Synopsis
Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.
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Cast
- Gregory PeckDr. Josef Mengele
- Laurence OlivierEzra Lieberman
- James MasonEduard Seibert
- Lilli PalmerEsther Lieberman
- Uta HagenFrieda Maloney
- Steve GuttenbergBarry Kohler
- Denholm ElliottSidney Beynon
- Rosemary HarrisMrs. Doring
- John DehnerHenry Wheelock
- John RubinsteinDavid Bennett
Recommendations
- 75
TV Guide Magazine
The film is compelling, albeit pretty silly in its elaborate "what if?" plot. - 60
Empire
For much of its slowburn build there is a classy, intelligent thriller at work, something closer in tone to The Odessa File. Still, you must remain guarded to how over the top and quasi-horror events will finally turn. - 50
Slant Magazine
Jerry Goldmsith’s ominous score is reminiscent of his Oscar-winning work for The Omen but The Boys From Brazil is pure pomp and circumstance. - 50
Variety
With two excellent antagonists in Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier, The Boys from Brazil presents a gripping, suspenseful drama for nearly all of its two hours - then lets go at the end and falls into a heap. - 40
Time Out London
The film is sunk by a series of preposterous performances. There are more phony German accents than in a prep school version of Colditz, and Levin's expert plotting is buried beneath an avalanche of lines like 'Vat are we goink to do?'. - 40
Time
Yet in the end the self-conscious importance of the film produces a rather queasy feeling, for really this story is no more than a crude exploitation — decked out with our latest scientific finery — of what amounts to a penny dreadful fantasy. If you stop and think about it, even if there were a nest of Nazis hiding out in South America, most of them would be pushing 80 by now, and quite incapable of the exertions required by this farflung, not to mention farfetched plot. - 30
Chicago Reader
Franklin J. Shaffner's deadpan adaptation of Ira Levin's silly story about Hitler clones. The plot is less suspenseful than the overacting contest between the two leads, Laurence Olivier and Gregory Peck, who spend most of their screen time one-upping each other in affectations.
