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Luther

EMAILPRINTR.S. Entertainment Inc.

Luther reviews
47
7.4 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 11 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Bart Gavigan
Camille Thomasson

Directed by: Eric Till

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 26, 2003
DVD: November 30, 2004

Running Time: 117 minutes, Color

Origin: Germany

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for disturbing images of violence

Starring Joseph Fiennes, Alfred Molina, Jonathan Firth, Claire Cox, Peter Ustinov, Bruno Ganz, Uwe Ochsenknecht, and Mathieu Carrière

Joseph Fiennes stars as Martin Luther, whose bold actions fostered an era of personal and religious freedoms unprecedented in history. (R.S. Entertainment)

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...

80

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Fiennes has imagined and created from within. His Luther is not the thunderer we might expect, but he is, wondrously, the incarnation of a man passionate for God and angry with mundane intercessions.

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75

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

Overall, Luther does a satisfying job of restoring humanity to a woodcut icon.

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75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Veteran British director Eric Till otherwise does a credible job of sweeping us through this huge life, and his eye for detail combines with the Oscar-worthy production design and a succession of striking Eastern European locations to create a rich visual tapestry of the Middle Ages.

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67

Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown

Rising above the throng is the great wreck of Sir Peter Ustinov, who, as the canny, saucy German Prince Frederick, distinguishes both himself and the movie.

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63

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The film winds up stranding us in a desperate wilderness of collapse and betrothal.

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63

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

An entertaining history lesson. That is, a history lesson that synopsizes and simplifies a complex life and complicated times into easily digestible panels of action, intrigue, martyrdom and sticking it to the papacy.

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63

Chicago Tribune Ellen Fox

Aside from a couple of unintelligible conversations with himself, there's barely any God here. The film would rather just be inclusive. Luther might have wanted it that way, but as moviegoers, it's hard not to want more.

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60

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

After a summer of numbing mindlessness, there is something frankly refreshing about a movie that deals even superficially with as significant a figure as the rebellious 16th century theologian Martin Luther, one of the founders of Protestantism and the man who put the reform in the Reformation.

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60

Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer

With Joseph Fiennes as the conflicted, frequently self-hating Luther, this historical drama/biopic offers a fairly thorough overview of the period (although it's weak on the "good deeds" angle) but is somewhat dry and weighted with significance.

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60

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

The unimposing Fiennes may not suggest the burly Luther's plain-talking peasant background, but he at least captures the charisma.

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60

Washington Post Jen Chaney

It's just unfortunate that a movie about such a daring man ultimately takes few risks.

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50

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Plunges energetically into the 16th-century religious rebel's activities and philosophies. It dodges some significant issues in Luther's life, however, reducing its value as an educational film.

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50

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

But for that one bright, incongruous yuk-fest in the classroom, Luther is deadly material, full of self-righteousness and devoid of balance.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Steven Winn

Disjointed.

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50

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Solid performances by Fiennes, Jonathan Firth, and a frail but funny Peter Ustinov keep this watchable.

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50

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Who was Joseph Fiennes channeling when he chose this muddled tone? Obviously he was reluctant to gave a broad, inspirational performance of the kind you find in deliberately religious films.

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50

Village Voice Leslie Camhi

How did this rude monk, prey to depression and satanic hallucinations, change the course of history? Luther offers scant illumination, for the big brown eyes that served Joseph Fiennes so well in "Elizabeth" are little help with the spirit of Reformation.

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40

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Joseph Fiennes smolders as young Luther, but it’s a performance that makes you wish instead that his older brother Ralph -– an actor who is one of the greatest at being able to portray inner torture and anguish -– were playing the part.

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40

TV Guide Ken Fox

Corny and irritatingly simplistic though this fast-paced biography of 16th-century German religious reformer Martin Luther may be, it's undeniably entertaining.

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40

Variety Robert Koehler

Proceeds like a stultifying history pageant rather than a movie with a pulse of its own.

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40

The New York Times Stephen Holden

As the film veers uncertainly between meticulous historical recapitulation and shameless hokum, it brings enough characters to populate a mini-series. When the historical details become too clogged, the movie shamelessly overcompensates by wallowing in cheap sentimentality.

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20

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

British director Eric Till’s ghastly Euro-pudding co-production (with all the international accents and badly post-synchronized dialogue that implies) manages to make a travesty of its title subject.

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12

New York Post Lou Lumenick

An unholy mess.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jeff C. gave it a10:
A wonderful depiction with only minor historical inaccuracies. A movie every Christian should watch.

Jared C. gave it a6:
Based on the quality of Luther, it sadly doesn't reach the expectations of my personal discussions with society. It has a fine tone and starts out clueless, though eventually builds up momentum and suspense after gathering a substantial amount of information, that gets to the point of overload, and blasts with a finale that finishes with a breathtaking conclusion. It's a great churchgoer motion picture, and relates a lot to Renassaince studies which really overthinks me a bit. Everything is cause and Effect in Luther, it builds up a tremendous amount of character, and then that's the part when you start getting entertained, about 3 quarters way in. Which is the disappointing factor about it. Before all that, you just want a silent nap.

Tony B. gave it a6:
Deciding how historically accurate "Luther" is is best left to those familiar with the religious and political intrigue in 16th Century Europe. For the rest of us, it is a generally well-told and sometimes even absorbing tale. Sir Peter Ustinov easily manages to steal all of his scenes; the same cannot be said for Joseph Fiennes. We have to take the script's word that Martin Luther was such an influential man because nothing in Fiennes' performance remotely suggests it.

Lincoln W. gave it a9:
While not entirely historically accurate, it draws out major events and prevailing practices of the church at the time while cativating viewers with Fiennes' monumental development of Luther as a very "human" theologian.

Mitch M. gave it a 5:
Alternately absorbing and laughable, it bites off WAY more than it can chew in 2 hours - - it's an immense topic, worthy of, say, a TV mini-series? I give them credit for good intentions. (I'm a sucker for 16th C. drama).

William Van O. gave it an 8:
It helps to first understand who Luther is before watching the film. Certainly quite an undertaking to summarize a time in history when religious, political and social reformations were deeply influencing each other. I would have appreciated more of a Luther who showed more conviction, hearing the word "grace" at least once in the movie, and less of the wimpering Luther wrestling with evil.

Bob R. gave it a 9:
Very fast moving, good representation of "the times;" would be difficult to follow if one didn't already know the story; costumes and settings beautiful; Fienes does a superb job.

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