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Summary: Talk about perspectives
Review: So I saw this movie when it was in theaters way back yonder, and thought it was a pretty interesting flick. Some aforementioned comments speak of how absurd it is, the military chasing down arabs and/or preaching about racism, but if anyone really checked their history book, it wouldn't have been the first time the US military imprisoned people because of their ethnicity; just look at the Japanese Internment camps. Granted, we all learned our lesson since, but the point of the movie was a big "what if" in modern terms.Now fast forward years later in a post 9/11 world. This isn't such a bizarre movie after all. Matter of fact, during the aftermath of it all, this movie did in fact pop into my head. Terrorism in New York (in different fashions, but similar meaning) by Islamic extremists and the reaction of such events as seen from a couple different aspects. It wasn't too far off. There are some very cinematic elements thrown in, but the really subtle stuff that didn't pertain to the story is really what bled through. If anything, just watch this movie to compare our view of terrorism then (which we obviously underestimated) and now. Sure it's not an Oscar caliber flick or anything, but it's a good one to watch on occasion.
Rating: 
Summary: This film is garbage
Review: ... To give a narrative of the movie: Islamic terrorist are bombing New York because the US is holding a Sheikh captive and in the end it turns out it's all the fault of the US military(who captured the Sheikh in a covert operation); oh, and good measure the army, under martial law, runs rampant through the streets capturing every Arab they can find and tossing them into constantine wire cages, while angry New Yorkers attack Arab owned businesses, ala Nazi Kristallnacht--just plain stupid. The films attempt to enlighten its' viewers to the idea that Americas are ultimately responsible for the actions militant islamic fanatics is not only a tired ploy, but also is only a reality that exists in deluded minds of this films creators. I think after 9/11 it should be clear that fundamentalist nutcases are just that-- nuts.
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Summary: Denzel deserved an Oscar for this one
Review: This film is a frightening but superb look at the ineptness of American Federal agencies and America's involvements in foreign affairs. Denzel's character is admittedly idealistic about his enforcement of the constitution of the United States and even basic human decency. He finds himself caught up in the unthinkable. Denzel turns in an Oscar winning performance along with excellent back up from Tony Shaloub and Bruce Willis who put their best acting abilities into this movie.
The excellent acting and frightening scenario of choices, definitely make this a thinking persons film. This movie is not anti-anyone, but rather shows what wrong thinking on any side of a conflict can do especially with this emotional issue.
This is a must see for it's political content, and also proves that Denzel deserved an Oscar long before he really won one.
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Summary: Ahead of its time
Review: This movie came out before Americans ever really thought that terrorist attacks on our soil were a possibility. But it rings true and offers up many thoughts to ponder. Denzel Washington plays the FBI agent in charge of the investigation of the bombings that are destroying New York City. Annette Bening plays the CIA agent who is working towards the same end but from a different angle. The problem is, she is not being up front with the FBI and hiding her sources and much of her information. Do you think this is not possible even today? There has been much talk about the lack of communications between the agencies. While Denzel and Annette turn in fine performances it is Bruce Willis who steals the show. As the Army General who is eventually given the task of setting up the rules of martial law in New York City and taking control of the situation. Bruce's character argues against martial law and tries to explain to anyone who will listen that the U.S. Army is something that they do not want involved in this. That the army is not a swift sword but a massive blunt device that can not surgically remove the problem. But no one heads his message and when he is ordered to take control he does so with brute force. Setting up "concentration camps" of Arab Americans and shutting down the exits from the city with tanks. Tanks in New York City! Is it far fetched to think it is possible if the terrorism gets worse on our soil, that we could set up these types of camps? Again and again we see the different views of how to proceed from the FBI, CIA and U.S. Armed Forces. A study in our government and their reaction in a small way. This movie was an eye opening when it came out but unfortunately written off as nonbelievable by too many. Buy this movie, rent this movie, borrow this movie, but see this movie. You will be glad you did.
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Summary: A Sign of Our Times
Review: It is atrocious the way our society and Western countries have treated Arabs in real life and reel life in the past century and recently. That is why one should see this movie. The movie was well written, well directed, well acted- especially Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington. It was enjoyable to watch, a work of art, gripping, and thought provoking. Thus it is sad the Arab-American community so completely missed the point of the movie, but understandable. There were many protests of this movie for being anti-Arab when it came out. However, Arab-Americans largely do not relate to the great Tragedy and Atrocity that European-Americans committed in WWII, with the Japanese concentration camps. They largely do not experience the collective guilt and shame over such evil, stereotyping loyal Americans simply because of their ethnicity and resemblance to the enemy. This is the point of The Siege. It is quite clear from the movie that the real evil is not the Arab Terrorist, but Bruce Willis' character, as the tragic villain who realizes the crime against humanity which he has perpetuated. The most moving moment in the film is seeing the round up of Arab-Americans. It is seeing America do the same thing it did 50 years ago to the Japanese, and for the same reasons- Ignorance bred from Fear. The movie had to have Arabs as the terrorists, in order to warn against the very plausible evil of typing all Arabs as evil. Far from a token Arab guy on the FBI team, the one FBI individual focuses us on how we look for tokenism and stereotyping in order to morally assuage ourselves. The film shows the constitution applying only if you are not of Arabic descent- as today. We need more films like this in order for America to see what it is doing because of it's fear. There are only about 10 films in movie history that show Arabs in a good light- out of about 1,000 depicting Arabs (see Reel Bad Arabs by Jack Shaheen). This movie shows us the belief system that explains why.
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Summary: Great thriller marred only by sketchy characters
Review: NOTE: This review was written May, 1999 A decade ago, a movie like The Siege might have been written off as a paranoid scenario produced by an overactive imagination. Today, this tale of Federal government agencies' fighting over how to deal with a series of terrorist attacks seems almost too plausible. Its realism may have lowered its entertainment quotient. The main characters each represent an agency responsible for protection this nation and its citizens. Denzel Washington is Anthony, a highly placed agent in the FBI's New York City office. Elise [Annette Bening] is a veteran CIA agent, while Gen. William Devereaux [Bruce Willis] represents the Army. Followers of a missing Arab terrorist leader begin a systematic series of attacks on public places in The Big Apple. These become progressively larger and more horrendous. The problem is compounded by the fact that the demands of the terrorists are vague. The identity of the culprits is hard to figure out. The idea that they are on a suicide mission becomes increasingly evident. The action sequences of this thriller are by the book, and the characters are fairly stock ones. Still, the story manages to be above average. Its creators realized that this was a complex subject. How would our government handle such a situation? How can we know? It's never happened before on such a massive scale. Would we remain level headed, or would we rush to mandate martial law? Could the result of such events be our relinquishing our own freedoms? While The Siege has a proper movie climax, the makers do not pretend to have the answers. The issue of big government is also addressed. The Federal government is so vast and bureaucratic that the movie suggest that different agencies would respond in different ways. Lines of communication between the FBI, the CIA and the Armed Forces are not clearly defined. Perhaps they would fight - and thus cancel out - each other. The Presidency and the Congress have become so politically polarized that their coming up with a quick, unified answer does seem a bit farfetched. A variation of the nightmare scenario that The Siege suggests seems probable. Washington, Bening and Willis are always professional and fun to watch. In this case, they are given fairly sketchy characters to work with. This is the film's main failing. There are moments of edge-of-your-seat thrills. The plot is thought provoking. But with all the "heroes" having an aura of cardboard about them, it is hard for the movie to involve the audience as deeply as it might have. This is a shame, because it prevents The Siege from being the best movie thriller of recent years.
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Summary: A Little Scary
Review: I first saw this movie in December of 2001. It's hard to believe that the army actually would be called into New York because of terrorists, but it happened. The good thing about this movie is that it is a wake up call, not about terrorism but for how we treat others. The scenes where the Arab men are treated poorly(I don't want to give too much away) really hit home. The radio voice overs degrading Arab people really was disturbing, mostly because it is how some people have reacted since 9/11. How we have de-valued our Arab brothers and sisters because of the actions of a few fanatics. This movie wasn't too far off, we treated Arab-Americans and Arab-Canadians very similar to that which was portrayed in the movie. Forgive us, please. Now back to the movie, the cast was chosen well with the exception of Annette Benning. Bruce Willis was awesome and Tony Shalhoub was fabulous in his supporting role. Denzel was the usual Denzel. Some of the cast could have been chosen better. Overall a good movie that was marred by the acts of 9/11. If only we could says that this movie was just fiction.
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Summary: Totally Stupid
Review: I've got no problem with far-fetched plots, but let's not get carried away. There needs to be something believable, and in this movie, nothing was. Denzel Washington plays an Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field office of the FBI. Faced with a terrorist hoax, the FBI team goes into action, jumping right into the middle of a real terrorist cell that is beginning to blow things up. Somehow, the New York FBI and numerous other intelligence agencies had no clue a terrorist cell was operating in Brooklyn. With belated help from a rouge NSA (actually, National Security Council [???]) agent, the FBI think's it's got it's hands on the terrorists. But after repeated bombings, the President decides martial law is in order (yea, right) and sends in Bruce Willis and the Army to lock down New York and immediately start butting heads with the FBI. OK, fine. There's interagency rivalries. That's nothing new. But Washington's character, an ASAC, apparantly has the autonomy to run an entire investigation of unprecedented domestic terrorism without any input or supervision from Washington (D.C.) and the DOJ. That's just plain dumb. There was no point in this movie that was the least bit interesting. Not one. Nothing here was even remotely life-like.
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Summary: Sep 11 has changed my opinion about this movie
Review: I wrote a review for this movie before Sep 11 and was annoyed because of its portrayal of Muslims and some of the casting decisions made in the movie. My review still stands and you can read it if you dig deep in the Amazon.com web site. But I must commend Edward Zwick when I saw this again after Sep 11. What I felt then was that Mr. Zwick was imagining something implausible. Anyway the worst nightmare has actually come true and real life was even more dramatic then the events shown in the movie. Do watch this one as it is a very engaging story and its portrayal of Arab American especially Tony Shalhoub's acting is spot on. If Mr. Zwick had dwelt on the reasons for the Arab outrage against Israel and America the movie would have gotten five stars from me.
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Summary: LIfe Imitates Art - 9/11/2001
Review: Having watched The Siege before, the events of September 11 were a reality check. One of the first things I thought upon hearing that planes had hit the World Trade Center was of this movie. While this is a fictional account, it is a somber reminder of what could have happened in real life. Watching this movie after the attacks, it takes on an entirely different meaning to me. Everyone has changed in some fashion after the tragedy, and this movie is an example of just how confident we were in our national security. Denzel Washington, in the lead role, portrays a very convincing anti-terrorism agent with the F.B.I. The casting of Tony Shaloub (Wings) as his Arab-American partner brings the other side of the argument into play - being blamed for something because you share a race or some other identifiable characteristic with a group. While this movie was not meant to be any sort of documentary or reality-based production, it also manages to provide a sense of understanding about what the FBI has to do when investigating such incidents. This movie was good before the attacks, now it it much more meaningful for them.
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