Following the idea of time repeating itself, run rola run differs from the likes of groundhog day and 12:01 in that it only does it 3 times, with the intent being 3 different variations of the same theme.

When Lola’s(Franke Potente) Boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) loosed a big bag of money, meant to go to the mob, he calls on Lola to help him out. Lola has 20 minutes to find 100,000 marks or Manni dies. The only person Lola can think of to help her out of this situation is her neglecting Pappa (Herbert Knaup) who just happens to Manage a local bank.

Each story thread starts in Lola’s Appartment, where she runs down the street into town to the bank, then to the local shop where Manni is waiting to rob it should Lola not make it. Each time, something different happens as a result of Lola bumping into a lady walking a baby pram, to nearly being hit by a car, etc. At the End of each senario someone yells STOP and so begins the next possible outcome.

The nice thing about Run Lola Run is that it is NOT an American film but rather German. And with it’s low budget in hand, makes the most of what it can offer. To help spice things up, filmicly speaking, along with a standard 35mm camera, Tom Tykwer (Director) also used an 8mm home video camera and a black and white 16mm camera, and intercuts this footage with the normal stock. It worked quite well and helps give the film a different point of view as it’s used in Flash Backs and NON-Lola sequences very effectively.

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?

VIDEO
Generally speaking this is a very nice Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer. Most of the sequences shot on Film have very intense colour saturation (like Lola’s red hair..WOW) and are high on detail and very sharp!, but there were a few instances of blue flashes on the image (the result of negative damage no doubt). The sequences shot on 16mm (blown up to 35 mm) where intentionally very grainy, and had a real doco feel about them for the flash back sequences, which was quite effective, but some of the video shot footage has been transferred to Video with a few problems. While you can’t expect the high quality of film from video material, it’s still a bit disappointing to see it.
This mixture of lowgrade film and video does work to the films advantage though and won’t distract you too much with so much going on in this film.

AUDIO
As good as this Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is on DVD (available in the original German language or dubbed (yuck) English mix), the Bass attack doesn’t compare to what I heard at the cinemas, which I found a bit surprising. In the opening credit sequence with the jail door slams, the impact at the theatre was quite intense and went extremely low. While it does still sound pretty good on this DVD, it has no way near that sort of low end frequency! (and the English dub on this disc has even LESS bases!!!!) (CTHV’s Mask of Zorro suffered the exact same fate!) My guess is that this is a result of the audio speed up to match the PAL image frame rate, from 24 frames to 25 frames, plus the manipulation needed for a Dolby 5.1 track to be mixed down properly for 2.0 playback, if required)
This aside, the front soundstage is still nice and wide, with accurate localisation, and the surrounds get an constantly aggressive workout. Truly a fun 5.1 mix.
The Default Audio Track is thankfully the original German mix, and the English Subtitles also default to ON.

EXTRAS
A half decent collection of goodies here.
Director Tom Tykwer, and Franke Potente (Lola) who’s native language is german, are onboard for an English Spoken commentary track. And a Good one it is to.!
Franke’s music video clip for the movie’s song "I Believe" has been included.
With Talent profiles and a Dolby Digital City trailer (which is only in Dolby Digital 2.0!!!!!..)

Run Lola Run is a terrific little film, and makes for good movie to see on DVD!.
If you want to have a bit of a laugh with this film, turn on the English Subtitles AND the English 5.1 mix and watch for the differences. As the english track has been recorded with Pommie accents they’ve used some of their own words and phrases that differ from the subtitles….some are quite funny!