The Siege

The siege starts really well and it has you on the edge of your seat When the F.B.I are confronted with the evil Arab terrorists then what happens? Bruce Willis comes along and changes a superb film into a stupid one. Who decided to make this film into a believable one to a ridiculous farce wants shooting! You will see what i mean when Willis comes along. I would have given this movie a 9 out of ten for the first half but a 3 for the second. 6 out of 10

Minor spoilers I thought it was The Negotiator (which I later saw and enjoyed) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120768/ when I accidentally rented it. I saw the cover art and mistook it. They made it look like the other movie. Anyway, I watched it. The villain is way too obvious. Why didn't someone just shoot him in the first 5 minutes? There was very little real action. It's a boring lawyer movie where the lawyers spend all day worrying about legal loopholes and seem completely uninterested in the fact that terrorists are running around killing people. It may be even worse of a movie now, in light of the events on Sept 11, 2001.

Politically this movie ruffled more than a few nations feathers. This action thriller gets quite busy, but doesn't sustain interest. NYC is placed under martial law as bombers evade capture by federal agents led by Assistant Special Agent-in-charge of FBI Counter-Intelligence(Denzel Washington). F/X more than adequate. Supporting cast includes: Annette Bening, Tony Shaloub and Bruce Willis.

I was why because I would like the know what the movie tried to show. Now the movie illustrates a few things. One there were a lot of people being murdered in New York by terrorists. Two, the FBI and police were inept at stopping the killing. The movie was meant to appeal to the civil liberties aspect of such an event, in other words the movie suggested that doing nothing to stop these attacks was the proper route, the proper course was to allow the killings to continue and allow inept persons to continue to be inept because the "greater good" The acting was good which was the only saving grace, but the message was rotten.

Isn't coincidence that this movie represents the actions of a sheik that was working with the US and got abandoned afterwards decided to got avenged against that country by terrorism? And not long time after the releasing on DVD the 9/11 happens? Makes you wonder.

There are just too many holes in this plot, and of course the real villains turn out to be the US Army and the CIA (what a surprise!) while Arabs are evenly divided between regular people and one-dimensional fanatics. Anyone from New York would know that the climactic scene where the combined races and ethnic extractions of Brooklyn are marching together to protest the Army's incarceration of the Arab men of the Borough in the name of the Constitution (as Manhattan lies in virtual ruin) was the least realistic part of the whole mess. They would more likely have been demanding public executions - if not performing them. As one of those Hollywood producers used to say, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union" civics lessons and Constitutional Law debates weigh down this already overloaded bore. (By the way, why is Annette Bening the only CIA person involved in the investigation as half of New York gets blown up?). It's a waste of time.

Edward Zwick had to take a lot of stinging criticism for The Siege upon its release, most of which was unfounded, but it is a film which must be taken more seriously today. Not only because of the controversial politics involved, which have, sadly, just been validated, but cinematically speaking it's also quite accomplished. Zwick already had one masterpiece under his belt with 1989's Glory, and here is the general look and feel of a director who knows what he's doing. The direction is smooth and accomplished, and particularly geared towards conveying the frightening speed and dark efficiency of what is now a very public type of warfare. Having said that, the direction is one of the film's major strongholds, and the script is a little light - talky and boyish like 'The Negotiator' but, unlike 'Arlington Road' it lacks real political weight, despite the fact that its messages are very scary indeed.

The Siege is one of those movies where they employ realistic ideals and then try to amalgamate those ideas with some far fetched, semi-ludicrous plots and action scenes. Bruce Willis is wasted in this film, maybe I've seen too many "Movies where Willis is the good guy". Denzel Washington is always money every role he ever takes on in film, Annette Bening was testing my nerves in the film, I really didn't appreciate her presence in the film. Yes I can see the controversy and all that stuff but think about it...do you think filmdom would go on through its finite existence without making a film of this nature? Of Course not. I felt this film was an utter waste of time with cardboard cutouts, yes there is the "touchy topic" but jeez look in the world we live in now!!!!!!!!

A string of terrorist attacks hit New York , and matters are'nt helped when General Devearuex (Bruce Willis)employs methods of resolve which don't rub well and arouse suspicion with experienced and dedicated FBI agent Hubbard (Denzel Washington,on his usual high powered persona). It explores it's themes of Arab terrorism well,and presents an original idea in an intriguing enough tone.But it's a strangely unexciting film,lacking in any real cohesioncy,plot or continuity.

I can kind of understand why people are knocking this movie. There are some things which don't immediately make sense, and some of the characters do contradictory things. HOWEVER I think people who complain about this are showing some level of ignorance and an unwillingness to appreciate that real people are indeed contradictory! Real people do not make sense! I think this is one of the film's strongest points. These characters are flawed beings, all of them, like us. It made the movie more real to me - and that's saying something, it is a surprisingly realistic portrayal of events - pulls few punches in the explosion scenes, very heartbreaking at times. Stop complaining about this movie, people, and start thinking.