This 80 minute foreign feature film is a DVD starring Fran ka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, and Herbert Knaup.

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The plot revolves around Lola, a woman who has twenty minutes to save her boyfriend's life from German gangsters. To do this she must miraculously acquire 100,000 Marks.

The film is appropriately titled as Lola really does run for practically the entire film. When she does not succeed in saving her boyfriend the movie cuts back to the opening sequence and the film plays out yet again in an entirely different fashion. The central idea is that small variations in behaviour can change the entire outcome of a situation. This idea was also explored in "Sliding Doors", unfortunately, with far more mixed results.

Eventually the cycle repeats itself three times over the movies one hour twenty minute screen time. Run Lola Run is just bubbling with creative ideas and really is a stunning ride. The action never really lets up (except in a brief bed scene) and is filmed in the kind of frenetic, crazy style that MTV would be proud of. Lola is also extremely funny in many parts especially when the film briefly delves into the future's of various small characters.

This is a perfect little film that stands up to repeated viewings. It is smart, entertaining and is something that is completely unique. Hollywood movies rarely have those three qualities, this German one does.

58 of 63 found the following review helpful:

Sliding Doors Meets Trainspotting - Five Stars isn't enough!Jun 09, 2000
By Dark Trippers
Catch this superb German film before Hollywood decides to remake it (and believe me, they will). This is cinema in its purest, most kinetic form.

The plot is simple: Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 marks that her boyfriend Manni owes to drug dealers, otherwise he's going to have to rob a store to get it. And that's it, basically. Only, ingeniously, we are treated to 3 versions of her run (or perhaps alternative universes), events unfolding differently depending on how long it takes her and the choices she makes. The attention to detail is stunning, and every little image and incident is relevant to the taut plotting. A wonderfully choreographed study of time and space.

What we have is a kind of Sliding Doors (or Fowles' French Lieutenant's Woman) meets Pulp Fiction with all the energy and modernity of Trainspotting, mixing drama, tragedy and dark humour. Run Lola Run is a whirlwind race against time as our flame-haired heroine pounds the sidewalks of Berlin, unknowingly initiating traffic accidents, bank heists, uncovering dark family secrets, and changing the lives of the people she encounters on her way (beautifully executed in a series of Polaroid montages) in a complex web of cause and effect.

Furiously paced, and edited, Twyker's masterpiece of Chance bombards us with an entire catalogue of camera tricks, techniques and mediums; split screen, time lapse, animation (in the cartoon sense), anything to grab our attention and immerse us in the situation, and is enhance by an excellent techno soundtrack (composed by Twyker).

Presented on DVD with a decent extras package, Run Lola Run is a rush - in every sense of the word - from start to finish. (Watch it in German with the English subtitles, however, as the dubbed English soundtrack is dire.)

20 of 21 found the following review helpful:

Extremely fast-paced and excitingDec 29, 1999
By John
Run Lola Run was the first movie on DVD that I had ever purchased without seeing it first. I based my purchase on the great reviews of the film I had read time and time again. The DVD arrived this week and I was not dissapointed.

The film is only 81 minutes long, and is extremely fast-paced and tense for the entire time. You really have to pay attention during the movie and suspend disbelief for a while to really enjoy this one.

The quality of the DVD transfer is very good. The picture is great, and the sound is outstanding (the film has a good heavy soundtrack). The extras on the disc aren't too exciting, but it is nice to have both German/English language tracks as well as English/French/None subtitles. I thought the english dubbing was done exceptionally well (except for the first scene).

One interesting thing to note is that it is a double sided DVD, with the fullscreen version on one side and the widescreen version on the other side. There is no label on the DVD... only very very tiny print on the innermost rim of the disc. You have to have some good eyes to read it.

I highly recommend this movie. But get it on DVD. It wouldn't be half as good on VHS.

12 of 12 found the following review helpful:

The best and most original action film I've ever seen!Sep 27, 1999

If you think that Lara Croft is the quintessential action star, then you obviously haven't met Lola. "Run Lola Run" is a masterpiece of action filmmaking that I loved. It is one of the best films of the year, and I will definitely buy it when it comes out on video. The film opens with a policeman/referee explaining the rules of a game. He dropkicks a soccer ball into the atmosphere, and the game begins with the ring of a telephone. Lola answers to find out that her boyfriend, Manni, is in trouble. He has left 100,000 marks on a subway train that has fallen into the hands of a homeless man. If he cannot get the money to the gangster he owes it to in twenty minutes, he will attempt a desperate, ill-fated robbery in order to keep from beng killed. With a scream from her throat and a toss of the bright red phone receiver, Lola is on the run, leaving her flame-red hair, her quick feet, and a pulsing techno soundtrack to carry the film the rest of the way. It is when she begins to run that I sat forward, eagerly awaiting the outcomes of her three separate journeys. Yes, Lola's odyssey transpires three times, each with a different outcome, and all because of one boy and his riled dog. Most of the film's elements remain the same: Lola meets the same people, runs under the same El-Train and always busts into her father's office at the bank while he's in the middle of a heart-to-heart talk with his mistress. As Lola meets the same people on the street, their lives are flashed before us in a series of snapshots, showing the different outcomes, all based on Lola's timing. Franka Potente plays Lola with the sort of perfect performance that most actresses wish they could pull off. Her screams always seem real and heartfelt, her tears in the confrontation with her father are real, and look of intensity that remains on Lola's face while she's on the run shows a very clear message: That Lola is a woman in love, and a woman on a mission. A mission that will be accompished at all costs. "Run Lola Run" is not only the best action film ever made, it is also one of my all-time favorites, and it sets a new standard that no one will be able to surpass.

18 of 20 found the following review helpful:

Hyperkinetic action! 3 endings! what a story.....Apr 05, 2001
By Eric McCalla "reviewboy"
RUN LOLA RUN is one of those movies you can literally watch again and again and again. The plotline is fairly simple: a young girl, Lola, must help her boyfriend scrape together 100,000 deutsche marks in 20 minutes, or a ruthless gangster will kill him. The trick is the story is told 3 different ways with 3 different outcomes. Mixing animation, trip-hop/techno music, and fast-paced action/editing, you have a terrific movie with gritty, realistic characters and action that won't stop!

Franka Potente is a star in the making. She's soon to be seen with Johnny Depp in the film BLOW. Can't wait to see what electricity she'll bring to her role there!!

The DVD edition includes a running commentary with the director, Twyker, and Franka Potente. Very interesting to learn how difficult it was for the actors to portray key scenes numerous times and still maintain the tension and fear so important to carrying the storyline.

EXCELLENT!!!

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