Schindler's List - Limited Edition Gift Set

By employing Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army, Schindler ensures their survival against terrifying odds. At the same time, he must remain solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley) and negotiate business with a vicious, obstinate Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa overlooking a prison camp. Schindler's List gains much of its power not by trying to explain Schindler's motivations, but by dramatizing the delicate diplomacy and determination with which he carried out his generous deeds.

As a drinker and womanizer who thought nothing of associating with Nazis, Schindler was hardly a model of decency; the film is largely about his transformation in response to the horror around him. Spielberg doesn't flinch from that horror, and the result is a film that combines remarkable humanity with abhorrent inhumanity--a film that functions as a powerful history lesson and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the context of a living nightmare. --Jeff Shannon

"Schindler's List" chronicles Oskar Schindler's spiritual odyssey from war profiteer to humanitarian and hero. Winner of seven Academy Awards in 1993, including Best Picture, this harrowing and heart-rending film is Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, and perhaps one of the finest and most important movies ever made. It depicts Schindler's ultimately successful attempt to rescue 1,100 Jews from Hitler's "Final Solution" by getting them to safety outside Poland.

Dynamic performances abound in this beautiful movie, Especially noteworthy are Liam Neeson as the suave Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as the monstrously depraved Nazi colonel, Amon Goeth, and Ben Kingsley as the dignified, principled Jewish prisoner Itzhak Stern.

"Schindler's List" is definitely not light entertainment! This beautiful movie allows viewers to feel like they're actually a part of one of the darkest, most horrific periods in history. (I'm sure this is the reason the film was shot in black-and-white, with only minor "colorized" bits included.) The story of the Holocaust needs to be told over and over again, in hopes that future generations can understand the horrors perpetrated on an entire race of people and prevent future occurrences. "Schindler's List" is perhaps one of the best and most effective vehicles for telling that story I've ever experienced.


The List Is A Life   June 6, 2002
Erik North (San Gabriel, CA USA)
90 out of 111 found this review helpful

Any way you stack it, Steven Spielberg's 1993 masterpiece SCHINDLER'S LIST is one of the most important and enlightening films ever made. It is a heartfelt, deeply personal film about one of the ghastliest events in human history--the Holocaust--and how one man, a Nazi profiteer by the name of Oskar Schindler, while motivated by money, managed to save some 1200 Jews from the gas chambers of Auschwitz during World War II.

Spielberg wisely does not gloss over the fact that Schindler was every bit the womanizer as he was an astute, cagey businessman who made deals with the Nazis to set up an enamelware factory in the Cracow ghetto and employ the Jewish populace there. But his very trusted secretary Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) manages to awaken a latent spark of humanity in the once cold-blooded Schindler. By the time the war is over and the facts are known about the Nazi atrocities, Schindler is financially broke but spiritually enriched. "He who saves one life saves the world entire."

Filmed in somber, documentary-like black-and-white by Janusz Kaminski, SCHINDLER'S LIST features superb performances by Neeson and Kingsley, as well as British actor Ralph Fiennes as the extraordinarily chilling Nazi commandant Amon Goeth, whose basic senses of Nazi business Schindler must appeal to while keeping the fact that he is sheltering the Jews a secret. Spielberg spares nothing in showing us the horrors of the Nazis barbarism; and although it is, not surprisingly, a very lengthy film (three hours and ten minutes), a lot happens for us to absorb, so it never becomes ponderous or heavy-handed.

Winner of seven Oscars, including a Best Director nod to Spielberg that was long overdue, SCHINDLER'S LIST shows us the worst in humanity, but also the best as well. Even in so much pain and death, there is hope. And that is why this film is such a masterpiece.


A movie to be forever treasured and honored.   September 17, 1998
49 out of 61 found this review helpful

"Schindler's List" is a movie so epic and far reaching in its impact that one stops watching it and says, "...so that's why film was invented." Steven Spielberg takes us back to the haunting horror of war-torn Poland and its condemned Jewry during WWII in a film so impeccably well filmed and performed there need not be any kind of "suspension of disbelief" on the part of the viewer. Liam Neeson delivers the performance of his life starring as Oskar Schindler, a true person who takes pity on the imprisoned Jews and helps over 1,100 to safety. He does this against the will of supervillian Amon Goeth, masterfully played by Ralph Fiennes in what in my opinion is the finest theatrical presentation ever captured on film. The film is primarily historical but beautifully touches at the theme of the survival and triumph of the human spirit. Truly, the only disappointment about "Schindler's List" is that not enough films such as this grace our lives. END


A phenomenal movie that everyone should see   May 27, 2000
40 out of 45 found this review helpful

Schindler's List is my favorite historical drama of all-time for a number of reasons. Not only is it a masterpiece from a cinematic point of view, but it is priceless for the story it tells to the world.

First of all, the acting is superb. Liam Neeson does well as Oskar Schindler, but in particular I liked Ben Kingsley (as Istak Stern, Schindler's accountant) and Ralph Fiennes (as Amon Goeth, the camp commandant). All of the performances were very convincing and reflect the good casting.

Another great feature of this film is the soundtrack. Slow, soaring music tells of the painful circumstances of the Jews and of their conflict with the Nazi regime. Mixed in with the instrumental pieces are Jewish melodies which also gave me a sense of the cultural traditions of the Jewish people.

From a technical point of view, the decision by director Spielberg to shoot the movie is black-and-white was a good one. In fact, I think it makes the movie better than it would have been in color. The few color segments throughout the movie are aptly placed and help to focus the viewer's attention on particular details through the eyes of Schindler. The scenery and photography were excellent compared to other movies I have seen and contribute to the whole atmosphere of the 1940s. Some people may be put off a bit by the length (over 3 hours) but believe me, every minute is worthwhile. Unlike other long movies, there are no lulls or useless scenes -- everything counts.

The best part of the movie without any doubt is the story itself, the tale of Oskar Schindler and how he was able to save 1100 Jews from the Auschwitz gas chambers by employing them in his enamelware factory and eventually his shelling factory. Schindler's ambition and personal success shines through amidst the Jewish tragedy and shows how one man, if he has the willpower, can accomplish what appears to be impossible. Based on the novel by Thomas Keneally (which I have not yet had the opportunity to read), this movie digs deep into the human soul and shows how different people are able to survive.

There are many touching moments in this film; in particular, near the end when the war has been declared over and the Nazis must flee from the Soviet army. This part and the modern-day segment that follows are both truly heart-warming tributes. I finished watching this movie for about the fourth time yesterday, and even though I didn't cry, tears welled up in my eyes (and this rarely happens when I watch movies).

This movie is a must-see not only for its excellence in the film genre but for the story it presents to the viewer. Although it is not suitable for young children (due to its violence and mature content), any mature individual should see it so they can understand that a spark of good can still exist in a fire of evil. This movie deserved all of the Academy Awards that it received and will likely remain in top ten lists for at least the next fifty years. Highly recommended.


Stark & Troubling Look At The Realities Of The Holocaust!   September 4, 2000
Barron Laycock (Temple, New Hampshire United States)
29 out of 31 found this review helpful

This is an extremely troubling, scrupulously accurate, and endlessly compelling screen adaptation of Thomas Keneally's non-fiction best seller depicting the events surrounding Oscar Schindler's acts in saving hundreds of Polish Jews from certain death in the concentration camps by employing them in manufacturing "essential materials" in war-time Poland. Steven Spielberg negotiates his way carefully through the potential minefield of controversy in his stunningly graphic and emotional portrayal of the plight of Polish Jews as the Germans began their preparations for what became the "Final Solution" to the "Jewish Question" in the occupied sectors of Poland in the early 1940s.

As a serious student of 20th century history, I am indeed impressed by the care with which Spielberg has faithfully recreated the details of the occupation, from Schindler's initial entrepreneurial preoccupation with exploiting Jewish investors and workers for his own profit to the moral indifference and cruelty of Christian Poles toward their Jewish countrymen. The scenes early in the movie depicting the Jews being forcibly ejected from their homes and the trail of local residents taunting and abusing them is among the powerful on film, as are the later episodes showing the barbarism of the Nazis both within the Jewish ghetto and in the streets, casually murdering Jews as simply as squashing a noisome mosquito. The story line provides the viewer with a profound opportunity to be an eyewitness to one of the most shameful and sorry periods in modern world history, as we witness just how base and cruel ordinary human beings can be.

The cast, of course, is absolutely terrific, from Liam Neeson to Ben Kingsley to Ralph Fiennes. In particular, Fiennes' brilliant portrayal of a Nazi officer capable of such casual violence as to nonchalantly order a Jewish engineer shot because she corrects an error made by incompetent German military engineers gives a glimpse into the maddening darkness and banality of evil. Once again, modern American film shows us why serious cinematic efforts like this must be actively sponsored and appreciated. If a photo is worth a thousand words, this breathtaking film is worth a library. It accurately illustrates in its short three or four hours duration more about the individual reality of what world war meant to each of the millions of noncombatants who perished at the hands of evil incarnate than any book may do. This is a movie I plan to use to teach European history to lethargic high-schoolers to wake them out of their self-absorption into an active interest in the world. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to better understand what the Holocaust meant, and how it happened.