UnowPriceless
hyped garbage
Stoutor
It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Rosie Searle
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Winnetou - 1. Teil" is a 100-minute movie from Germany, written by Harald G. Petersson based on Karl May's work and directed by Harald Reinl a couple years before his Oscar nomination. This film was done over 50 years ago and still you find some cast members still alive such as Mario Adorf or Marie Versini. Lead actor Pierre Brice died earlier this year. Like I already wrote in the title, western films and European cinema is always a difficult combination. There are some good examples, but sadly, despite its popularity, this is not one of them. It's been a while since I witness a title character who seemed totally forgettable like Winnetou in this one. Lex Barker does a decent job and certainly elevates the material here. Versini I found totally bland and uninteresting like Brice. Adorf id a truly charismatic actor and he makes up for the fact that his character is really stereotypical in here and wasn't written interestingly at all.As a whole, this film delivers adequately for the genre in terms of visuals. Costumes, makeup and cinematography are okay, but all this is just another example of style over substance. The acting is mediocre overall and the story is probably the film's biggest letdown. The music is okay, but sometimes sounds almost too epic for what we see. I believe Reinl is among the best Austrian/German directors of his era, so this is quite a letdown. Still German audiences loved it and really many went to see this movie, which was awarded the Golden screen as well. This is certainly also the explanation why there were so many other Winnetou movies or movies based on Karl May's novels. I myself, after watching this one, have to admit i am not too eager to watch them. Thumbs down for "Winnetou Part 1".
mattek76
Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written by Karl May (1842-1912, with about 200 million copies worldwide one of the best selling German writers of all time) in German, including the sequels Winnetou I through Winnetou III. According to Karl May's story, first-person narrator Old Shatterhand encounters Winnetou and after initial dramatic events, a true friendship between Old Shatterhand and the Apache Winnetou arises; on many occasions they give proof of great fighting skill but also of compassion for other human beings. It portrays a belief in an innate "goodness" of mankind, albeit constantly threatened by ill-intentioned enemies. the movie is great and it was filmed in CROATIA. that country that you are mentioning do not exist any more, it was CROATIA before and it is CROATIA now so there is no point to write that it was filmed in that not existing country, this is 2009. so learn-those are CROATIAN national parks!
unbrokenmetal
"Winnetou 1" is packed with images not only I shall remember forever: the train crashing into the house, Nscho-tschi sitting on the edge of the canyon (shot in Yugoslavia as usual for the Karl May productions), Klekih Petra giving his life to save Winnetou, Old Shatterhand freeing Winnetou secretly, and much later becoming blood brothers. This is a myth larger than life, and it is admirable how well balanced it is with all its ingredients, Ralf Wolter playing the funny Sam Hawkens and Mario Adorf the intense villain Santer, while Marie Versini as Nscho-tschi adds a bit of romance. How often do you find a movie that has nothing to improve and you wish you just could see again and again? Yet I do understand people who think this is a naive or even lame flick - they just weren't at the cinema all those years ago, I suppose.
FilmFlaneur
Arguably the start of the notable German Western cycle of the 60's, along with Treasure of the Silver Lake (Der Schatz I'm Silbersee of the previous year). In this early adaption of the tremendously successful Karl May novels which formed the backbone of the series, Ex Tarzan Lex Barker, blonde hair slicked back in vague echo of Kirk Douglas, plays Old Shatterhand. French actor Pierre Brice is Winnetou, good Apache, his Indian blood brother. Unlike the cynicism of the Spaghetti Westerns which followed shortly afterwards, the German version is backward looking - nostalgic, perhaps, for the more simplistic and romantic version of the genre, common in Hollywood before the psychological complications wrought by the 50's. Thus Shatterhand and Winnetou are more Lone Ranger and Tonto than Trinità and Bambino. The present film is fully equal of its rivals elsewhere on the continent in recreating the old west in mid europe, wagon trains marauding indians and all. Winnetou 1 also has the distinction of a marvellous score by Martin Bottcher, its sweeping main theme instantly memorable and looks superb in the widescreen transfer. Recent months have seen the release of three or four boxes of the films featuring Winnetou et al, with another one including the 1980's TV series, also worth investigating. However prospective buyers should note that the English dialogue/subtitling is not consistent; box 1 for instance only has 2 out of the 4 films in English while even in those that do minor characters and small scenes often lapse back into German - not a problem when the plot is relatively straightforward but unless bought cheaply the annoyance is enough to dampen a full recommendation of a greatly entertaining series of films hardly known to western fans, at least in the UK.
