I love this film,e specially after 9/11.
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nerhal1 — 12 years ago(December 03, 2013 12:35 AM)
You forget a lot of the military have families in this country and have sworn to uphold the constitution of the United States. The portrayal of soldiers as robots going after American citizens is typical of Hollywood and although some abuse of power is a likelyhood it is unlikely all soldiers would follow orders going against said family and nation.
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michaeluk26 — 12 years ago(February 25, 2014 12:58 AM)
I just watched it for the first time and was amazed at how accurate this film was with what happened after 9-11 however,
Al Qaeda's war against America started because Bin Laden felt insulted that the Saudis asked the Americans to intervene on behalf of Kuwait to repel the invasion from Iraq. He wanted to use his Mujahideen from Afghanistan and was told know. This snub started it all. So dont blame America for doing that. We sure as hell made it worse though by invading the hell hole known as Iraq. Trust me, I served in 2007-2008 and our occupying that country brought extremists from everywhere to fight us.
The Mujahideen we backed in Afghanistan was done because we were in a very dangerous cold war with Russia. Anyone who oppossed them we supported. They were the evil at the time. There was no way to predict they would turn on us. Plus, the Mujadieen was made up of numerous different types of fighters.
You can sure as hell blame the Iraq war on the Neo Cons though. That was their plan since the 90's. We wrecked that country to such a degree that I cant explain it to you, its just something you would have to see in person. I only went to get money for school and I am very proud to have served in Iraq. We all knew the war was bogus but since there was nothing we could do about that, we just told ourselves lets try and get the best outcome from a terrible situation.
Drone strikes? They can be an example of creating terrorists but they also allow those wanted fugitives shelter and hidden. Literally, they fight in Afghanistan and jump back across the border. Its the jackasses using those people as cover who are mostly at fault. There are pros and cons to the drones.
Haters gonna hate -
SausagePourVous — 11 years ago(April 16, 2014 12:25 AM)
You mention six Points in your post. Calling the film prophetic to 100%no,a thousand. Yet,you are too politically correct to even mention the one big prophecy.the big attack killing 543 or so people. You danced around that one tiny detail and focused on exactly Everything around it. You sort of mention it in passing,which is less then brave.
When referring to The siege as prophetic,many factors come into play and a few events. Blowing up a big building is one of them for most people whove seen this film. But you direct all your issues and criticism towards the states,military and CIA etc,aloneon one side of the coin you have the abuse of Power,the prejudice,the training and support of an enemys enemy..and on the other a Little attack. That part was not on your top 6 list. -
derekm23 — 11 years ago(October 10, 2014 03:44 PM)
Prophetic about the politics of fear This idea that to protect civilians, they must take away freedoms in the name of security. This film shows that patronising idea, that civilians are not prepared to take casualties in defense of what they have, justifies the removal of what civil wars and revolutions have been fought for. This may be indeed easier to do in U.S.A where 911 is the only significant recent involvement of civilians, but from direct family experiences, civilians are made out of the same tough stuff as the military. Whats 911? its only a weeks air raid on Liverpool that my parents with stood an then kept on keeping on. Lets get real, we civilians take more casualities on the commute to work.
So, keep shopping till they blow up your local mall and your car, then take the bus to the one on the other side of town, but dont let the authorities take the fundamentals of your way of life away, as that is the real defeat.
(p.s. U.S. try to keep up with the revolution count, you are down 1 to 2 and several on civil wars, but i dont doubt if push comes to shove you are made of the same stuff as the rest of us. ) -
TamPalm — 11 years ago(January 25, 2015 12:57 PM)
OMG I just stumbled upon this movie playing right now on Spike. They just showed the scene when Denzel' s character pleads with Bruce Willis' character not to torture the prisoner. I actually had to pull up the cable guide to check the year. WOW this movie was released like FIVE years before Iraq. Op I too was astonished at how prescient it is! I am literally sitting here in awe right now. It really foreshadowed things to a tee.
"If it doesn't make sense, it's not true." Judge Judy -
yusef-ghanima — 10 years ago(April 14, 2015 08:56 AM)
all what you said is a marginal reading of this movie, avoiding the real racist messages in it. the first time i heard about this movie was in 2007, i only watched it yesterday. the one who told me about it was an arab american, "there is a racist movie against the arabs starring denzel washignton!" i didn't believe my ears, until yesterday.
i mostly will not be able to answer your reply, since marissa mayer hacked my email, no notification -
Tsavo — 10 years ago(November 13, 2015 11:56 PM)
Racist messages? None that I saw at all. Messages about religious fanaticism perhaps, but I saw a movie that was actually very anti-racial, taking time to show the unfair treatment of hard working citizens of Middle Eastern descent. You're going to have to point out the "Real racist messages" in the film for the rest of us.
"Aw Crap!" - Hellboy -
straightcurve — 10 years ago(January 07, 2016 08:06 AM)
it's a truly superb film. the nuance with which Zwick discusses this whole issue is just wonderfully deft, and remarkably prescient as you say.
Devereaux is an incredible villain because he's shown to be a right-thinking man (he is against martial law) but once ordered to do something, he goes full Colonel Kurtz. that's absolutely horrifying, but holds true. many soldiers did the same in Afghanistan and Iraq.
even the terrorists, vicious murdering bastards that they are, were shown to be victims of US Imperialism. trained and then abandoned by the CIA; they turned their rage onto their teachers. I mean, that was something people were aware of in '98, but not widely. hell even now, post 9/11, I doubt if it's widely known.
such a good film.
together the ants can crush the elephant.