unturned. There is even a short story about his favorite colors, foods, and others narrated by Don Cheadle on disk two. They also put in an alternate ending that shows what life would be like today if Kennedy had lived. Deniro is excellent as the lone gunman. If you are a Kennedy fan, you have to own this disk. A++++

Regretfully, the actions depicted by the South African secret police in the Wilby Conspiracy were only too true.

Via overt racist laws and covert actions, they were given a free hand to maintain the racist status quo and kill whoever tried to stop them, which several have admitted to having done.

It amazes me that so little attention has been paid to this witty adventure-drama. Created and made long before anti-apartheid struggle bacame "vogue" in the mainstream culture in mid-80's, it was rare insight that gave us the sinister faces of the dreaded South African sercret service, the "BOSS". Remember this was made long before "New South Africa". Long before the release of Nelson Mandela. Before Soweto and Biko murder!!

Another facinating Corman flick features basically a combination of Jackie Chan and hardcore action violence. It also features my favorite actor of all that had ever starred in these type of Corman movie, Rick Dean ("Carnosaur 2 & 3").

Can't go wrong with this one, load's of fun.

this hokey movie with hollywoods high paid actors, shows ya..they are doing it for the money and nothing else.all the actors and support cast give card board performances in this supposed thriller....! don't waste your time or money

It's not a terrible movie, but you just can't think about it too much. You have to not look at it too critically at all. Just accept the premises and move on. If you can do that, you can enjoy this just fine. Otherwise, you'll hate it. Roberts does a solid here. Gibson does a very good job as a kooky conspiracy therorist. You really feel sympathy for him as he tries to extract vital information from his mind.

So the plot is a bit silly. Not to mention far fetched. But that happens in nearly every movie nowadays anyways, that's what movies are for. But you know what this movie has that not too many others do? Suspension of disbelief.
This movie keeps you interested, it keeps you entertained. It plays out nothing like you think it will, and the ending leaves you wanting more. The plot was well written and thought out (like I said, a little far fecthed, but still), and Richard Donner did a fine job directing.
I was also very impressed with the acting in this movie. Naturally both Gibson and Roberts are talented, but a lot of times movies are just sort of tossed off. Not so with this one, to tell you the truth I think this is one of Robert's better movies, I really enjoy her character in this one. All of the acting is solid.
The only reason there aren't five stars is because during a scene in a barnyard Gibson explains everything and then Julia Roberts buys it all right there, a little to typical of women's characters in movies. Her character did break many other stereotypes, being very usefull and NOT a damsel in distress. I was glad to see that.
There aren't any good features on the DVD, but the movie itself is lots of fun. See it. I don't want to spoil the story, but I'll say it was a very well put together film, which I enjoyed immensely.

"Groundstar" is a top-secret government space project, whose security has been breached, by Welles, one of its employees (Michael Sarrazin). Escaping the facility with secret information, the man is severely injured, and when captured has no memory of who he is. George Peppard is Tuxan, a hardened, single minded, government investigator in search of answers. Nicole (Christine Belford) is a bystander drawn into the situation, as Tuxan attempts to unlock the secrets within Welles's mind.

The film has a made for TV look and feel, with a plot that is not really original, or particularly credible. The script doesn't contain much action, or well-written dialog. The atmosphere of big brother government is pervasive. Tuxan, who routinely travels in a helicopter, is full of bluster, and attempts to orchestrate much of the action, yet doesn't actually do much that is impressive. The resolution to the story is rather unsatisfying, and implausible. Unless you enjoy heavy-handed government tactics, you can skip this drama.

Groundstar was released while Peppard was doing the TV show Banacek. Fans of that program, should be prepared for quite different type of character. The same applies to Christine Belford, who also had a reoccurring role on Banacek. There are no warm scenes with witty conversation between them. Michael Sarrazin has the most challenging role, and his performance while serviceable, is hampered by having to deliver some very bad lines.

George Peppard plays a character named Tuxan, who is responsible for uncovering the break in and theft of highly classified information at a government facility called Groundstar. He uses any and all means necessary to do this, including hidden cameras, hidden microphones, and 24 hour surveillance. He has complete control most of the time, and absolute authority to find the information he needs in order to protect the United States against foreign interests that may try to undermine the government by stealing precious secrets.

That being said, this movie plays out like a cheesy 70's TV melodrama. I tried hard to like this movie, but it was a hard sell. The movie starts out with multiple explosions at some facility, and one character managing to make it out before the whole place goes up. We see this character running down a corridor, being chased by other individuals, and then the picture freezes at a dramatic moment to allow for a credit to be displayed on the screen. This happens about four or five more times, and becomes quite tiresome, but if I recall, this was a device used quite a bit in the 70's, on movie but more so on TV. This movie really has a 'TV' feel to it, so I am wondering if the director was primarily a TV director...well, I was right. The director is Lamont Johnson, and he has an extensive career directing TV, and it shows here. Anyway, one character escapes before the whole place goes blammo, and it's Michael Sarrazin playing Welles. This is one of those actors who you may not recognize the name, but you'd probably recognize his face. He was fairly popular in the late 60's through the 70's. This slender, dark haired actor seemed to be on the verge of becoming a major star, but has since been relegated to mostly TV roles.

Well, he escapes, and we find out later that he was the only survivor of the explosion. His face badly damaged from the explosions, he manages to make it to the house of Nicole, played by Christine Belford, and actress with a solid television background and a few parts in some features films. The role I remember her from was the over protective mother to Arnie Cunningham in John Carpenter/Stephen King's killer car classic 'Christine' from 1983.

Well, we soon find out that that Welles, the soul survivor of the explosions, was also the one who caused the explosions. Apparently he used false credentials to get his position within the ultra top secret facility, then stole vital information, and caused the destruction of the facility to cover his escape. He remembers none of this, as he has lost his memory along with his face in the incident. We learn all this information from Tuxan, who is now investigating the situation.

There is a conspiracy, and it does follow though. The rest of the movie has Welles trying to put the pieces back together, recall what happened, if he could have killed those people and done the things Tuxan says he did. Nicole provides a haven for Welles, and seems sympathetic to his plight.

The most memorable line comes from Tuxan (what kind of name is that?) and is in response to Nicole berating him for invading her privacy by having hidden cameras and microphones in her house. He says something like 'murders are planned in private, assassinations are planned in private' etc. I don't remember the exact line, but it showed a great deal of the motivation behind the character.

The movie plays out, the conspiracy unfolds, and we are treated to a shocking ending. Well, not so shocking, really, but whatever. It was kind of hard to swallow, though. My main problem with this movie is I never really felt the tension that should have been there and the acting seemed kind of wooden. I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, but I had a hard time buying off on this one. The thing to keep in mind before you buy this movie is that it looks like a TV show. This was made in 1972, and prior to that, George Peppard had a somewhat promising movie career with Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), How the West Was Won (1962), and The Blue Max (1966) to name a few. Then around 1971, the movie roles seemed to dry up and he went into TV. He did make a number of movie after 1971, Damnation Alley (1977), Battle Beyond the Stars (1977), but none seemed to really have the prestige of previous movie roles. The same could be said for Michael Sarrazin. And the other main character, played by Christine Belford was primarily a TV actress. Given the director's history in TV, this all adds up to making this look like a high budget TV movie. I think once some directors immerses themselves in a particular medium, it's difficult to expand beyond the boundaries proscribed by that medium, and it shows here. I felt like the director was trying to exceed his grasp, and couldn't quite do it. Not a bad movie, for TV, but not a great movie for the big screen. I'd say 3 stars for a TV movie, 2½ stars for a theatrical release.

A good film, Peppard as Tuxan in a role that would resemble 2 of his roles on TV (Thomas Banacek that year, and Hannibal Smith of The A Team, 10 years later). The ending is that of a classic suspense film. The DVD version by the way is cheaper than most stores are offering the VHS copy (if you can find it) so get it while you can. Note Christine Belford, the woman down the road who falls for Sarazin also starred in Banacek, coincidence?

Very racist and anti-arab movie. Following the usual disturbed image we have about Arabs being untolerant and evil. I thought it is so cliche to use the Arab-Israeli conflict as a theme of the movie and to show Arabs as the bad guys again. Aren't our news channels enough? I would strongly advise you not to see it...but if you do, beware of the poisonous ideas it advocates.

I saw the movie when it first came out 20+ years ago and found it very interesting/entertaining. This DVD has THE worst quality image and sound I have ever seen in a DVD. Had I not seen this movie before, and thus known better, I would have thought I was looking at something worthy of being ridiculed in Mystery Science Theater 3000. Maybe the name of the distributing company (Cheezy Flicks) should have been a warning sign. Don't buy this!!! I actually feel rating this at 1 star is too much but I didn't have the option to go lower.