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 The Siege 

What grade would you give this film?
A 20%  20%  [ 1 ]
B 60%  60%  [ 3 ]
C 20%  20%  [ 1 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 5

 The Siege 
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College Boy Z

Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:40 pm
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Post The Siege
The Siege

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The Siege is a 1998 American action-thriller-drama film directed by Edward Zwick. The film is about a fictional situation in which bloodthirsty terrorist cells have made several attacks on New York City. It stars Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Tony Shalhoub, and Bruce Willis.


Despite a stellar cast and an excellent director (who made The Last Samurai, Courage Under Fire, etc.), the movie just never took off.

A big dissapointment for me, but some good performances from Washington and Bening made it better.

C+


Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:35 pm
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B


I think I need to rewatch it as it's quite a time ago that I have seen it last time, but from what I remember, it is a very decent thriller with great turns by Washington and Willis. The ending is a bit anti-climatic, but I like the message of paranoia and misjudgement in the movie. Also, there are some well-made twists to the story.

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Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:13 pm
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Draughty

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An underrated movie. On the subject of terrorism in the modern era it's one of the most well made ones, though it does tail off in the last 1/3 when Willis enters the scene. But for the first half with Denzel and Bening and Shaloub it shines, and manages to be both gritty and glamorous at the same time. The misjudgements and confusion were great. from the bus incident to Denzel trying to make sure that doesn't happen again and taking charge in a hostage situation.

I guess a B, it's a hard film to grade because the first half was better than the end.


Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:01 pm
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Underrated and quite intelligent. I do agree that the climax brought the picture down, but Washington plays on of his better characters, Benning is fantastic, and Shaloub really shines. I consider to be about as good as 2004's Manchurian remake...

**1/2

(out of 4)


Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:02 pm
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The most under rated film, eVER..imo. I love this movie. Everything about it and it is so much ahead of its time. It basically calls everything that happens on 911.


uthor: Dan Grant (dan.grant@bell.ca) from Toronto, Ontario


At first glance, The Siege looks to be a flag waving, hero's are us kind of American patriot film. But upon further review, and if you honestly give this movie a chance and listen to what it has to say, you'll see that it wants us to listen, it wants us to learn and it wants us to just look at the possibilities of " what if? ".

This is one of the best movies that I have seen in recent years and what kind of stumps me is the negative criticism surrounding the film, not just the complaint of racism ( I'll get into that later ) but about the film in general. And I have come to a conclusion that not everybody will agree with and certainly many will dislike.

The positive reviews that have been in the IMDb have been, at least a great many of them, from people that are nationalities other than American. And perhaps the reason for that is that we can sit back and look at the U.S. from afar and it may be easier for us ( as non Americans ) to understand more clearly what this movie is trying to say. And it may be easier for us ( whatever nationality we happen to be ) to understand what is wrong with America and why a film like this is just trying to give one possible reason for the decay of American society. That is not to say that our own countries don't have problems, because they do, but we can just see what is wrong with America a little easier, we are not blinded by our own patriotism. It may be easier still for perhaps Europeans to appreciate the movie even more than others because maybe their own countries have been under siege at one point or another. And maybe the relevance is that much more prevalent when you have been that close to something.

And what this movie has to say perhaps should not be taken lightly.

Steve Martin's character in " The Grand Canyon " uttered the line " watch the movies, they have all of life's answers. " Perhaps that has never been more true than what this film's message is. And I believe that message is that sooner or later if there is always going to be that one watch dog, that one Big Brother that is known as the United States, then something like this may happen. What if....

I truly believe this movie has been unfairly criticized about it's apparent racist tones. Every time there is a bombing by terrorists that are Arab in heritage, there is always a scene that follows where the Arab leagues lend their support and let the FBI know that they want these criminals brought to justice just as much as anyone does. " They love this country just as much as we do. " Denzel says in one of his speeches to the people in charge. Is it really racism when a movie tries to explore what could happen when one body of government takes matters in their own hands and breaks international law? To me every effort was made to show Arabs as normal, family loving, law abiding, peaceful citizens that they are. A bunch of Arab terrorists does not mean that all Arabs are fanatics that are bent on destroying America. That perception is like believing that all we as Canadians do is play hockey, drink beer and play in the snow ( well, that may be true.)

The movie itself is so well acted and it is so well written that I really can't understand why Washington did not get a nod for best actor. He is mesmerizing. And I think his final confrontation with the general is tense, and brilliant.

Washington plays Hub, a very patriotic, by the book FBI agent that is personally affected by all the chaos that has ensued in his city, and he plays him brilliantly. Bening and Shaloub are also wonderful in their roles and the music in the film is haunting. Willis is a little weak in the film but that is minor in comparison to the rest of the movie.

If you haven't seen this film because of what you have heard, give it a chance, it is well worth it. And try to watch it and listen to what it has to say. You may be surprised.

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Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:15 pm
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