Rating: 
Summary: YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS FILM!!
Review: I saw this film for the first time in my Media & Society class at the college I go to. I have to say that this film is very enlightening, and may bring up issues and facts that you never really noticed or thought about before.I think that this film does a great job of putting the problems of weapons into perspective. But you have to understand, not everyone can handle the truth. Especially when people show it in a funny and sarcastic way. You have to have a good sense of humor and an open mind to be able to watch this movie and really walk away from it with a message that makes an impact. The film is very funny, and is meant to be so. No one said you should expect your every day boring high school documentary. I think the reason that some parts of the movie were pretty sarcastic is because that might have only been the way to get through to people!! Some people just respond better to a message if they are entertained by it. So like I said, you have to approach this movie with an open mind and a sense of humor. Maybe rent it first before you buy it? But definately a movie to make sure you don't miss.... and it would always be good to keep around the house to show your friends. Great movie. A+
Rating: 
Summary: 3.5 stars
Review: BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE is pretty informative and funny docu-comedy, in which social critic Michael Moore investigates why America has a higher murder rate than just about any other country. Moore feels the root causes of our hyper-violence can be traced not to movies, television, video games, and music (hell, every other country has all that, and they don't do half the killing we do), but rather, fear induced by the news media, and slavery. Yep, you read that one right. SLAVERY. Why is it that blacks in the U.S. can use that as a crutch to get through life when in fact, EVERY NATION ON EARTH HAS ,AT SOME POINT, COMITTED THE CRIME OF SLAVERY? Too bad to, because just when BOWLING is really starting to adress some real issues and really begins to induce laughter, it detours for about a half hour into just another piece of blame-the-white-folks-for-all-the-world's-ills propaganda. Moore adresses such things as how black men are depicted on tv, as, well, criminals. Well, since a good deal of black men are either in jail, on parol, or on probation, I don't see why Moore is so confused as to their image on tv. Oh, and then there's the whole thing with the cartoon in BOWLING, which states that in 1871, the KKK, "became an Illegal terrorist organization." Well, duh. I sure as hell hope they're illegal for my sake, being that I'm Catholic, and they're White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP). At any rate, that's BOWLING's Achille's heel. But, for the most part, it is a good documentary. I'm 17, and after seeing it, I said, "Finally, there's an adult out there who sees how stupid all the Post-Columbine Zero Tolerance non-sense is." During my seventh grade year, teachers in my school forced us students to do the same thing some teachers in BOWLING forced their students to do:TUCK IN OUR SHIRTS.........."Making the belt line visible at all times." This is just an abbreviation of the contents of BOWLING, but if your'e intersted in learning why America is #1 murder wise, go BOWLING.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Genius Excellent Film
Review: This film is pure genius. Michael Moore does an excellent job of showing American society's violent nature. He makes a wnoderful job at making this film very entertaining in the process. The film tries to explain the problems whit American society and why things happen in this country. Very thougth-provoking and good natured film. This man is a genius. Anyone giving this film a bad rating is just plain evil and not concerned with the problems that less fortunate individuals enocunter everyday.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone has an agenda, so get over it!
Review: No one ever said documentaries are unbiased, so for those who rated this a one or a zero, they need to pull their heads out of the sand. Do you think your newspaper or TV news isn't biased? Everyone has an agenda. This film, in essence, asks a lot of great questions and doesn't pretend to have all the answers. One of the main questions he asks is: what's up with all the gun deaths in the USA? Michael Moore has made a great film. It's well-done, effective, and everything is top quality. Regardless of whether or not you agree with him, you can't say he's a bad filmmaker. This film will make you think and talk and question, and will help you be a healthy skeptic about the media in general. It seems that most people who hate this film are fans of the NRA and think patriots wouldn't dare question their government. If asking questions is something you believe in, then you'll probably love this documentary. It made me cry and laugh and think a whole helluva lot, which is more than you can say for most feature films. Particular favorites: the racism of honeybees, the quick history of the USA (in cartoon), and the summary of American foreign policy. There is a lot of sensitive stuff in this film - including footage from within Columbine High School - so be warned. And like I said, if you're a diehard gun totin' George W Bush fan, you won't enjoy this.
Rating: 
Summary: The Cult Of Moore.
Review: Well, where to start tearing into this load of garbage is the tough part. As many of my fellow reviewers pointed out, this film has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH REALITY. Mike plays with facts, mocks innocent working class people and basically produces a warped view of the history of American gun laws and the nature of random violence. Mike's not-so-subtle manipulation of images should be obvious to even the most casual film fan. Moore never interviews criminologists, psychologists, or social workers on the topic of violence. Instead Moore turns to the air-headed Marilyn Manson for insight on the horror at Columbine. To interview experts would only get in the way of Mike's thesis which is : That anyone in America who disagrees with Michael Moore and his fans on gun control is a dumb, racist, violent hillbilly! Moore focuses on the weirdest and most confused segment of pro-gun working class America and gleefuly exploits thier less than sophisticated language skills. This approach comforts Moore's mostly educated and urban audience who will never even venture away from the cafe long enought to ever meet any of these "primitive gun-lovin' hillbillys". Gee, and I thought Moore was a workin' man's best friend. Moore also not-so-cleverly attempts to convince his upscale fans that Canada is a wonderful fantasy land where violence is rare and people never lock thier doors. Canadians are portrayed as dull simpletons who don't have an aggressive bone in thier bodies. PLEASE! Just last month there was a major killfest in Toronto where 4 people were killed in separate shootings. These people were all killed with, yep, you guessed it, UNREGISTERED GUNS. Mr. Moore, I live in east end Toronto and I triple lock my doors. One part that almost made me leave the theatre was the moronic cartoon about the " history " of violence in the U.S.. Talk about the oversimplification of complex social and political concepts! The Klan and NRA couldn't be farther apart politicaly! To blame ALL gun related violence ( even Black on Black violence) on some half-baked racial theory is simply insane. Moore suggests that violence, by some unexplained psychological process, is caused by white peoples envy and fear of African Americans. This cartoon segment did the most damage to Michael's already confused and juvenile argument. What is even more shocking is that fans of this film don't for one second question the facts or Moore's motives. The cult of Moore is as fanatic and narrow minded as the militants and gun lovers that they hate so much. Moore works on and exploits the pliable minds of his hysterical and paranoid audience and takes them on a journey through his psychotic and self-centred world view. Instead of producing a subtle and convincing documentary, Moore uses the language and entertaining style of the mass media that he claims to hate so much. This film is just a MTV, CNN, NBC or CBS style paranoia-fest that offers simple social commentary mixed with sensational footage. Moore shamelesly uses footage from the Columbine massacre in order to scare his audience into compliance with his twisted thesis. I'm not a huge fan of assault rifles, nor do I support super right-wing corporate maniacs. This film is simply dishonest and ultimately fails to convince me of anything. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Worthless use of Crew, Equipment, etc
Review: Waste of my time...documentary? Hardly. I think Moore is the fool of the century. I used to respect him as a filmmaker, but now you couldn't pay me to watch anything this person generates given his stretch of truths which I can understand and respect if he wouldn't go and tout his work as factual. Had this been an accurate accounting of events, it would then be classified as a documentary.
Rating:
Summary: A compassionate man working for change in the world
Review: Since I haven't watched television for seven years, I don't always hear the hype and diatribe rampant in the media. I had read about Michael Moore in various articles and was intrigued by the reviews regarding "Bowling for Columbine." From the articles I had read, I was expecting a much different sort of liberal spokesperson -- a more vicious and acerbic opponent of the conservative. As creative and humorous as Michael Moore is, the particular characteristic that most impressed me in seeing "Bowling for Columbine" is... his compassion. It seems to me that Michael's compassion for others is his driving motivation. "Bowling for Columbine" poses serious questions that are deeply disturbing. Often, the bigger issues of our society seem SO BIG, so insurmountable -- the social ills that Michael addresses are certainly of that ilk. But I was particularly filled with inspiration, in watching this movie, that change in the world can be wrought by the seemingly small actions of individuals. That seems to be the message that Michael seeks to impart -- you, as an individual, can make a difference. It was reminiscent to me of Ghandi's message: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." You may, or may not, agree with the change that Michael wishes to see in the world -- that debate is apparent from reading these reviews. However, the fact that this man, driven by his compassion for others, was willing to stand and take action for his convictions is deeply effective to me.
Rating:
Summary: If Only Moore Would Have Produced A Documentary
Review: That this film is still being called a "documentary" is a slap in the face of those who produce documentaries. Moore has very artfully packaged political commentary and sold it as "truth". If you Google around the web, you'll find many examples of how Moore massaged his message and staged this flick to conform to his beliefs. If you think this film is "truthful" you must also believe Stone's "JFK" is factually correct.
Rating:
Summary: Mock-umentary!
Review: This movie is Liberal, Hollywood garbage. Moore distorts the facts and statistics, then expects American to believe. The sad thing is, he's conviced many weak minded people to back is anti-gun, anit-American views. Very sad.
Rating:
Summary: open your eyes!
Review: the documentary did really well in greece and everybody was suggesting to watch it.it took me a while though
coicidentially we are up for a elections in 2 months time and the documentary really opened my eyes and thought. so many questions of mine were answered about the american community and where this world is going to. unfortunately the picture is not nice and i am sure that there are so many of you out there that don't understand why people get killed, why goverments use us as play toys etc etc.
WATCH THIS MOVIE ! YOU WILL FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN A WORLD CLASSROOM WITH MICHAEL MOORE AS A HUMOROUS PROFESSOR!!! P.S. it actually helped me decide who i definately not going to vote in these elections in greece ....
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