The internet parody that won't die: Hitler's 'Downfall'
Posted Monday, August 31, 2009 at 3:24 PM Central
by Tim Briscoe
It's one of the most parodied movie scenes on the internet. But, yet, many have never even seen the original.
The movie is 2004's docudrama Downfall. Actor Bruno Granz portrays Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in this German production. The film depicts Hitler's ultimate demise in World War II.
The movie was a critical success with a 91% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the '05 Oscars. The German language film made over $5 million during its limited release in U.S. theaters.
In the years since, Downfall has transcended into an internet phenomenon. Numerous people have taken a pivotal scene in the film and inserted their own subtitles with hilarious results.
The fad seems to have begun in early 2008. The first I recall was Hitler enraged at the fall of HD-DVD to the hands of Blu-ray. Another has the führer erupting because he was banned from Xbox Live. A New York Times article mentions a Hilary Clinton-themed video as one of the most popular.
There have been so many parodies that an entire YouTube channel has been created. There are currently 118 videos listed on the site.
Many of the early videos have been taken from YouTube citing copyright concerns. Apparently they've never heard of a little something called Fair Use. You can see many of these videos from the banned video catalog at YouTomb.
A site which allowed users to easily create their own Downfall parody also fell victim to copyright issues. Another site describes the laborious process required to create your own legal parody. (Most of the parodies presumably are created via downloaded rips of the European DVD.)
Below are a few of my current favorites. In the first Hitler learns how badly the trailer for Avatar sucked. The second uses a different scene from the film to describe Hitler's response to being killed in Inglorious Basterds.
What's your favorite Downfall parody video? Let us know.