Watch The Great Dictator For Free

Simply A Masterpiece

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The final speech is beautiful. though the comedy usually doesn't quite work for me and i don't find them enjoyable, charlie chaplin's movies are always wonderful and kind at heart. however, the final scenes in this film were striking and heartfelt in a way that is rare to come by in life. definitely worth watching

Do it all yourself and do it all right. This is what Charlie Chaplin does in this brilliant film. He's the producer, star, scriptwriter and director of The Great Dictator, his firs talkie (sound movie). And one can't help but wondering if the art of this British genius was somewhat affected by the arrival of sound, by the changes that it brought about both for actors and audiences. Judging by how good the film is, I'd say that it didn't.A.Hynkel is the dictator and absolute ruler of Tomaine. This role and the one of a Jewish barber are both played by Chaplin. Although the picture is aimed at criticizing Germany and fascism, the first scenes are used to show us Chalie Chaplin's character fighting in the Great War. Comic scenes are intertwined with satire-driven ones, which only increases the difficulty to know where this masterpiece stands. Its legendary status and reputation are undeniable but.....Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Does it stand alone on a genre of its own? I guess that's up to the viewers. I can only say I see no easy way out of that dilemma, as we have a little bit of everything in the film. realistic depiction of Jews and their struggles, critique of Hitler, Mussolini and fascism through humour. There's one poignant speech at the end of the film that serves in a double purpose: to close the movie in a spectacular fashion and to give us something to cheer us up, something to remember and hold on to in moments of despair.

The Great Dictator was released in 1940, before the true magnitude of atrocities committed by the Nazis was known. The character of Adenoid Hynkel is obviously Adolf Hitler and the character of Benzino Napalon, played by Jack Oakie is obviously Benito Mussolini. Written and directed by Chaplin, it is truly a masterpiece. The movie begins with Chaplinisk slap-stick comedy, which had me rolling with the silliness of it. But, as the film progresses, the theme changes and by the end, when Chaplin delivers the closing speech, the raw emotion is very nearly overwhelming. Sadly, though there is no longer an obvious monster to despise and blame for the ills of the world, the film remains poignant and pertinent. "Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose- stepped us into misery and bloodshed." The speech has as much applicability to our modern world as it did in 1940. It remains for me a monumental mystery that we are continually being shown the harshness and callousness of society, yet we continue along the same path.The Great Dictator is a wonderful, germane, comedic, powerful, moving testament to human nature. Hopefully, one day we will graduate from our ignorance.

The Great Dictator was by far the most direct cinematic manifestation of Chaplin's politics, which he had been exploring for decades in his silent comedies, but had been sharpened by his experiences touring the world in the early 1930s. His previous feature, Modern Times (1936), was his most "political" film to date, and in that masterpiece he demonstrated how fluidly he could merge the political and the comical, turning out a "message movie" that went down smoothly. The same is true for much of The Great Dictator, which is a frequently hilarious film that boldly uses caricature and satire to ridicule the leading despots of the early 20th century. Even many years later than it's first appearance on the screen this movie is more updated than ever! The totalitarianism and alienation of people are now a daily reality. Like their release of Modern Times last fall, Criterion has done fantastic work with The Great Dictator, giving us a new 2K high-definition transfer taken from a combination of a 35mm fine-grain master positive and a 35mm duplicate negative. Extensive digital restoration has removed virtually all signs of age and damage without losing the image's grain structure and film like appearance. All in all, there are no complains here, or even minor quibbles, for that matter. The image is sharp, well-detailed, and beautifully rendered in gray scale, with good black levels and excellent contrast. The monaural soundtrack, transferred at 24-bit from the sound negative and digitally restored, likewise gives the film a new lease on life. There are no cracks, pops, or ambient hiss, and the dialogue and sound effects are clear and precise.