Das Wilde Leben (Eight Miles High!) poster & wallpaper
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Natalia Avelon, Matthias Schweighöfer, David Scheller, Alexander Scheer, Victor Noren ... see more see more... , Milan Peschel , Georg Friedrich , Friederike Kempter

A Munich teen achieves worldwide fame as the embodiment of sexual freedom in the 1960s after romancing some of the biggest rock stars on the planet and rising to stardom as a successful supermodel in ... read more read more...this biographical musical drama centering on the eventful life of Uschi Obermaier. Until she arrived at the legendary Berlin "Kommune 1," Obermaier (Natalia Avelon) was just your typical German teen. All of that would quickly change, however, as Obermaier entered into a heated affair with leader Rainer Langhans (Matthias Schweighofer), appeared on the covers of Playboy and Stern, and became an icon of the young generation. But even when offered the opportunity to become an international film star by Italian producer Carlo Ponti, Obermaier refuses to trade her freedom for fleeting fame. Later, after experiencing the darker side of fame during a relationship with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and realizing that she can no longer reconcile her outlook on life with living like a common groupie, the outspoken hippie nymph embarks on a quest to find eternal love with charismatic globe-trotter Dieter Bockhorn, the owner of Hamburg's red-light district. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

58% liked it

830 ratings

Critics

44% liked it

18 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: Achim Bornhak

Release Date: July 11, 2008

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DVD Release Date: August 3, 2007

Stats: 104 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (104)

  • gator681
    August 5, 2009
    gator681
    In "Eight Miles High," Uschi Obermaier(Natalia Avelon) is discovered at a disco in Munich by a photographer in 1968. Her mother(Petra Berndt) is absolutely apoplectic when she finds the nude photos as she is worried what the neighbors will think. Uschi takes the opportunity to ... read morehit the road with her friend Sabine(Friederike Kempter) to Berlin where Commune1 is located. Sabine soon leaves but Uschi hooks up with Rainer(Matthias Schweighofer) to practice free love which makes it kind of hard for anybody to get any sleep. Things are rocky until somebody is stupid enough to make a bomb and the police show up.(Just a quick reminder. The guy at the meeting who wants to blow everyone up is always a cop.) Uschi and Rainer emerge from the mess unscathed and are invited to hang out with the Rolling Stones.

    Freely adapted from Uschi Obermaier's life story, "Eight Miles High" is not a good example of a biopic since Uschi is something of a historical footnote(a great looking footnote but still...) as a model and occasional actress who is probably of more interest to people in her native Germany. Since time immemorial, young people have wanted to escape their drab surroundings to have adventures and Uschi is no different. The movie does an admirable job of capturing her world, not condescending to the anarchists, while portraying her as a driving force that while challenging societal norms could be just as disruptive towards her friends and lovers. I'm just amazed the Rolling Stones survived her being with them.
  • julito32
    February 18, 2009
    julito32
    Took me 3 start-and-stops to finish this. And I'm home sick and bed so its not really like I had anything else to do...

    I'm not sure what this movie set out to accomplish. If it was indeed written with the help of the real Uschi based on her experiences; she doesnt paint a ve... read morery good picture of herself. She's basically manipulative and uses her beauty to get what she wants. And then her big moment in the end when she realizes she's alone, she feels she wouldn't have done anything different. Well, fine - I wont weep for you.
    The movie just sort of drags along, nude scene after nude scene, Natalia Avelon's breasts must be in every scene. I felt I should have been seeing a Russ Meyer flick. But then again a Russ Meyer movie would have been FUN.
    I'll also never begin to understand how women think Keith and Mick are hot so that alone is a turnoff.
  • rmcaesar
    December 18, 2008
    rmcaesar
    A very nice german biopic. Recommended to those who like fucked up drug movies, foreign films, 60's-70's period pieces, or german cinema.

View All Das Wilde Leben (Eight Miles High!) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert
August 22, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It has few human insights, and those of the most obvious kind. But it is not boring. That goes for something. Full Review

Michael Phillips
August 21, 2008
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

The attractive but bird-brained German biopic Eight Miles High brings up the question of tone, and it never comes close to answering it. The film's tone is utterly indistinct, beyond fatuous adoration... Full Review

Mark Olsen
July 25, 2008
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

Eight Miles High, based on the memoirs of Uschi Obermaier, wants to be both a tangy piece of Eurosleaze and an overview of one woman's transformations from the heady days of the 1960s onward. Full Review

V.A. Musetto
July 16, 2008
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

Has little to offer beyond titillation and pretty landscapes. Full Review

Nathan Lee
July 11, 2008
Nathan Lee, New York Times

Like most flower-power nostalgia trips, Eight Miles High has the irksome effect of reminding the audience " whether too young or too square " that it missed out on the grooviest moment in history, man... Full Review

Michelle Orange
July 10, 2008
Michelle Orange, Village Voice

The biggest buzzkill that could possibly come of so much raw material. Full Review

Nora Lee Mandel
December 3, 2008
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com

Refreshingly, a '60's nostalgia trip from the self-indulgent point of view of the German template for the beautiful-naked-model-bedding-chauvinist-rock-god formula. Full Review

Rob Thomas
October 7, 2008
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Once your main character walks into a room and finds her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman while a chimpanzee in a dress looks on, you've pretty much lost your shot at a serious movie. Full Review

Marcy Dermansky
July 17, 2008
Marcy Dermansky, About.com

Natalia Avelon is great to look at - either naked or in see-through clothes - and that's enough to merit 8 Miles High! a three-star-rating. Full Review

Lewis Beale
July 14, 2008
Lewis Beale, Film Journal International

The events on display have been covered%u2014over and over and over again. Full Review

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