I remember learning about "the wave" in school, we had watched the older made for TV movie. Rainer Wenger reminded me of some of the teachers I had in high school. Some of the students's attitudes reminded me of how we felt and acted in school. The teachers did, at times, get us to stand up and move around to wake us up, so it's not like Wenger was doing anything that would necessarily stand out at first. The trouble I had with this story-line were the bizarre fights and run-ins the students had with townie anarchists (only way I can describe them) and the ending. I doubt Germany has roving anarchists looking to fight teenagers. That part makes no sense to me. I thought the way Wenger was ending the experiment was realistic. He had the students reflect on their experience in The Wave and read some excerpts on stage in an auditorium. In real life, Ron Jones did enjoy the power of being the leader beyond what he imagined and it took him a while to come to terms with that. Wenger was much quicker to realize that and to admit that to the students. I also had trouble with how into "The Wave" Tim got. Enough to buy a gun, shoot a fellow student and himself? That's a fast progression to happen in a week. Even with those two troubles I feel this movie showed how fascism/autocracy could start and rise. We're all susceptible.

More than a great movie, the Wave is a great story. Although it is based on real events, I did my homework and the story of the movie is much older that the film would make you think. It is based on an experiment conducted in 1967 by an American teacher who wanted to demonstrate how easily a movement similar to the Nazis could get ignited again. The movie is socially magnificent. It shows you how a group works and functions in unity under certain circumstances, and how easily individuals lose their ability to think outside the boundaries set by the group they have formed themselves. What I enjoyed is the fact that there was tension throughout, and you kept asking yourself how far would the group go and when the teacher who started it would find himself unable to control the force of the Wave. The Wave may not be the best movie you'll ever see, but it's well worth a watch.

The Wave. It is a German movie and based on a social experiment by a teacher on its students that goes out of control. It works as a study of human behavior that manipulating mind of many at once is not a rocket science.The Wave is interesting because of its authenticity, its well etched characters, sharp dialogs and most importantly the underlined idea. Jürgen Vogel playing the accused and victim of the wrong doing does well and few key students characters support him well. As a nitpicking, what movie lacks is an unpredictable climax after surprising and engaging development of the story.I am going with strong 7 out of 10 for The Wave. Given the idea, it could have been much more impactful but still it has enough to entertain you and make you think at the same time.

Few are the movies that take the viewer deep into the story line and the characters from the first minute. the wave is one of them. Simple plot like any teenagers movie, but focusing on the character performance and the reaction with the screen enriched the plot without tending for exploitation and erotic messages, nothing but simply innocent teenagers who have the ability of changing and improving like teenagers in every society, but the main issue is who and how to lead these teenagers through the changing process and what ideology must be adopted to unite them onto same objective. The motto is very clear, proving that fascism could be raised in every society however they claim immune. Recommended as for viewers who are looking for quality movies.