Hitler's Downfall Was Bad Subtitles

You may remember a 2005 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film called Downfall, about the last days of Hitler. It was almost universally lauded by critics -- especially the performance of Bruno Ganz as the Great Dictator himself. You may not realize, however, that some three years later, the film became -- and still remains -- an internet meme, in which one scene in particular (where Hitler, shaking with impotent rage over battlefield maps, is told by his generals that all hope for the German cause is lost) has had its subtitles changed dozens of times now, making Ganz-as-Hitler seem to explode with fury not over the loss of his once-formidable empire, but being banned from Xbox Live, J.J. Abrams' controversial adherence to Trekkie canon in the new Star Trek, or that his subtitles are wrong.

Let's take a look at one of the most popular versions, "Real Estate Downfall."

In this clip, Hitler's displeased with the new Star Trek movie.

Hitler gets his Wikipedia editing privileges revoked, much to his dismay. (Also see videos pertaining to Hitler getting banned from World of Warcraft, Xbox Live, Twitter, Call of Duty 4 and, as if that weren't enough, getting scammed on eBay. I daresay he just should just stay away from technology entirely.)

Finally, Hitler discovers that someone's been messing with his subtitles. I bet he gets real mad!

You can follow my own personal downfall on Twitter.