Voyage of the Damned

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Voyage of the Damned

PG

1976

2h 38m

Drama

War

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Popcornmeter

82%

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11 Reviews

52%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Based on the true story of a ship carrying German-Jewish refugees which was sent to Havana in 1939 by the Nazis but was denied permission to land anywhere. The ship was eventually obliged to return to Germany, where certain death awaited its passengers. This terrible outcome had been cynically anticipated by the Nazis when granting permission for the voyage in the first place.

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

08/15/2023

Banality is contagious and the sin of Voyage of the Damned is having bartered one of the biggest stories of our time into this dull multi-star vehicle of frivolous dressing room gossip. [Full review in Spanish]

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David MacDonald

Philadelphia Gay News

05/26/2020

While the film does have its drawbacks, it is an enlightening look back.

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Bernard Drew

Gannett News Service

11/04/2019

[The actors] all do their best but the cliche ridden, on the nose, boom, boom, boom screenplay defeats nearly all of them.

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Ruth Batchelor

Los Angeles Free Press

10/25/2019

Besides carrying the impact of an issue morally greater than the fate of individuals, the film is a study in personal heroism, cowardice, dignity, fear, hope and betrayal.

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Matt Brunson

Creative Loafing

10/05/2013

3/4

If anyone emerges as first among equals, it would be Max von Sydow, who lends enormous dignity to the role of the ship's captain.

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J.C. Maçek III

PopMatters

09/26/2013

7/10

There is no Indiana Jones to save the day and no pat Hollywood ending to revise history. Voyage of the Damned is unquestionably a serious drama and treats its subject matter with the dignity that it should.

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BT P

Oct 30

I loved the movie. Had never heard about this particular ship. There were other ships who wanted to find a place for Jewish refugees that were not allowed to leave their Jewish passengers...that is history and is documented. What a horrible time in history. Are we destined to repeat such a sin of hatred? The cast is filled with actors who seemed to have a personal interest in the story. I loved them all for their individual stories. I especially loved seeing Oskar Werner in his roll and also loved him as the ship's doctor in the movie "Ship of Fools," another of my favorites! The costumes were gorgeous! That was an extra plus.

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Alec B

@Alec97 01/09/2024

The movie gets undermined by its overabundance of characters and melodrama as if the filmmakers didn't trust the core of the story to be dramatic enough.

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dustin d

07/12/2021

Voyage of the Damned may have flopped in its day because audiences were uninterested in or not ready for a serious treatment of the Holocaust. Modern criticisms of the film seem to suggest the film was not weighty enough. I think the movie sacrifices depth for breadth in the shameful historical incident of the St. Louis. Instead of a character study or a deep-dive into the significance of the St. Louis, the film rushes from one character to another, showing the role they played in the fate of the St. Louis, or perhaps a fictionalized amalgamation of the stories of the ship's passengers. The characters tended to be two-dimensional archetypes rather than rounded, dynamic characters. I didn't mind this treatment. The film was well-made, contained enough drama, and treated the subject matter seriously enough to achieve what it set out to do. It is a good pre-Schindler's List Holocaust film.

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01/01/2021

Sobering movie about the true story of the plight of German Jews just before WW2.

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s r

@ScottR 09/02/2020

Interesting true story, but the drama embellished to distraction.

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steve d

07/16/2020

A tough watch that may have you in tears even if the script fails to capture the entire agony.

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Stuart Rosenberg

Director

Faye Dunaway

Denise Kreisler

Max von Sydow

Captain Schroeder

Oskar Werner

Professor Egon Kreisler

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Synopsis

Based on the true story of a ship carrying German-Jewish refugees which was sent to Havana in 1939 by the Nazis but was denied permission to land anywhere. The ship was eventually obliged to return to Germany, where certain death awaited its passengers. This terrible outcome had been cynically anticipated by the Nazis when granting permission for the voyage in the first place.

Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Producer: Robert Fryer
Distributor: AVCO Embassy Pictures
Production Co: Associated General Films, ITC Entertainment
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 22, 1976, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 12, 2017
Runtime: 2h 38m

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