I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Expensively produced adaptation of Ira Levin's novel is a combination of Marathon Man and The Omen. The Boys from Brazil should have been intense and gripping, but it's weighed down by a convoluted plot spanning the globe with too many characters whose function is to provide exposition. Franklin J. Schaffner who often helmed large scale productions: Patton, Pappilion, The Planet of the Apes, Nicholas and Alexandria is a plodding director and this material needs a visionary. The film is watchable with some effective scenes and performances, and a sweeping score to carry it, but the sluggish pace makes it a long 2 hours. Jeremy Black is amusing as the boys from Brazil, Uta Hagen is memorably intense, and Olivier in role that provided him with his final Oscar nomination is basically repeating his Marathon Man performance. And though I enjoyed Peck playing the bad guy, George C. Scott who was originally cast might have provided a terrifying powerhouse of a villain that would have ignited this film.

Ira Levin was really hot stuff in the 1970's. He had books like "Rosemary's Baby," "The Stepford Wives," and this, "The Boys from Brazil." This is social science fiction. Somehow cloning has been perfected and an aging Nazi creates a race of young men using DNA from Hitler. If that isn't going to spin your beanie, stop right there. So, people have speculated that Hitler and other Nazi leaders took off for South America after the war since many were never found. And, we all know that the Germans had some great scientists. So Levin extrapolates from that. Now we get a man who is hunting these guys played by Laurence Olivier (who was actually a Nazi in "Marathon Man"). The Hitler boys seem to be progressing nicely, being artistic and deadly. There is a lot of science and sociology that would dispute this happening. Remember, Hitler rose to power because of a shattered Germany. If you are totally willing to suspend disbelief, you may enjoy this. I never bought the premise.

The re-birth of the Third Reich has proved to be an oddly desirable topic for many an inspiring schlock-maker. Titles such as They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968) and Gestapo's Last Orgy (1977) come to mind - movies from a bygone era when cinema-goer's would travel to like their local drive-in or tune into their TV sets late at night and expect to see something cheap, awful, but most likely hilarious. The Boys from Brazil, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1970)), is an event movie with a budget and an A-list cast that plots a Jewish Nazi-hunter against a tyrannical doctor hell-bent on creating a new fuhrer.Such a mainstream movie could be labelled as insensitive for creating outlandish fiction out of such a terrible event and for profiteering from it, but The Boys from Brazil, although handsomely filmed and mostly well-performed, is pure pantomime exploitation. This is evident from the moment we meet Ezra Lieberman, an ageing Austrian Nazi hunter played by Laurence Olivier, who delivers his lines in an accent so ludicrous he could be voicing a Disney character. When a conspiracy to assassinate 94 civil servants headed by SS surgeon Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck) is brought to Lieberman's attention by young Jewish activist Kohler (Steve Guttenberg) - who quickly vanishes - the old man travels throughout Europe to investigate the potential targets.Mengele's plot seems like random, senseless madness at first, but it doesn't take long to figure out what's going on. The goal, when revealed, is utterly preposterous but may have been scarily plausible if executed with care. But The Boys from Brazil is often camp, with Peck especially hamming it up and gobbling up the scene whenever he appears. He's the best thing in it - a moustached, maniacal lunk with the complexion of a pint of milk - and has greatest line of the film when he shouts "shut up, you stupid bitch!" to the unfortunate wife of an SS officer. It all leads to fisticuffs at the climax between the frail Lieberman and the bulky Mengele, which despite the extraordinary levels of gore and the presence of three angry Doberman, is unintentionally hilarious. Weird, absurd, but undeniably fun, this is pure nazisploitation polished by a talented director.

Laurence Olivier stars as Nazi Hunter Ezra Lieberman, who is contacted by a young student(Steve Guttenberg) that he has discovered the whereabouts of infamous Nazi criminal Josef Mengele(Gregory Peck); Ezra dismisses it as a crank call, but when the student turns up murdered, Ezra decides to investigate further, and discovers to his horror that Mengele is alive, and working on a sinister plan to resurrect the Fourth Reich! Olivier is magnificent as the Nazi Hunter, a well-rounded and sympathetic, thoughtful performance; sadly it comes in a film that defies logic to such an extent that it feels wasted. Gregory Peck as Mengele is too one-dimensional; he is portrayed as evil incarnate, and that's it, as if Peck didn't have to try very hard, as a result, his performance seems campy. Idea of recreating Hitler is ludicrous, though climax with the Dobermans is memorable, and brutally ironic.Based on Ira Levin's novel.