politalX Politics Store - Bowling for Columbine
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $7.99
Your Save: $ 6.99 ( 47% )
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Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Starring: Michael Caldwell, Dick Cheney, Dick Clark, Bill Clinton, Byron Dorgan
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: MOORE,MICHAEL
EAN: 0027616882264
Format: Anamorphic
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2003-08-19
Running Time: 119
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
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Editorial Reviews:
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Explores people's facination with the handgun and the possible reasons for the increase in gun violence in the United States.
Genre: Documentary
Rating: R
Release Date: 13-FEB-2007
Media Type: DVD
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting Twist
Comment: This movie explained a lot of the why of Columbine. It was funny and yet sad. It showed how one man (Michael Moore) could insert his own beliefs into what was supposedly a documentary. I would recommend this movie if you have the ability to see past the biased reporting.Across the Universe (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wants To Eat His Cake & Have It Too
Comment: Bowling for Columbine is, like all of Michael Moore's films, a well-made and entertaining film. I believe that it has value, even if, as its detractors claim (and apparently with some justification), it isn't always scrupulously honest in its presentation of the facts.
Michael Moore may feel that he is serving some higher purpose which justifies a certain amount of misrepresentation. Maybe he believes that his *message* is true, which allows for some shading on the particulars. I don't agree with that point of view, and I don't respect any intentional deception on Moore's part, but I think that this doesn't devalue Moore's work altogether, so long as the viewer is discriminating and willing to ask questions. After all, there is propaganda on both sides of every issue, so it isn't as though Moore's films require some special skill unique unto them. No, Moore's films just require that we be critical thinkers, which hopefully we are in the first place.
In Bowling for Columbine, I was fully willing to be lead down whatever path Moore chose. I expected the man to drive some solid point home, notwithstanding arguments to the contrary or further investigation. What I found, however, was that Moore was slightly unclear in his expose on the nature of gun violence in the US. "Slightly unclear" is weak; actually, he's pretty muddled.
Moore doesn't want to blame cinema, video games, etc. (and allows no forum for those who would blame them), but seems willing to blame the violence in the news, and American engagements overseas... Do we really think that children are more inspired to violence by, say, reports from Afghanistan, than they are by the Matrix? How many kids regularly even watch the 6 o'clock news? I've heard stories of children doing violent things based off of what they've seen in professional wrestling, or Beavis & Butthead, or Grand Theft Auto, but I've never heard of any instance where a kid said he was inspired by the bombings in Kosovo.
Now... I, myself, don't blame movies or video games either, but that's not my point. My point is that Moore wants to uphold these ideas of "influence" when convenient to him, and drop them when not. Later, he debunks the idea that a country's history has direct ties to its gun violence (i.e. all of the blood that Germany has on "its hands," yet its people are peaceful)... but offers up missile construction in Littleton as suggestive evidence of what might have caused the Columbine massacre.
Moore thinks that the problem is the easy availability of guns and ammunition (K-Mart), but notes that this isn't really true in Canada (where they find similar product in a Wal-Mart). So... if Canada can have a lot of guns & ammo, but not the same rates of violence... then... why blame the problem on such availability in the US?
It would be one thing if Moore finally tossed up his hands and said -- "Well, gosh, I just don't know what the root of the violence is!" but that's not what he does. He feels free to blame the availability of guns when he wants to strike against K-Mart, and to debunk the guns argument when praising Canada; he is equally as convinced of either side of the argument, depending on which segment you're watching.
Moore, at times, feels that "fear," foisted on the American public by our ratings-hungry media, is the root of our violence, and seems to suggest that there's nothing really to be afraid of (hell -- we should be like Canada, and leave our doors unlocked at night)... but then presents statistics that seem to infer that America *really is* more violent (and an epidemic of school shootings, right?)... so which is it? Is there really nothing to be afraid of but fear itself? Or do we have a violence crisis, and are justified in locking up at night? Both. Neither. Again, it depends on the segment because Moore has no cohesive, consistent point of view in this film.
Moore shows off his "life-long" NRA membership, but never troubles us with an explanation as to what could prompt such a thing. He (seemingly) agrees with Charlton Heston that the right to keep and bear arms is a good thing, but lampoons the 2nd Amendment as a hick defense against people of color in his cartoon history of the United States.
In short, this film never aspires to the heights of propaganda because the best propaganda has a clear message. Moore is always clear, but pulls in different directions at different times in his movie, depending on what best serves his immediate purpose. If a person keeps it *all* in mind, from beginning to end, they realize that Moore ultimately doesn't know what the cause of American youth violence is.
And... that's fine. Neither do I. And I would respect this film more if Moore were more upfront about it. Instead, he strongly blames the NRA, and overseas military engagements, and the media, and gun availability, and exhonorates all of the same, in turn, when it suits him.
Still and all, fun to watch. Four stars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bernie Goetz is my hero
Comment: Although I enjoyed parts of this film, I do not believe that the NRA or the honest establishments who provide firearms or the honest Americans who choose to defend themselves (against these animals who have no regard for life and no regard for humanity) are the problem or the issue. Michael Moore through his documentary "Bowling for Columbine" apparently has a different opinion. Basically the point of this movie is to articulate that: people don't kill people, guns kill people. It's not a new way of thinking. But perhaps it's more marketable or more typical since over the last 10 years we have seen an honest to goodness war on decent Americans. What is the cause of this? And, what is the solution? What are some options for Americans? This documentary does not provide any answers, unfortunately. Instead, MM unilaterally attacks those who choose to bear arms, those who have not broken any laws and those who have only been good, decent people. The interview with Marilyn Manson was foolish and pathetic at best. How is any pop singer an expert on anything; especially gun control? I also found the interview with Mr. Charleton Heston (may he rest in peace) interesting, although sad. Because this video takes the opinion that any member of the NRA is doing something surreptitious. I could never allow a gun in my home, but I believe that all responsible Americans who follow the law and who choose to protect themselves and their family have every single right to own one. This is our county just as much as the criminals (maybe more so.) I say, fight the real enemy!
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Summary: total nonsense
Comment: highly edited piece of total nonsense by a radical left wing canadian who hates the usa yet still finds the time and energy to make a ton of money by criticizing it ... this review applies to all of his movies . i hope that if he does get sick he gets his care in his beloved cuba ....good luck
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another partial to no truth science fiction
Comment: People keep paying for movies made by a person who has wasted his "talent" on partial truths to flat out lies. What type of a person would waste his life on lies? Oh, yeah...a person who wants to make money off of ignorant people(I say this with no intentions to insult).
It is ashame that people, like Mr. Moore, are not held accountable for their deceit. Well, eventually they will be. I actually feel sorry for him and for those who believe that he is telling them the truth.
People like Mr. Moore actually hold back the truth and belittle and attack those who hold truth and honor as being important.
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