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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Das Experiment
EMAILPRINTSamuel Goldwyn Films

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Don Bohlinger
Christoph Darnstädt
Mario Giordano (also novel Black Box)
Directed by: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 18, 2002
DVD: July 1, 2003
Running Time: 114 minutes, Color
Origin: Germany
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel, Oliver Stokowski, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Stephan Szasz, and Polat Dal
Inspired by the Stanford Prison Experiment, this psychological drama focuses on twenty paid recruits who are divided into groups "prisoners" and "guards" and are let loose in a controlled prison-like environment.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Downfall The Invasion
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New Times (L.A.) Bill Gallo
En route, we also get a chance to examine the nature of the self and the responsibilities of science. Das Experiment has all this and more, excitingly packaged as a prison movie featuring superb performances and high emotional tension.
Read Full Review >New York Post Megan Lehmann
One of those all-too-rare cases in which a riveting premise is expertly executed.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Because the confrontations between power and powerlessness are so dramatic and because Hirschbiegel's editing is so emphatic, Das Experiment is practically over before you realize that you don't know what its point is, exactly.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What impressed me is how effective the movie was, even though the outcome is a foregone conclusion. That's a tribute to the director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, and the actors, who have been chosen with the same kind of typecasting that perhaps occurs in life.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Ray Conlogue
This is a grimly thrilling movie that falls somewhere between clear-eyed realism and the improbabilities of an action flick.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
There's not enough insight to the social phenomenon presented onscreen, but that doesn't make the utterly human horror of this thriller any less unsettling.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Halter
After the film's ultraviolent finale (set to the tacky beats of synth-pop volksmusik), one wonders whether this sharp bit of fascinating fascism provides a true analysis of television's new mean streak, or simply an engaging indulgence in same.
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
A solid slice of entertainment without reaching the psychological depths promised by the subject matter.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
As an exploitation picture, Das Experiment is mindlessly potent; subtitles are no guarantee of sophistication and subtlety.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Doesn't tell you anything about human nature you probably haven't already suspected, but then again it's good to be reminded of these dark things from time to time. Especially these days.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Janice Page
This cacophonous ending may serve to reinforce the filmmakers' cynical themes, but it leaves viewers trying desperately to remember the part of the film that had brains, wit, and so much promise.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Staff (Not credited)
The film's hysterically pitched action overshadows its more subtle psychological points.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
It's empty calories trying to trumpet its bogus nutritional value, and the strain for social importance undermines the picture.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
First-time feature filmmaker Oliver Hirschbiegel maintains a riveting sense of simmering brutality.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Eventually any serious statement is lost in a sea of sadism, as he forces us to watch scene after scene of gruesome, humiliating torture.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Loren King
For all its slickness, is an R-rated version of "Survivor," "Big Brother" or any number of reality-TV shows that present voyeurism as entertainment and exploitation as insight.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Rigid, airless, and browbeatingly repetitive, Das Experiment is an overly didactic piece of thesis hectoring; it's like ''Lord of the Flies'' set in a Skinner box.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
Too much of a mess to say anything with assurance, pieced together as it is from mismatched institutional movies such as "Cool Hand Luke" and "Shock Corridor" -- with "Lord of the Flies" thrown in for good measure -- and turning on plot points that simply don't wash.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
iacobus gave it a9:
A fantastic movie which shows how aggressive instintcs can appear from nothing.
Larry R. gave it a 9:
Powerful film! This is an intense thriller.
Ishii gave it a 5:
I badly want to give this movie a 10, since I've been waiting a long time for this to come out. But I'm a little bit disappointed. It's definetely worth watching, but it gets a little confusing at times. I was like, where the HELL did this girl come from? The main character meets her once, and they're eternally in love. We have absolutely no idea who she is.
Adam F. gave it a 10:
This was easily one of the most intense movies I've ever seen. It was so f'd up that this old woman in the row in back of me was actually crying by the end. I came out feeling that time was warped, that I was walking through a different reality because my nerves were still so jangled. I am buying this on DVD as soon as it comes out.
