It was back in 1999 when I first saw Run Lola Run. I remember exactly where I rented it, what city I was in and who I watched it with. I read about the film online and when the opportunity came about to rent it, I jumped at the chance. One of my main reasons for wanting to rent it was because my companion was in fact German and from Germany and I knew she would enjoy watching a movie in her native language. Little did I know before watching Lola, it would become one of my all time favorite movies.

The movie quickly kicks off with Lola (Franke Potente) answering a phone call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) who is in a phone booth in downtown Berlin. Distraught and scared, Manni questions Lola as to why she wasn?t there. She explains that she tried to be there for him but her moped was stolen and by the time she was able to get a cab and pick him up, he had already gone. Manni explains that due to her not coming for him, he is in serious trouble.

You see, Manni works for a German mob guy named Ronnie (Heino Ferch). Ronnie assigned Manni to a job and when finished, he was to deliver his money to him by 12:00pm. The problems for Manni all started when the job was completed. Manni, tired of waiting for Lola to pick him up, decided to take the subway. While on the subway, a bum (Norbert von Au) falls in front of him and as Manni helps him back to his feet, two police inspectors on patrol step onto the subway car, spooking Manni, causing him to quickly exit the train. As he begins to walk away from the train, he realizes his huge mistake; he left the bag of money on the train. As he tries to get back on, the inspectors grab him for questioning. The bag of money, sitting on the subway seat, is spotted by the bum, who looks inside at the fortune that awaits him.

Now, with the clock ticking, Manni has 20 minutes to get 100,000 Deutsche Marks or else Ronnie is going to kill him. Lola, trying to stay calm, tells him not to worry, that she will think of something and get the 100,000 and save him. Manni warns her, that if she does not get to him in 20 minutes with the 100,000, he will get the money himself and rob the grocery store across the street from him.

Now, it is all on Lola. In her journey to help Manni, what she does will forever affect herself, Manni and everyone else she comes in contact with. She has 20 minutes to save his life. It is now time to run, Run Lola Run.

Video

The 1.85:1 transfer on Run Lola Run is definitely hit and miss. As intended by the director, and noted within the director commentary, he used different styles of aesthetics. He used black and white (used for flashbacks), video (when Lola and Manni are not in the scenes) and 35mm (when they are present.)

So, given the three different aspects, you are going to have 3 different types of quality. The 35mm shots were very good, but not without their flaws. You could see some bleeding coming from Lola?s bright red hair but also at times, the brightness of her hair shines perfectly. On some of the close up shots on certain objects, such as the downtown clock, the grain is very apparent. I did notice some white specs as well in several scenes.
Skin tones were next to perfect.

Now, as for the black and white shots, grain is definitely apparent, but not to the point where it is distracting. I really felt that given what he said in the commentary, this was his intention.

The worst is the video shots. Very blurry, wavy and just down right, awful. At times it is like watching an over watched VHS tape. One scene that stands out as truly awful is an accident scene where you can clearly make out a large amount of moir?.

If I am purely grading this on high definition standards with all 3 of the film types included, I would say it is slightly above average but in no way is it reference material.

Audio

To say that the audio was good on this movie would be an understatement. You have 4 choices (German and English 5.1 True HD or Spanish and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital.) I chose to watch it with the German 5.1 and English subtitles, which really is the only way to watch it, unless you know the movie so well you don?t need subtitles (which I could have done.)

The bass is used very well and the surrounds definitely get a nice workout given the techno soundtrack. Cranking the audio up on this disc will sure rumble your seat.

As far as subtitles go, aside from English and English SDH, Spanish, French and Portuguese are also available.

Special Features

• Commentary with director Tom Tykwer and Franke Potente – This is a really good listen. They both really give some good insight to the film and work well together. You really can find out all you needed to know about the filming of the movie by giving this a listen.
• Still Running – This is a new feature not on the original DVD. Franke Potente and Tom Tykwer talk about how the movie was filmed and explanations for certain scenes in the movie. If you were to listen to the commentary, all of this is pretty much covered. One thing I would keep an eye out for in this extra is when Franke talks about the storyboards. Very funny.
• ?Believe? Music Video – Music video of Franke Potente?s song from the movie.

Final Thoughts

Without a doubt, Run Lola Run is different from any other movie you may see. I have seen the movie at least 40 times or more. It has really held up well over the past ten years and given it popularity among DVD collectors; a Blu-ray purchase should be easy for them. This is one of the films I recommend to just about everyone if they are looking for a change from the norm. A definite must own.