--- title: "Schindler's List: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/schindlers-list/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/schindlers-list" critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Schindler's List (1993): what the critics said Critics' score 84 from 10 reviews: 9 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics regard this as Spielberg’s most serious work and a clear departure from his usual manner, and the praise clusters around restraint: the near-documentary hand-held camerawork, the black-and-white photography, and a refusal to dress up the horror. Neeson, Fiennes and Kingsley are singled out again and again, and several reviews treat the film’s decision not to explain Schindler’s motives as a strength rather than a gap. The liquidation of the Krakow ghetto is the sequence most often named for its immediacy. Reservations are fewer and mostly British. Empire finds the film over-sentimental for a subject that needs no help; The Independent objects to kitsch and emotional manipulation in the coda; The Guardian, the lone mixed voice, finds a certain flatness and less emotional force than hoped, while still placing it far ahead of other Hollywood films on the subject. Slant, writing two decades on, notes a personal remove. The spread runs from wholehearted to respectfully qualified; nobody dismisses it. ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 5/5. This outstanding Holocaust drama, based on Thomas Keneally's bestseller Schindler's Ark, won seven Oscars including best picture and director. Spielberg uses stark, brutal realism, stunning black-and-white photography and gritty handheld camera work to deliver powerful points about racism and ethnic cleansing, with standout performances from Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-9st8yu/schindlers-list/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. 24 June 2001. The film succeeds as parallel character studies of Schindler and the sadistic Goeth, showing that resistance to evil is possible even amid the Holocaust's horrors. Spielberg joins artistry with popular appeal, focusing on Schindler's ambiguous heroism and the arbitrary nature of survival. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-schindlers-list-1993) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 December 1993. Spielberg demonstrates remarkable restraint in this major departure, creating an indelible portrait of the Holocaust through hand-held documentary-style realism and strong performances. The film makes an unbelievable story believable and real, succeeding where more obvious approaches might fail. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-fta-schindlers-list-review-20181206-story.html) ## The New Yorker — Terrence Rafferty Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 December 1993. Spielberg’s film is great, impossible and inevitable, respecting the mystery of Schindler’s ambiguous personality in a new way for the director. The liquidation of the Krakow ghetto sequence makes the Holocaust overwhelmingly immediate, and the film is by far the finest dramatic depiction of it. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/12/20/a-man-of-transactions) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Rating Critic’s Pick. 15 December 1993. The film presents the Holocaust as if discovering it anew through Spielberg's fury and immediacy, distilling complex events into indelible images. It is dark, sobering and invigoratingly dramatic, making terrifying sense to anyone. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/15/movies/review-film-schindler-s-list-imagining-the-holocaust-to-remember-it.html) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 1993. Spielberg delivers a remarkable, rigorously intelligent work with brilliant performances (especially Neeson, Kingsley, and Fiennes) and restrained technique that avoids sentimentality. The film focuses on Schindler's gradual transformation while vividly depicting the arbitrary cruelty of the Holocaust in near-documentary style. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1993/film/reviews/schindler-s-list-2-1200434300/) ## Slant Magazine — Chris Cabin Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 12 March 2013. The critic finds the film a tough yet engaging study of the limitations of success and mortality, praising its unique scope and imagery while noting its personal remove from the events. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/schindlers-list/) ## Empire — Colin Kennedy Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1993. The critic calls it a necessary Holocaust movie made for a Western audience that is beautifully crafted and hopeful. They note it is at times over-sentimental when the subject matter hardly needs any dressing up. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/schindler-list-review/) ## The Independent — Adam Mars-Jones Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 February 1994. The critic finds the film a considerable achievement for Spielberg, mixing harrowing pseudo-documentary elements with effective melodrama. It is praised for its authenticity and intensity but critiqued for some kitsch and emotional manipulation in the coda. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-a-long-road-to-recovery-steven-spielberg-s-schindler-s-list-is-every-bit-as-distressing-as-a-film-about-the-holocaust-should-be-but-how-good-is-it-by-adam-marsjones-1394885.html) ## The Guardian — Derek Malcolm Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 17 February 1994. The film is Spielberg's most substantial and difficult achievement to date, telling its story with unusual restraint and without his usual flamboyance. It has flaws including a certain flatness and less emotional impact than hoped, though it presents understated horrors effectively and is leagues ahead of other Hollywood films on the subject. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,530821,00.html) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/schindlers-list.md