Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Play trailer

Aguirre: The Wrath of God

1972

1h 34m

Adventure

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

57 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), a ruthless Spanish conquistador, vies for power while part of an expedition in Peru to find El Dorado, the mythical seven cities of gold. Accompanied by his daughter, Flores (Cecilia Rivera), Aguirre faces off against his superior, Don Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), and grows increasingly volatile after seizing control of the group. As Aguirre presses deeper into the Amazonian jungle, he descends further into madness.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

A haunting journey of natural wonder and tangible danger, Aguirre transcends epic genre trappings and becomes mythological by its own right.

Read Critics Reviews

Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

04/30/2024

It's a descent into madness as vertiginous as Heart of Darkness, and a portrait of futility as monumental in its irony as Shelley's Ozymandias.

Go to Full Review

Roger Clarke

Independent (UK)

04/30/2024

Never has human folly seemed so vivid, rapacious and primeval.

Go to Full Review

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

06/07/2013

5/5

The whole movie merges landscapes and character with such force that, once seen, you never forget it.

Go to Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Jul 28

... the imagery is astonishing: jungles layered in mist and fog, broken by a glittering train of armored soldiers with their slaves, their guns, and thrones carrying improbably dressed and coiffed noble women.

Go to Full Review

Daniel Barnes

Dare Daniel

Oct 28

5/5

The rare absurdist-realist intimate epic, Aguirre is an impossible-to-recreate fever dream of power-mad colonial gold-lust run amok.

Go to Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Aug 25

5/5

…you’ll come for the jungle vistas and Peruvian-pan pipes, but you’ll stay for the intensity of the drama as Aguirre, The Wrath of God demonstrates why Werner Herzog’s film is still a benchmark for barnstorming cinema…a truly unique, epic adventure movie…

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

KarthiK P.

@madkarthi Jul 15

It is amazing. The cinematography is stunning. The real locations are beautiful. The art is wonderful. Every frame looks so amazing. I like the complete real location scenes. The story is like a madman story. I like it in fact. It is not lengthy. It just goes smooth and fast. I like that. The 4K remastered quality is so amazing.

See more

Frank H.

@FrankLikesFilm Apr 7

When people say "you couldn't make this movie today" movies like this are what they should be referring to because this required an absolute madman to create and I'm glad he did.

See more

James C

@RT10842914 Nov 15

It’s masterfully created. Just watch it!

See more

Thomas S

@RT53929595 08/01/2025

So dark... Loved the atmosphere, and preferred it to Fitzcarraldo

See more

James A

@Droz27 07/03/2025

The only reason this is well rated is because only pretentious film students have seen it. It looks incredibly amateurish and dated and the dubbing is a total joke. There is rain on the camera lens in many scenes LOL. I was looking for a great period piece I hadn't seen like The New World or Master and Commander. The Bounty ended up being the best I found after this disaster. I'll never understand why Europe makes everything better than we do except for films.

See more

Stephen C

@bob25009 06/10/2025

1 hour and 34 minutes based on a myth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Werner Herzog

Director

Klaus Kinski

Don Lope de Aguirre

Ruy Guerra

Don Pedro de Ursua

Helena Rojo

Inez

Del Negro

Brother Gaspar de Carvajal

Cecilia Rivera

Flores

View more photos

Synopsis

Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), a ruthless Spanish conquistador, vies for power while part of an expedition in Peru to find El Dorado, the mythical seven cities of gold. Accompanied by his daughter, Flores (Cecilia Rivera), Aguirre faces off against his superior, Don Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra), and grows increasingly volatile after seizing control of the group. As Aguirre presses deeper into the Amazonian jungle, he descends further into madness.

Director: Werner Herzog
Producer: Werner Herzog
Screenwriter: Werner Herzog
Distributor: New Yorker Films
Production Co: Hessischer Rundfunk, Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Genre: Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 3, 1972, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 15, 2017
Runtime: 1h 34m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings