FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Bowling For Columbine [DVD] [2002]

Bowling For Columbine [DVD] [2002]
enlarge	Director: Michael Moore Actors: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Jacobo Arbenz, Mike Bradley Studio: Momentum Pictures Category: DVD List Price: ~~£19.99~~ Buy Used: £1.09 as of 22/11/2009 03:24 GMT details You Save: £18.90 (95%) New (15) Used (27) from £1.09 Seller: phillrobbo Rating: 93 reviews Sales Rank: 5621 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 120 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5060049140353 ASIN: B000089ATL Theatrical Release Date: 2002 Release Date: May 12, 2003 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review An Oscar-winning documentary based around a 1999 massacre at an American High School in Colorado, IBowling for Columbine/I is filmmaker Michael Moore's take on the culture of firearms violence that is, apparently, peculiar to the USA. Significantly, this is no detective investigation into the psychology and motives of the two students who randomly opened fire on their classmates, killing 12 of them--Moore regards such particulars as practically irrelevant--rather, it's an attempt to counter the moral panic and right-wing diagnoses that followed the massacre, with the likes of rock star Marilyn Manson blamed by some. p Using a mixture of roving interviews, statistics, historical documentary footage, cartoon animation and the set-ups familiar to fans of his ITV Nation/I series, Moore teases out appalling truths about gun proliferation in America. He's able to obtain a rifle by opening a bank account and shows that the bullets used in the Columbine massacre were still available at KMart--until he confronts their management with victims of the shootings. But it's not just gun proliferation that's the problem. Canada, Moore discovers, is similarly rife with firearms yet has a far lower murder rate. The problem with the US, Moore believes, is an irrational climate of fear that has driven the country to reactionary extremes since the days of the pioneers, persuading citizens that they need to be armed to the teeth. p In a film short on lowlights, the highlight is Moore's confrontation with NRA President Charlton Heston. Moore's deceptively genial, shambling, regular American dude appearance (as well as his NRA membership) wins Heston's confidence and Moore teases from the actor an inadvertently racist slip of the tongue, before turning up the heat, at which point Heston terminates the interview. In this moment, the sort of anger Moore demonstrated at the 2003 Academy Awards ceremony surfaces briefly as he brandishes a picture of a gunshot victim to the retreating Heston. Funny, shrewd, righteous, hard to deny, IBowling for Columbine/I is uncomfortable and irresistible filmmaking. --IDavid Stubbs/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 93 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...19 Next » A Movie That Will Have You Up In Arms May 16, 2003 P Farquharson 19 out of 20 found this review helpful Posing the question 'are we a nation of gun nuts or just plain nuts?', Bowling for Columbine takes a polemic pot-shot at American gun culture and the media that supports #8211; and perpetuates #8211; it. pRevered by the little people, feared by the corporates and getting right up Charlton Heston's gun barrel, America's favourite whistle blower Michael Moore has armed himself with his own secret weapon #8211; humour - to create this engaging, entertaining and thought-provoking documentary. Starting point is the harrowing 1999 Columbine High School massacre #8211; in which 13 students were murdered. Before the two fellow students responsible carried out their killing spree, they had gone bowling...pThe opening scenes sees Moore, sporting his trademark baseball cap, casually open an account in a US bank which offers 'more bang for your buck!' (those who open an account there receive a free rifle in return). Moore's first question on obtaining his new firearm: 'Um... do you think it's a little dangerous handing out guns in a bank?'. pThe documentary goes on to explore America's trigger-happy society #8211; a country in which around 11,000 people die annually as a result of gun violence #8211; throwing up some chilling stories along the way: the murder of a six-year-old girl by a six-year-old boy; Columbine High School survivors still embedded with bullets bought over the counter at K-Mart; and the town of Virgin, Utah, that has passed a law requiring all residents to own guns... pMoore also aims his camera at Charlton Heston in the Oscar-winning actor's high-profile role as president of the NRA (National Rifle Association). 'Chuck' and his fellow fervent pro-gun lobbyists have developed a habit of organising their rallies on the spot of school shootings before victims have barely been mourned. pBorn, rather ironically, in Flint, Michigan, Moore share's the same birthday #8211; 23 April, 1954 #8211; with political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose release is another cause close to his leftist heart. Author of bestseller Stupid White Men and creator of satirical television series, the Emmy-winning TV Nation and The Awful Truth, Moore made his major breakthrough in 1989 with the documentary Roger Me. Made from funds raised by organising neighbourhood bingo games in his house, the film follows the anti-corporate crusader in his fruitless attempts to invite the chairman of General Motors, Roger Smith, out for a few beers. And, in his film The Big One (1997), Moore succeeds in securing a face-to-face interview with Nike CEO Phil Knight, famously challenging him on his company's shoes being produced by children in factories in Indonesia. Just a matter of months after the film's release, Nike raised the minimum age of workers in factories to 18. Bowling for Columbine also secures a similar coup during its making.pUnanimous winner of the Special Jury Prize at 2002#8217;s Cannes Film Festival (the first time in 46 years a documentary has been accepted into competition at the festival), it#8217;s world première on 17 May, 2002 was followed by a 13-minute standing ovation. And earlier this year, with Heston in the audience, Moore controversially picked up the Oscar for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards. Essential viewing. You absolutely, positively must see this March 4, 2003 W. G. Hardy 80 out of 89 found this review helpful Having seen this at the cinema, twice, I can understand why this documentary won it's award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002. pThe focus is primarily about gun ownership, and some history of gun laws, in the USA. Columbine High School is used as one of the illustrative examples of how and why the current legislation is not a good thing.brSome coverage is provided about the culture surrounding gun ownership, and the culture of fear that seems prevelant in american media over recent years. As a regular viewer of american news services (thank-you digital tv :-), I can attest to the accuracy of this coverage in comparison to that provided in europe. Michael Moore provides his own comparison - to media coverage of events in Canada. Also, some interesting insights from Marilyn Manson (who rose considerably in my estimation), which seem especially relevant as we sit on the cusp of Gulf War 2.brSomething which was clear to me from Moore's attempts to speak to someone senior in K-Mart, was that without making a fuss, and turning up without an attending media circus, no-one seemed particularly interested in listening to him and the students he was with. It seemed that only when revenue was potentially affected by bad press, was anyone prepared to take any form of action at all.pThe closing interview with Charlton Heston, and indeed some of his actions as president of the NRA, leaves one wondering how people of this ilk can sleep at night. Perhaps it's the loaded weapon under the pillow that does it for them, which I find as disturbing as some of the other images presented liberally throughout the documentary.pI speculate that there are those in the USA who will not take well to this. However, I felt that the documentary was well thought through, and presented a good case for attempting to remove guns from the population at large. It may also help a few people consider how a large number of people in europe view the USA.brThere's a lot more I could say about this, but you really are better seeing this for yourself. There's plenty in there to make you laugh, but there's even more that you'll watch from behind your hands in disbelief. You can be laughing one minute, and very misty eyed the next. You absolutely, positively must see this. The greatest documentary ever January 26, 2003 J. Smith (England) 53 out of 60 found this review helpful To say this is a powerful piece of filmmaking is to say that Star Wars was quite a successful film chain. This is a real life documentary from Micheal Moore (a member of the NRA himself) about America and their fixation with guns and how they are so deeply embedded in their culture that is has adversely affected their lives. Moore clearly depicts the fear that Americans live in, how their opinions are so visibly altered by television through broadcasters obsession with exciting television; which itself leads to dangerous propaganda and even racism. Whilst this is a harsh look at life within America it is filled with superbly ironic humour. You will laugh out loud, and I guarantee you will think 'only in America' at least once. However this ironic laughter only increases the effectiveness of the message. Whilst it may be somewhat one sided, it explains all its opinions and not one did I disagree with. Also you are unlikely to ever view Charlton Heston (the head of the NRA) in a positive light again. Simply an absolutely amazing film and the best documentary I have ever seen. American gun culture under scrutiny September 1, 2004 Sally-Anne (Leicestershire, United Kingdom) 31 out of 35 found this review helpful On the DVD cover this film is described as a "comic masterpiece" and "screamingly funny". I didn't find it very funny. I found it moving, worrying, thought provoking, uncompromising and angry - but not funny. Moore is a man on a mission. He's trying to cure his country of its self-destructive tendencies by holding a mirror up to it. He's saying look at this unlovely situation that we've contrived for ourselves with the help and encouragement of our government and our media. Does this look like "the land of the free"? Is this "the American dream"? We're living in fear of everything, real and imagined. We're persuaded to arm ourselves to the teeth in order to protect ourselves from threats that have been deliberately inflated in our minds out of all proportion to reality by our leaders and our TV programme makers. Guns are now so easily and casually available that small children can fish them out from drawers and under beds, take them to school and shoot their class-mates. Do we really want to continue to live in this state of fear and suspicion, over-reacting to every small provocation and writing-off our children as collateral damage?pHe's sets out his case with great skill, interviewing people on both sides of the firearms argument, including:p People who were involved in and affected by the horrific shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where two boys shot and killed 12 students and one teacher and wounded dozens more, expending about 900 rounds of legally purchased ammunition with their legally purchased firearms.p People in his old home town of Flint, Michigan, where a six year old boy found a gun in his uncle's house and took it to school where he shot a little girl in his class.p The president of the NRA (the foremost advocate of the right of Americans to own guns), Charlton Heston, who addressed NRA meetings at both towns shortly after their school shooting tragedies.p A man associated with the Michigan militia, who was initially implicated in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people, for which Timothy McVeigh was later executed. He asks the friend of McVeigh, who sleeps with a gun under his pillow (more out of fear of the power-mad state than burglars it seems), why, if he wants to resist government tyranny, he doesn't adopt Gandhi's tactic of non-violent resistance, by which the Indian people eventually succeeded in ejecting the horribly beweaponed and often exceedingly violent British from India. The man had no idea who Gandhi was and looked bemused at the idea that anything could be achieved without the threat of violence.p A manager at a factory where weapons of war are manufactured - the largest employer of people in Littleton. The manager could see no connection between American state violence and American gun culture. Michael Moore believes that there is likely to be a connection between a state ideology that deems it proper to attack or clandestinely undermine legitimate governments around the world in order to eliminate political leaders that the American government doesn't like, and the violent behaviour of private individuals living under such a system.pHe visits Canada to find out what the situation is in Ontario just across the river from Detroit. It's like another world. Even though gun ownership is very popular in Canada, people don't shoot each other. People don't even lock their doors. They do get burgled sometimes, but take a philosophical view of it. They don't allow relatively minor incidents to make them paranoid. Moore speaks to lots of friendly people in his quest to find out what is the difference between the two places, geographically so close but culturally so far apart. He concludes that the most important differences making Canada more tolerant and peaceful than the US are that 1) the state actually looks after its citizens when they fall on hard times, doesn't treat them like parasites, doesn't allow them to sink into poverty and 2) people aren't subjected to constant anxiety-inducing exaggeration of the danger from violent criminals and terrorists.pI found his arguments pretty persuasive. Must-See Informative Viewing June 6, 2003 Brandon L. Harlow (Colonial Heights, VA United States) 18 out of 20 found this review helpful I highly recommend this film. Extremely relevant to what is happening to the United States and the rise of violence, racism, bigotry in the wake of the theft of the 2000 election.pMichael Moore has the guts to stand up to the Republican/Corporate controlled media. Of course he has been villified by such hypocrites as Joe (dead intern found in his office) Scarborough, Ann (liberals should be shot) Coulter, and Lucianne (giving oral pleasure to Nixon) Goldberg, but they cannot refute the facts. Their only defense for Bush and gun nuts is that Michael Moore is "fat" and "ugly" therefore he has no credibility. Honey, if that were true Rush Lardbaugh would have been laughed off the airwaves years ago.pMoore goes to great lengths to expose the fascination with firearms including a bank that hands out free guns for opening a checking account, a look inside Littleton and a rare interview with Charleton (I sold my soul to the NRA) Heston. Showing reviews 1-5 of 93 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...19 Next »

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