Bang Boom Bang - Ein todsicheres Ding (1999) Poster

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9/10
The bang-on entertainment from Teutonic Order
bigmaracasa6 June 2001
The good thing in the best traditions of such movies as "Lock, Stock @ Two Smoking Barrels", "Run, Lola, Run" and others. The spectacle with larceny of the safe is matchless. The dialogues elaborated with great accuracy. 9/10!!!
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9/10
German cult comedy
raweater27 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Early in the movie one of the main characters Keek wants to rent "Didi - der Doppelgänger" starring Dieter Hallervorden (another milestone of German comedy) at his local videostore. As the clerk checks if it is available, Keek is reminded that he has had this movie at home for some weeks and forgot to return it. But Keek is not suffering from Alzheimer' disease, no, Keek is a pot-head.

As the director indicates in the commentary, BBB was not a big success at the box-office, but made much money at videostores because people forgot to return or lost it completely.

I'm owner of the DVD now...
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9/10
A gangster-movie from Germany that is actually funny
ChWasser7 September 1999
It took a little while, but after a first attempt with KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR Germany has finally caught up with the typical postmodern gangstermovie of the 90s. BANG, BOOM, BANG, Peter Thorwarth's feature film debut after two great short films, doesn't have to hide before the likes of PULP FICTION or LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS.

A bunch of losers and small-time criminals are after the key to a large amount of money, but their plans to get it keep collliding and they all get into deeper and deeper trouble. What I really like about the main characters, is that they stay relaxed and laid back and only occasionally get fits of panic. Why worry about missing money that you owe to a hardened criminal if you still can play soccer, drive your car fast or smoke a joint ?

The music by the "H-Blockx" is good, the cinematography is OK, but the best things about the movie are the actors (down to the smallest cameo appearance) and the script with many twists and turns and a lot of quotable lines. As you might guess the language is rude and very un-PC which fits perfectly to the 'Ruhrgebiet' (Germany's industrial heart) where the film takes place.

Did I mention already that this is one of the funniest German movies ever ? Hilarious and German an oxymoron ? See BANG, BOOM, BANG and you will rethink about that notion.
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Underrated!
Karl Self17 March 2001
For what it's worth, "Bang Boom Bang -- Ein todsicheres Ding" (BBB) is excellent, much better than many other German movies of that time. And finally, a German offering that is genuinely funny, without being silly or childish (like 99% of German comedies such as the "Otto Film" series and other comic catastrophies).

What I find remarkable about BBB is that it casts a number of actors in "out of character" roles, such as Diether Krebs (normally he plays a fat nerd, such as in the "Sketchup" TV series) and Martin Semmelrogge (normally he plays an evil - scary part, here he is a retarded wannabe - gangster). In BBB both of them are able to show their true potential. Unfortunately it came a bit too late for Diether Krebs -- he passed away shortly after the movie was released.

I have one (minor) criticism though -- Alexandra Neldel. She is cute and everybody's dream girl friend, but let's face it: she can't act for toffee. Her usual field of work are cheap soap operas where looks are more important than talent, so she is clearly out of place in a quality movie such as BBB.
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10/10
...and the Oscar goes to - ralf richter
Jaques_Attaques23 September 2004
a brilliant and hilarious funny movie. a pool of quotes only comparable to Goethes "Faust", hehe. just two days ago at a camping place in France a little smalltalk with our neighbors ended up quoting the whole movie. a phenomenon only known from "pulp fiction". the cast is just phantastic. everybody gives the performance of his life. Ralf Richter is the godfather of German television. his performance is just to good to be true. this choleric overacting...brilliant ("Meinste ich hab dat ficken verlernt?"). Diether Krebs (r.i.p), just fantastic ("Deutsche Autobahn gut!"). Semmelrogge, indescribable ("laptops...zum tragen"). even Benny Kahrmann out of the Lindenstraße is brilliant. even the smallest roles are casted so brilliantly (Hilmi Sözer, Willi Thomzcik). The characters of course, unforgettable: the pornowichser ("Ich bin der Geilste"). enough, enough, alles auf Horst!!! Anyway, i'm a bit sorry for all the people that are not from Germany or that do not speak German because i think they don't get all the jokes. i guess it's the same problem when non-Americans see "Good morning, Vietnam" or "Fargo" and the translation can't save the jokes which relate to speech or regional specifity. If you watch it (and i strongly recommend it!) watch it German with subtitles to get the intonation etc. like all/most good German movies (like "Die Musterknaben", "Lammbock", "Absolute Giganten"...) this one works because it doesn't purely try to imitate American cinema but uses specific German setting and authentic dialogue.

check out the hidden quote just before Till Schweiger gets knocked down. someone offscreen sreems: " Ey, Chegebabbas (?), mach ma locker!" hahahahah. Didn't hear it the first 20 times i saw the movie.

And watch the DVD with the comment of Ralf Richter and the director Peter Thorwart.
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10/10
Best German Comedy Movie Ever!
Hamstergesicht29 January 2005
this is definitely the best German comedy movie ever. i cant't get tired of watching it over and over again. i hope there is/ will be an English version of this movie some time so that everyone can enjoy this masterpiece of comedy.

some people say Germans can't make good comedy movies. this one proofs them wrong. oliver korittke plays his role of the pot smoking, always chilling, constantly video-watching "Keek" so gorgeous that it seems to be impossible not to like him.

if there is no English version of this film available, learn German - it's worth it!
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7/10
Stereotypes but with heart
blumdeluxe14 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Bang Boom Bang" on first sight seems to be yet another movie about stereotypical working class people in the Ruhr area of Germany. And in a way it is. The characters depicted are exaggerated into absurdity, all the clichés about them are woven into the film. But by giving it a serious chance and just accept this, you soon notice that actually a lot of love was put into it and that this is more than just mocking a certain group of people.

Through various characters and motivations, the events start to become more and more intermingled, confusing and absurd, everything makes perfect sense, nonetheless chaos has it all. This guarantees an entertaining plot that keeps you watching and doesn't let boredom stand a chance. More so, the actors seem to feel their characters and bring life into the dull stereotypes they are to play.

I wouldn't say that this is a superb movie, it is still largely based on prejudices and doesn't carry any message. But it is brave enough to not just follow a classic film scheme and take even the a bit ridiculous characters serious.

All in all I really enjoyed the film. It is surely one of the better German movies of that time.
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10/10
don't miss it!
br-1912 January 2005
This is a very lovingly made German gangster comedy, and it definitely works.

Great actors, even the supporting roles; great performances (Oliver Korittke, Diether Krebs, Martin Semmelrogge as the dim-witted Schlucke, and, best of all, Ralf Richter --,Is -- der -- geil!'); good story with appropriate twists and turns, but not too sophisticated, and a grandiose directing -- nothing else to be said. I hope people won't forget this movie too soon; it's really a jewel of German humour (this for all the people who didn't think Germans do have a sense of humour).

Go see it or get the DVD!
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10/10
Just excellent!
seth_home16 April 2005
This is the best film ever! Just 3 other films I've watched more than twice. But this film doesn't get boring even after 15 times watching it. It's all the details that make this film worth watching it ...and that make worth watching it again. After having watched it the second time I was really surprised how many funny elements I didn't catch the first time watching it. These details vary from the license plates, some videos in Frankies shop or funny repetitions especially of Andy and many many things more.

Non-German watchers be warned. You have to have lived in Germany for quite some time to get most the jokes (-:

To come to an end... all others watch this film or you have really missed something!!!
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10/10
A monument for the outskirts of the "Ruhrgebiet"
zero_joker3 April 2002
Damn, I love this movie. It's not only Pulp Fiction in German, it's more. I've seen this movie when it was played in Unna. I've played personally against Tus Holzwickende, the football club which is mentioned in the movie. This movie is a movie about the society, about the culture of the outskirts of the famous "Ruhrgebiet". I love Unna, i love those small cities around (Menden *g*) I know all those weed-smoking dudes and this film is a monument just created for us. A 10 of course.
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2/10
This movie sucks!!!!
lope224 April 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the many examples of a German movie that cannot compete with its Hollywood-counterparts. Don't get me wrong, there are good German movies, but the genre of crime thrillers should be left to productions out of Germany. If you like this kind of movie and want to see a cool compilation of exaggeratedly flat characters: watch Snatch. If you like twisted endings: watch The Usual Suspects. If you like this genre the funny way: watch The Big Lebowski. If you want a stereotypical pothead in it, you may even watch Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. But if you have seen one or more of these movies and compare it to Bang Boom Bang, you'll recognize how crappy and tacky this film is!
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10/10
I don't like typically German "humour" at all,
kortmann-075535 November 2022
But this movie is so untypically German and thus funny - even though some of the gags and puns can probably only be understood by native speakers of German because they might be hard to translate. Best German movie ever - period! So many lines have entered everyday language in Germany. Especially Ralf Richter and the unforgotten Dieter Krebs are so brilliant in their roles. Of course, quite a few stereotypes occur throughout the movie, but they're always presented with a great deal of irony.

Unfortunately, the spinn-off "Was nicht passt wird passend gemacht" tends to be slapstick towards its ending - a reproach, which just doesn't apply to BBB - in contrast to a few fellow-reviewers' opinions.
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one of the funniest films ever made!
werner-1119 March 2001
a really great movie, it should have been translated into English, it probably would have had a great success at the box office! or probably not, because it is rather one of those movies, you better watch at home with your buddies, with beer, coke, chips and perhaps some weed. sometimes Germans are able to make great movies - but only when they do their own stuff!

by the way, everybody has a favorite scene in that movie: mine is, when the garage-guy points at the line the safe made, from there where it was robbed to the garage! great characters! great movie! watch it!

WERNER
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10/10
Best Film EVER!
slayer_de_lebay24 February 2004
I have been thinking for a long time now that a movie better than Mullholland Drive would never be made. I didn't know than that there actually is a movie, made one year earlier, that can take such a huge knockout on David Lynch's Classic movie. Bang BOOM Bang is the best movie ever, and to put it in the same box as Pulp Fiction and The Big Lebowski, is completely wrong. It is closer to Guy Richie's Snatch and Lock Stock than any other movies. But where Guy's movies fail and become a bit boring, Peter Thorwarth's BBB keeps going, without any boring scenes. It's funny, well made, full of action, and with GREAT acting! If you like Lynch, Fincher, Richie, Besson, Coppola, Kubrick, Jackson, Moore and everybody else that are able to make a good movie, you shouldn't miss this one. I haven't stopped laughing yet!
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9/10
This is Cult
Dr-Blond7 October 2005
Hey guys, don't get me wrong, but this movie has changed the way my circle of friends talk to each other.(Kampmann die FETTSAU and thousand other phrases) I was born in Hamm/NRW, that's about 20 miles away from Unna, where this masterpiece was filmed. The Characters, the story, the locations, the humor are perfect. We have discerned ourselves in the way the characters talk, in the way they think and in the way they act. This is a story about friendship, about adventures and about our culture. Only Peter Thorwart, who was born in Unna, was able to meet the kernel of this region. I was never a fan of comedy, and it is not easy to get me laughing, but this movie is thoroughly brilliant. A film about our region couldn't be better put in the limelight. I love it, my friends love it, all people between 20 and 30, who live in this region love this movie, because it's word-for-word cult!
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9/10
Haven´t laughed that hard in a German movie for quite some time
gfs-322 September 1999
At first I was very sceptical about that movie. I thought it would just be another "Pulp Fiction" gangster movie rip-off. But then friends who had seen it told me to go the movie theater and watch it. And believe me: I didn´t regret it! The movie has an original plot with many interesting characters and the best thing about it: It has hilarious, mostly black humor, which is very uncommon for most German comedies. The various cameo appearences of (at least in Germany) famous actors are very cool, too. I can only recommend this film. I gave it 9 out of 10 points!
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8/10
this is a humor, i've seen very rarely....awesome!!!
kaimiebach30 October 2006
One of the funniest and best movies i've seen so far. I like to compare this movies with 'snatch' or 'Lock stock and two smoking barrels'. I think that this movies are only funny and 'good' if you watch them in their original language. If you don't understand German or never have lived in Germany, you cannot feel the characters like we Germans do. That's the reason why it's underrated. The characters are so cool. Well, 'keek, Kalle, Schlucke, Andy, Kapmann, Marc' everyone of them is an unique idiot of its own kind. If one doesn't speak German, watch this movie in German with English subtitles. If there is an English audio version, don't watch it like that. It would be just crab. The funniest scenes are the the dialogs, and they cannot be translated in English, i'm sure about that. It by far the best German movie I've seen. So, if you are interested in foreign movies, don'T miss this one.
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1/10
Don't waste your time...
bjoner-16 October 2012
This is probably one of the most uninteresting films I have ever started watching. In the hour we watched, we found nothing positive to say about the film... it was bland and boring.

The characters are completely one-dimensional and just annoy you. The plot could have been interesting, but it took forever to start, and we weren't interested in finding out what happened.

I think the film was heavily sponsored by some cigarette manufacturer, seeing as all the actors smoke. ALL the time.

Don't waste your time on this film, unless you like really boring German films with horrible characters...
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9/10
Curious and funny loser-story
Makawi3 September 1999
A small but very curious and funny movie about some losers in Germany, especially in the "Ruhrgebiet" (Dormund, Unna). The main protagonist, Keek, is all the time stoned and his violent ex-buddy, who gets out of prison, wants the half of the loot of a bank-robbery. But Keek hasn't the money anymore. But this is not his only problem...

All actors give their best, but Martin Semmelrogge, who is known from Wolfgang Petersens "Das Boot", is really great. Til Schweiger has a short but strange appearance as a soccerplayer.
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9/10
A simple plan
kosmasp25 April 2020
Not always is a simple plan an easy plan. Not to mention that you have to account for what other people may plan - and in this case we have quite the thriller. I always was aware of this, but never came around watching it. Now I finally did and have to admit this is quite the movie.

Really well scripted and acted (which considering some of the talent involved is indeed surprising and I will not just name Til Schweiger here - he would be one to name though) - the suspense is there from beginning to end. And even if some things have dated (I wonder how long video stores will be remembered and how this will fair in the future), the overall concept works very well.

The 90s really had some neat thrillers with compelling and complex stories. This is one of the better movies from that time and I would not call it a copycat (though I'd understand if some would feel that way - you're missing out is all I'm saying)
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10/10
Very high complexity of storyboard and thrill, but without loosing its humour !
knappsteinl26 June 2020
At first, i'd like to admit, that i could also have written "Simply the best film, ive ever watched". But i am not that good in writing down things that emotional i feel them. Instead of, it might read very neutral and cold. But this film is simply the best film i've ever watched.

I have watched bang boom bang multiple times, while i always watch movies only once, due to my lack of time and my higher interest in watching something new instead of something i know, how it ends. Bang boom Bang is this one film breaking that rule. I dont know, when i watched it first. But i know, that i felt like missing some important things and i didnt finally understood the last scene. Nevertheless, i already loved it. Due to my lacks of understanding, i watched that film twice. That time i just understood the ending and some things became more clear to me, while still missing something. But only yesterday, watching it for the thrid time, i just recognized, that there are very short scenes just inbetween, which literally explain everything, but cant be understand watching for the first time. There are lots of lines in that story, which all point to their own character and which doesnt seem to belong together at first. But all of them have their own meaning. And it is gorgeous, how nothing more than every person, every act, and every detail has an important meaning for the main plot.

For me the twist is, how it first seems the film is just comedy telling the everyday life of its characters, with some funny additions, but in the end it turns out to be a highly sophisticated thriller !

Bang boom bang never was ment to get that big. It was Peter Thorwarth's first film directly after graduating, while he only made 2-3 shorts while studying. The film only consists of B-Stars, some well known, but also not well known ones, a soundtrack of the Band H-BLOCKX, which were also not that big that time and the Cities Unna and Dortmund (And Unna is just that city, where you cant get home by bus after 11 p.m.).

And therefore it made history ! It just prooved out, that you dont need a marvell studio, much money or known actors for a great film. In cases like these, the opposite it is: Bang boom bang consists of a superb camera angle, a great script, a sophisticated story and an atmosphere just making it look like a real life footage. Everything lines up perfectly and every detail has its meaning.

Just do yourself the favour and watch it ! I dont understand that two bad reviews. They just didnt get the point.
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9/10
nice to watch :)
goajesus13 August 2002
nice and funny movie about some guys trying to steal a safe from a company but so much things go wrong till the end of the movie. I enjoyed the movie because i liked the characters playing their role very good.

there are good actors here and this movie shows that one more time. Dont miss it!
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4/10
German klamauk
Horst_In_Translation8 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Bang Boom Bang - Ein todsicheres Ding" is a German film from over 15 years ago that runs for 110 minutes and was written and directed by Peter Thorwarth. He was still pretty young at this point and considered one of Germany's rising stars in terms of filmmaking. However, he has not really delivered great work since then and I actually have to say I am not too impressed by his early efforts either. And this includes this one. Maybe you wonder what "klamauk" means, the word I used in the title to describe this movie. If you do not speak German, you probably have never heard of it. It basically stands for something that is loud and annoying while offering nothing of value. And this fits the film pretty nicely.

Most of this is due to the script, but it also needs to be said that the cast here is very limited in terms of range. All the people here who have several minutes screen time are actors that have a career because of their charisma and recognition value, but none of these are particularly talented besides that. Korittke is probably still better than most of the others, even if I have to say I am positively surprised by Martin Semmelrogge who was hardly recognizable in here and played a clearly different character than he usually does. Thorwarth himself also appears as an actor, but is as forgettable as Richter, Neldel, Knüfken and Kahrmann. Til Schweiger has a very small part too. And this is the last work of Diether Krebs, a very talented German actor. Sucks to see him go out on a low note like this movie.

So my overall verdict for this film is obviously negative. It has a couple okay moments, but in the end, it simply does not deliver in terms of drama or comedy despite trying really hard on several occasions. People who see this and not much else probably have not the highest opinion of German cinema as this film is far more popular than it deserves to be. The awards recognition is undeserved and the rating here on IMDb is far too high. I give a thumbs down and do not recommend watching it.
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2/10
German un-humour
Mort-313 March 2001
Maybe some Austrian comedies are not funny for German people because their humour lies in the way words are „Austrishly` pronounced. I think the humour of this German movie also lies in the actors' accent, if it was supposed to be funny. I think it was, but I didn't find any opportunity to laugh. Many trivial German comedies are like this.

There is much more this movie is supposed to be. The director wanted to mix a little „Pulp Fiction` with a little „The Big Lebowski` and a lot of local colour. He failed. These were the longest two hours of my life.
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genious
piratli14 August 2001
I expected a funny movie about some loosers, like "Die Musterknaben" but the potential of the story and the actors made it to one of my favourite films. By reading the comments I really missed one name the master of new german film himself Oliver Korritke. Und jetzt noch auf deutsch: der film schlägt "knocking on heaven´s door" um längen, und von der filmischen qualität (story, acting), völlig gleichauf mit "Lola rennt", wobei die Musik (h-blockx)auch nicht vergessen werden darf. der deutsche film lebt!
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