{"id":26938,"date":"2017-11-17T06:33:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T11:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=26938"},"modified":"2017-11-17T17:58:51","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T22:58:51","slug":"the-bootleg-files-the-hitler-videos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/17\/the-bootleg-files-the-hitler-videos\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: The Hitler Videos"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 614: \u201cThe Hitler Videos\u201d<\/strong> (viral video parodies based on the 2004 film \u201cDownfall\u201d).<\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> They\u2019re all over YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> Hijacking copyrighted material for fun, although some argue this qualifies as fair use.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Nein!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever spent time on YouTube, there\u2019s an excellent chance that you\u2019ve stumbled over a series of videos featuring an uber-irritated Hitler confronting pop culture inanity. These videos have achieved the unlikely result of turning the most horrible person of the 20th century into the most outrageous buffoon of the 21st century.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The core of these videos is a 2004 German film called \u201cDownfall\u201d (\u201cDer Untergang\u201d), which details the last 10 days of Hitler\u2019s life. \u201cDownfall\u201d offers an intense performance by Bruno Ganz as Hitler, whose health and emotions fray as he realizes that he is doomed within his underground bunker as Soviet troops steamroll into Berlin. \u201cDownfall\u201d earned critical praise for its mature dissection of the end of the Third Reich, and the film was nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.<\/p>\n

But there was absolutely nothing funny about \u201cDownfall\u201d \u2013 or, for that matter, its vicious inspiration. And despite the popularity of Mel Brooks\u2019 \u201cThe Producers,\u201d few people in the post-Holocaust era displayed the temerity of turning Hitler into a figure of fun.<\/p>\n

All of that changed on August 10, 2006, when a YouTube user known only as DReaperF4 uploaded a spoof based on a climactic scene from \u201cDownfall\u201d when Hitler lashed out at his remaining aides upon realizing his fate is sealed by the advancing Red Army. Although the original German-language soundtrack was retained in the parody video, DReaperF4 added new subtitles that gave the impression of Hitler screaming in anger over the absence of new features in the demo version of Microsoft\u2019s Flight Simulator X. This version was called \u201cSim Heil\u201d and carried Spanish-language subtitles, and DReaperF4 offered an English-subtitled version of his parody video two weeks later.<\/p>\n

Incredibly, this esoteric comic riff hit the funnybone of the YouTube crowd, and within a short time the site was overburdened with hundreds of videos that followed DReaperF4\u2019s example of adding new and ridiculous subtitles to go against the \u201cDownfall\u201d Hitler\u2019s aggravated behavior. Oliver Hirschbiegel, the director of \u201cDownfall,\u201d would later claim that he laughed out loud when viewing these parody videos, while the film\u2019s star Bruno Ganz was more politely reserved in acknowledging their existence. But Constantin Film, the production company behind \u201cDownfall,\u201d did not find the videos amusing and, citing copyright violations, attempted to get the removed from YouTube. And while a number of these videos were removed, YouTube eventually took the viewpoint Electronic Frontier Foundation Board Chairman Brad Templeton that these videos fell into the realm of \u201cfair use\u201d and were not copyright violations. Templeton punctuated his point by having a video of Hitler yelling madly to have the Hitler parody videos removed.<\/p>\n

No one knows how many of these videos are online, and new ones are constantly being created \u2013 one just-released video has Hitler bellowing over the independence movement in Catalonia, while another has Hitler bitterly reviewing the iPhone X. Not every video is a winner, and on a few occasions these videos created more mayhem than mirth: British Labour Party parliamentarian Tom Harris got in professional trouble in 2012 for his parody video mocking Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, while a Hong Kong court in 2013 ordered the U.S. investment firm Jefferies Group to pay $1.86 million an executive who was fired for sending out a newsletter that used a Hitler video to ridicule JPMorgan Chase & Co. chieftain Jamie Dimon.<\/p>\n

Of course, everyone has their own favorite subjects for a Hitler temper tantrum, so allow me to share some of mine.<\/p>\n

There are a trio of Three Stooges-related videos where Hitler loses what\u2019s left of his mind: he exploded in fury over the inclusion of Snooki in the Farrelly Brothers\u2019 feature <\/a>based on the Three Stooges, he vented volcanic exasperation at receiving a new shipment of Stooges films<\/a> that only include Shemp \u2013 imagine if he only got the Curly-Joe films! \u2013 and all Heil breaks loose in a brilliantly bizarre phone call where a hysterical Hitler vainly tries to remind the Stooge dictator Moe Hailstone <\/a>that they are allies and not at war with each other.<\/p>\n

As a guilty pleasure fan of the \u201cAncient Aliens\u201d series, I can appreciate Hitler\u2019s atomic-level astonishment<\/a> at the program and his anger over the amazing pronouncements made by wild-haired Giorgio Tsoukalos on the role that extra-terrestrials supposedly played in human civilization. Incredibly, Hitler echoed an argument I\u2019ve made frequently about why \u201cAncient Aliens\u201d is on the History Channel when it is anything but historical.<\/p>\n

As a Connecticut resident who gets his pocket picked by the United Illuminating electric utility, I can understand Hitler\u2019s fury when he discovers his efforts to save money<\/a> on power generation had zero impact due to Himmler\u2019s volt-milking habits. \u201cGoering just eats, he doesn\u2019t use electricity,\u201d laments Hitler while reading his bill. \u201cSpeer just draws building designs \u2026 But Himmler, he is so irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as someone who cannot comprehend the stardom achieved by Jake Paul, I feel Hitler\u2019s pain when he has to sit through <\/a>the bleached-blonde idol\u2019s pop ditty \u201cIt\u2019s Everyday Bro.\u201d \u201cThat was fucking awful!!!\u201d Hitler screams. \u201cHow the hell did this fool become so popular and why does his crappy song have over 100 million views?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hitler is not the only wartime dictator who wants to be a viral video sensation. Several videos include Josef Stalin trying to muscle in <\/a>on Hitler\u2019s YouTube stardom. Even back then, it seems, the Russians were interfering with other countries\u2019 fun.<\/p>\n

The joke never grows stale, as several Facebook fan pages and a Wiki keep fans update on the latest Nazi shenanigans. The brilliance of this offering is based in the infinite number of directions where Hitler can go. As a result, this video series feels like a modern-day spin on \u201cThe Twilight Zone,\u201d with Hitler permanently trapped below ground and bombarded with wickedly stupid situations that torture him for eternity. We get the last laugh over someone who never gave the world anything to laugh about.<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.<\/em>
\n
\nListen to \u201cThe Online Movie Show with Phil Hall<\/a>\u201d on SoundCloud, with new episodes every Monday.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 614: \u201cThe Hitler Videos\u201d (viral video parodies based on the 2004 film \u201cDownfall\u201d). LAST SEEN: They\u2019re all over YouTube. AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None. REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Hijacking copyrighted material for fun, although some argue this qualifies as fair use. CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nein! If you\u2019ve ever spent time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":26939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513],"tags":[219,1850,1849],"class_list":["post-26938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bootleg-files","tag-comedy","tag-hitler-videos","tag-viral-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26938"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26948,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26938\/revisions\/26948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}