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William Hurt, Solveig Dommartin, Sam Neill, Max von Sydow, Rüdiger Vogler ... see more see more... , Ernie Dingo , Jeanne Moreau , Chick Ortega , Elena Smirnowa , Eddy Mitchell , Kylie Belling , Lois Chiles , Allen Garfield , David Gulpilil , Jimmy Little , Paul Livingston , Alfred Lynch , Kuniko Miyake , Chishu Ryu , Justine Saunders , Nick Cave , Adelle Lutz , Peter Przygodda , Miwako Fujitani , Diogo Dória , Susan Leith , Erika Rabau , Enzo Turrin , Bob Stewart , Hiroshi Kanbe , Naoto Takenaka , Carmen Chaplin , Amália Rodrigues , Michael Winters

Wim Wenders' sprawling cyberpunk noir epic -- shot in no less than nine different countries -- is set in 1999 and stars Solveig Dommartin as Claire, a young Frenchwoman who comes into contact with a l... read more read more...arge sum of money stolen during a bank heist; in her travels she picks up a mysterious American hitchhiker (William Hurt), who himself steals some of the money before parting from her company. Upon discovering the theft, Claire sets out on his trail, with both a Hammett-styled German private eye (Rudiger Vogler) as well as her former lover, a novelist portrayed by Sam Neill, in tow. The hitchhiker is really Sam Farber, the son of an underground scientist (Max Von Sydow), and his mission is to travel the globe in order to acquire the funding necessary to develop the technology which will allow his blind mother (Jeanne Moreau) to "see" visual recordings of her family members; the second half of the film takes place largely in the Farbers' compound in the Australian Outback, where Sam, Claire and the others take refuge while attempting to bring the sight project to its fruition, in the meantime pondering earth's future in the wake of a nuclear disaster in outer space. Wenders' most ambitious film to date, budgeted at $23 million, Until the End Of the World is also among his most seriously flawed efforts -- despite a keen sense of cultural perception, a fascinating sci-fi take on life in the near-future and stunning Robby Muller cinematography, the picture never quite gels. Much of the blame seems to fall upon its distributors -- upon its wide release in 1991, the movie was drastically cut to a running time of 2 1/2 hours, resulting in a disjointed narrative that doesn't shift gears so much as grind them as the action moves from country to country. Still, while a three-hour version, issued on laserdisc in Japan, comes closer to realizing the full scope of Wenders' epic vision, rumors of a five-hour director's cut -- said to have been screened to thunderous applause at a handful of film festivals -- continue to persist, suggesting that a masterpiece may well exist here after all. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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87% liked it

5,192 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

12 critics

R, 4 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Wim Wenders

Release Date: June 1, 1992

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DVD Release Date: July 22, 1992

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Stats: 325 reviews

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Solveig Dommartin as Claire in Until the End of the World
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Flixster Reviews (325)

  • thefog1331
    May 11, 2011
    thefog1331
    Normally I prefer a 'director's cut' of a film but this time I'll take the edited down version gladly. Four and a half hours is just too damn long for a road trip drama even if some of the ideas in it are akin to great films like Brainstorm. So 4 stars for the two and a half hour... read more version and barely 3 for the 'test of endurance' version.
  • nameeta
    January 1, 2008
    nameeta
    Fantasitcal, yet meaningful. A must see for any thoughtful movie-watcher. Ruminates on dreams, journeys, and of course, the end of the world. Fabulous soundtrack.
  • flowman1
    April 29, 2007
    flowman1
    The most ambitious Wim Wenders film. An odyssey shot on four continents, and a litany of international cities, the story follows a scientist played by William Hurt who is followed by a beautiful mystery woman, played by Solveig Dommartin, (who was also in Wings of Desire). They... read more travel the globe as they race against time and try to out run bounty hunters, government agents and the bomb. A gorgeous cinematic masterpiece with an incredible sound track that includes U2, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, T-Bone Burnett, Peter Gabriel, Can, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, R.E.M., Depeche Mode, andNick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
  • SDphotoggirl
    October 25, 2006
    SDphotoggirl
    I liked this film. It is weird but interesting. The soundtrack rocks and I wouldn't mind hunting it down to listen to while painting. Hard to explain the storyline...it is just bizarre.

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Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy
January 11, 2008
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Much of Wenders' sprawling saga is absurd, and some of it pretentious, yet set in 199, this film, like all of his previous work, raises interesting questions about the role of modern technology and it... Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
July 18, 2003
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

Thought-provoking romp by German film director Wim Wenders, a global hopping cinematic philisopher. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
April 4, 2003
Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner

Contains a few spectacular moments, but feels misguided overall.

Mike McGranaghan
March 7, 2003
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat

Long, slow, and pretentious

Ken Hanke
October 2, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A bit lumpy (with so much left on the cutting room floor, that was probably inescapable), but it's the kind of glorious lumpiness that only comes from a great filmmaker. Full Review

Shane Burridge
January 1, 2000
Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews

The material looks tailor-made for a whimsical fantasy but Wenders has a curiously practical approach

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Vincent Canby
August 30, 2004
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Joe Brown
January 1, 2000
Joe Brown, Washington Post

Click to read the article Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

Click to read the article Full Review

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