The Great Dictator

i'm only 20 years old and i just saw this for the first time. Some scenes had me dying from laughter and others had me depressed. Great movie

German cinemas decided to bring this back for one day on November the 5th, 2024. On this fateful day with one of americas most consequential elections going on, war again (still) raging in europe and all over the world, quite a time to watch this again. The final speech in this movie has not lost, nay it gained, more impact than it ever had even 80 years ago.

One of the most amazing masterpieces ever made. You have to watch it with the knowledge that is was made one 1940, during WW2 when not all the warcrimes of the Nazis were known by the world. The reality was much worse than the satire, but Chaplin hit the nail on the head in his depiction of Hitler’s character. A classic that you should not miss

Far better than I expected it to be, and I’ve loved the Chaplin movies I’ve seen in the past. Chaplin transitions to sound here with resounding success–and indeed, the funniest parts of the movie here for me were his faux-Germanic speeches and his mimicry of Hitler’s speaking style. Truly laugh out loud funny. A lot of the humor here, though, would have worked in any of the old silents: the barbershop shave, the stools, the dud missle, etc. It was lovely to see these gags updated for the sound era and they were just as crackerjack as any of the old stuff.

What surprised me most about the movie was its pathos, most notably of course in the final scene. While some of the movie was tough to watch (the movie doesn’t seem to quite understand the extent of the horrors that it’s referencing), its heart was in the right place and the final speech was genuinely affecting.

Great movie with incredibly funny humour, but sometimes it just stretches a bit. The joke was funny for 10-15 seconds maximum but they make it for 30s-1m and then it's just not that funny anymore. The 2h 5m could've worked in 1h45m as well.
But still of course an amazing film for that time.

this is timeless humor. a classic that can get very real and sad at times. loved it.

This was my third Chaplin movie and I must say that the fact that this is not silent is a big plus for me. So much more watchable! It has a few iconic scenes (the balloon globe scene is my favorite, I think) that make you chuckle. Also, this is such an interesting watch if you put the time that this was released and the years that followed into perspective. Chaplin himself said that, if he knew the gruesome shit the nazis were up to during WII, he wouldn't have been able to make this. With the knowledge of today, it's almost unthinkable that Hitler was someone that you make fun of in this way. Still, I'm glad that Chaplin did it and that we will always have this historic and unique movie.

Chaplin's criticism of Hitler's dictatorship.

That speech at the end is great.