The Boys From Brazil

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The Boys From Brazil

R

Released Oct 5, 1978

2h 3m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck) clones Hitler 95 times, and hopes to raise the resulting boys in Brazil, giving them childhoods identical to Hitler's. His ultimate plan is to create a band of Nazi leaders that can continue where Hitler left off, forming the Fourth Reich. Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier), a Nazi hunter, learns of the plan and is determined to thwart it. When the two meet face-to-face in the home of one of the Hitler clones, it is up to the boy to choose who he will assist.

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Critics Consensus

Its story takes some dubious turns, but a high-caliber cast and a gripping pace fashion The Boys from Brazil into an effective thriller.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

This picture is another of [producer] Lew Grade's international blockbuster packages; the deals are worked out in terms of story elements that will sell and of performers with followings in as many markets as possible.

May 28, 2019

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Gary Arnold

Washington Post

An impressive feat of carefully designed and modulated academic filmmaking, a class job in the tradition of Hitchcock or Wyler at their most polished.

Apr 30, 2018

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Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

Dark thriller that does its best but ultimately doesn't completely convince.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 27, 2009

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The polished direction by Franklin J. Schaffner and the presence of a strong supporting roster (even Steve Guttenberg isn’t bad) lend stature to the farfetched proceedings.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 29, 2024

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…a rattling good pot-boiler, with a daft sci-fi story disguising serious undertones…in 2024, the idea of clones in the image of the world’s worst mass murderer seems like a prescient one metaphorically rather than literally…

Rated: 3/5

May 26, 2024

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Augusto Martínez Torres

El Pais (Spain)

In an excess of ambition, this imaginative story tries to address too many things at once.

Aug 8, 2019

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This Old G

Used to have this movie on CED disc. Watched it many times. It's campy, preposterous and the director tries to be Alfred Hitchcock. Gregory Peck gives a very hammy performance, the movie however is saved by Sir Lawrence Olivier and a great climax.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/22/25

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Chip C

Great performance by Gregory Peck. He does well as the villian.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/23/24

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Andrew N

Dull script, surprisingly banal performances from Peck and Olivier…Mengele as a character choice was cliched (why choose someone so notorious?). Stopped watching after a half hour. Just comes across as very dated.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/08/23

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ed m

Decent thriller. Great cast.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/02/23

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Matt H

Sometimes painfully dated, and a bit campy, with a horribly overracted performance by Gregory Peck, The Boys From Brazil is somewhat redeemed by a great performance by Sir Lawrence Olivier and a unique (if sometimes ludicrous) story.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/25/23

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Audience Member

This is in my personal canon of top 10 films ever made. Absolutely brilliant for 1978 (on the cutting edge of science) and love the international jet setting the storyline takes you through. And I mean, come on--Laurence Olivier, James Mason and Gregory Peck?! What a dream! It's because of this film that movies where they are "gettin' Nazis" have become my favorite genre of sorts. This is is definitely outside the box. I love a "what if film" and have to say everything about this movie is perfect--classic cinema. Bu then again, it was destined to be good because it's based on the book written by the brilliant Ira Levin.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

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Franklin J. Schaffner

Director

Gregory Peck

Dr. Josef Mengele

Laurence Olivier

Ezra Lieberman

James Mason

Eduard Seibert

Lilli Palmer

Esther Lieberman

Uta Hagen

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Synopsis

Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck) clones Hitler 95 times, and hopes to raise the resulting boys in Brazil, giving them childhoods identical to Hitler's. His ultimate plan is to create a band of Nazi leaders that can continue where Hitler left off, forming the Fourth Reich. Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier), a Nazi hunter, learns of the plan and is determined to thwart it. When the two meet face-to-face in the home of one of the Hitler clones, it is up to the boy to choose who he will assist.

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Producer: Stanley O'Toole, Martin Richards
Screenwriter: Heywood Gould
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Producers Circle, Sir Lew Grade, ITC Films
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 5, 1978, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 2h 3m

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