GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Der Eisbär" is a German 85-minute movie from 1998, so this one is already almost 20 years old. The writer and director is Granz Henman and his co-director is Til Schweiger. For both, it is the first effort in their respective positions here, but Schweiger was of course also an established actor at this point already and it should be no surprise to anybody that he landed the lead role. For Henman it is still a contender for his most known work almost two decades later. But now let us take a look at this one here. At times, it reminded me of an inferior version of "Reservoir Dogs" and I would not be surprised if it inspired that project. As for this one here, Schweiger is fairly decent and works nicely for the main character. But there are weaknesses too. For such a relatively short film, it has too many entirely forgettable scenes or scenes that even did not fit in well when it comes to realism, authenticity or just convincing character development. The script could have been better on many occasions and it fits somehow looking at Henman's other famous films.But there are also good moments. Many actors in here are familiar faces in this film (I won't list the names, just check the cast list) and these add something through their talent or charisma. I personally liked seeing Leonard Lansink (Wilsberg) as a pretty silent barkeeper here and the scene at the bar was indeed really fun, maybe when this film was at its best. As for the ending, however, I was not convinced. Not only could it have been better, but it also felt as if the filmmakers sacrificed realism and quality here to make it look as showy and spectacular as possibly. It may only be subjective perception and opinion, but I don't like this approach at all I must say and there were enough decent moments that made me think that the film deserves a better ending for sure. And you actually even learn something in here about female sexuality and male anatomy, maybe the most crucial moment of the film. Anyway, this film is proof that Schweiger also can give somewhat decent performances if he wants to and it is certainly one of his better career performances, maybe also because it is better than most of the stuff he has appeared in recently. The story here is so different and it is pretty bold at times. If you go bold, you go wrong sometimes too, but I can accept that. Just don't expect a truly epic outcome and you may have a time watching this one at least as good as I did. 6 of 10 may be a bit on the generous side, but I recommend watching it.

milanium86 The story makes no sense at all. A hired gun has to get stopped from his contract to kill a snitch with a bag of money. He misses his call, gets his job done and for whatever reason he and his agent should be killed now. There is another "plot" involving wiring up a gangster boss car to bomb him, but the car gets stolen. It even has a tracking device installed, but instead of phoning home and asking for the location, the beautiful assassin decides to go into a nearby bar and get drunk where she meets the hit-man who instead of warning his partner that assassins will come for him soon, also decides to get heavily drunk in the same bar. That is it. In fact nothing of importance is happening all the time. The car jackers sub-plot involves driving to a diner to steal hamburgers and is interrupted by their infantile humor. You will see many famous faces of German television who will in the end meet up in a shoot-out including several minutes of angry shouting at each other. The hit-man gets wounded, but is still able to walk away with the girl he just met. Instead of getting to a doctor and survive, they get the money that is still next to the dead snitch and decide to bleed to death on a nameless state road.The obvious comparison is Pulp Fiction. While the original focuses on absurd humor and violent shoot-outs with great cinematography, this is like the version for 14 year olds joking about penis sizes on the school yard smoking their mild tasting cigarettes. Oops, I just spoilered half of the jokes the actors will narrate. The overacting and the slow pace of the movie make it really annoying to watch. You will see a bar that looks like everywhere else with a group of xenophobic regulars, the rapid transit system of cologne and a no-name diner. This is no way near Tarantino even though it re-enacts parts of other movies all the time. Not even the Mexican standoff in the end is in any way impressive.Instead of watching this garbage I should have played a mission of Grand Theft Auto. It's storyline would have made much more sense and be way more entertaining. Luckily the protagonists died so there won't be a sequel.

David-Kappel I've just "Der Eisbär" and do not quite understand why so many people dislike this movie. Due to that I did not have any high expectations it is true that this movie tries a little too hard to become a cult classic and that some jokes do not really work out (as the phone ringing a couple of times when the hit-man is just about to kill some fellow) but on the other hand there are some brilliant scenes. The burger robbery for an example is one of the moments in which the movie's concept really works out. Schwaiger's performance is not over the edge but he does a good Job. Ralf Richter is brilliant as always. The story has some weaknesses but somehow one does not really care as it is not the aim of the movie to tell the backgrounds of the story. I reckon it's quite a good movie and if you don't go to see this with the expectation of watching another "Bang Boom Bang" you won't be disappointed.

9horst Til Schweiger in one of his best roles. Nearly forgotten german music gives the proper sound providing the amusing plot of the film directed by Til himself. All in all it is worth seeing it more than just one time so enjoy the atmosphere which will catch you in any case.