Awesome one-man reenactment of Downfall "Hitler Bunker" scene

YouTuber Brandon Hardesty re-enacts all of the roles (yes, including Hitler) in the "Downfall" scene made famous through internet funny-caption videos. This really is a phenomenal specimen of online video greatness, and a damn good performance. Nice going, Brandon.

Reenactment #56: Downfall, aka the "Hitler Bunker" scene

(thanks, Mark Day)

Previously:

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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Anonymous

Inevitable. I was trying to figure out what the next step would be; I thought it would be recutting a brat pack movie with the audio. Obv. this is easier. Now we can just resubtitle this vid!!!
greytone

Well done. First time I knew what was actually being said in that scene.
ackpht

Outstanding. I also lost it when the moustache came off.
That, folks, is talent.

And I’d bet he speaks German- or it’s the best phonetic parroting I’ve ever heard.
- The Mudshark
  
  He definitely doesnÂ´t speak German. Although he hit the tone perfectly, the words are almost unintelligible most of the time.
  
  Very funny anyway!
JesseH

I lost it when his moustache fell off.

Also, I was amazed how close he was to the real thing when he raised his trembling hand to remove his glasses.
- tastypopsicle
  
  Did you watch the blooper video? I definitely LOL’d http://www.brandonhardesty.com/videos/?action=view&id=UZlWzDMU
  - jackie31337
    
    Are there any alternate hosts of the blooper reel? Brandon Hardesty’s site is being blocked by our corporate network security system (grrr!).
- MelSkunk
  
  yes, the timing for that could not have been more perfect
- kmoser
  
  Agreed, he had me at that scene. Oh, and the dress.
- jackie31337
  
  Yes, the part where he lost his mustache also cracked me up. I wonder whether he did this just for fun, or for a class. I can recall making really bad videos of Spanish plays during college. One of them called for the characters to strip and paint on each other’s bodies. My professor was disappointed that we didn’t follow the script.
Anonymous

The next logical step is for someone to change the subtitles on this video and create a new sub-meme.
cmjersey

Consider me thunderstruck! Flabbergasted! I shall indeed look into this thespian’s other works. Bravo!
nandorocker

So glad to see Brandon get featured here! I’ve been following his work on Youtube for years, he’s an incredibly talented guy, I really recommend watching all the other stuff on his channel. It’s totally the kind of thing that when you first hear about is easy to brush off as just more youtube crap, but this is the kind of stuff that makes YouTube a great thing.
Anonymous

aaand – it points to aspects of the copyright discussion that are less often thought of. i like that.

.~.
Chris Spurgeon

I’m very proud of my son’s addition to the Hitler “Downfall” meme…this one answers the question “What would happen if Hitler entered the FIRST high school robotics competition?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1ujooRbqg4
MarkM

Superb.
If this doesnt go viral, nothing deserves to go viral.
And I hope the Academy members see this: I smell Oscar.
InsertFingerHere

Did he let the neighbors in his apartment know he was doing this?

Oh dear, that Mr. Hilter is at it again.
gths

Yesssss. And do check out his other re-enactments.
Anonymous

Bravo, Brandon! As one who is proof of Hitler’s Untergang (I’m a Jew born in Germany in 1950,) I think your video is *brilliant*!

Best regards,
SteveR
JOEY ANUFF

I remember watching some improbably-amusing Downfall variation about two years ago and suddenly realizing: if this bit isn’t getting old yet, there must be something unusually great about this movie. If I’d known it practically opens on this scene, that very correct intuition might have kicked in even sooner.
macrumpton

I’m on a horse.
annick

wow, i’m impressed. does anyone know if he had any background in german before this? he even kinda got the bavarian accent in there. this guy wins many internets.

bad ass.
Anonymous

He’s from SomethingAwful. No he doesn’t know german, he just memorized it all.
Bitgod

Damnit Cartman!
- davidasposted
  
  Agreed. One of the best things I’ve ever seen come out of YouTube — if not an Oscar, I hope this guy finds decent work somewhere. He’s keen.
Anonymous

Very strange. It sounds German, some words are spot on, but it’s mostly unintelligible.
Anonymous

No, he doesn’t know German. When preparing this he posted a vlog asking his viewers to help transcribe the original German so he could memorize it.
cyberdoyle

brilliant! can’t wait to see the remixes! this is a brilliant fight back, kudos. every cloud has a silver lining, and now the original doesn’t get the publicity, Brandon does. LOL.
Anonymous

Nicely done.
Ginseng108

Nicely done, sir. Nicely done. Now this is the kind of stuff that makes YouTube worthy.
Anonymous

I’m German and it’s obvious that he learned that scene phonetically. It is *almost* understandable. You can understand a fragments of what he says, but I needed the subtitles to understand all of it.
Anonymous

Yeah, he’s definitely doing it phonetically. Some parts are just not intelligible.
And the “Bavarian accent” is a mixture of imitating Bruno Ganz and the American rolling of the r and inability to speak a soft “ch”
Anonymous

Does he speak german or did he learn this phonetically?
Church

Wow.

My brain hurts.
Chocolatey Shatner

Brandon is kinda adorable. I don’t know if he will read this, and I am kinda drunk, and also a dude, but Brandon: call me.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  I was expecting you in this post.
Lucifer

This is actually the first time I got to understand exactly what the original script actually said…
Chris Spurgeon

What would be great would be if someone else, who’s never seen the originally “Downfall” parodies, now made a copy-cat of version of Brandon Hardesty’s version. And then someone else made a copy of THAT copy, and so on for a few generations…
Anonymous

He uploaded an un-subbed version for people to make parodies now that the real ones are subject to bogus DMCA takedowns:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pLZZaplVFs&annotation_id=annotation_874719&feature=iv
Anonymous

Damn, he beat me to it.
It’s a good performance but could use some special effects to really pull it off. If I hadn’t been in school I would done for Downfall what I did for Pulp Fiction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWA8mc0_9VI
scifijazznik

I was totally ready to rip on this, but it is, indeed, pretty brilliant. It’s almost as good as the shampoo/mouth bubble schtick.
- arkizzle / Moderator
  
  scifijazznik,
  
  Ditto. And I will undoubtedly rent Downfall after seeing this version.
  
  Heavy.
GammaBlog

The funniest Hitler since Mel Brooks.
- proletariat
  
  The funniest Hitler since Mel Brooks.
  
  For some reason, I parsed that as “The funniest Hitler since Mel Gibson.”