Rating: 
Summary: Projecting a larger conviction
Review: Michael Moore does a great job in this film of conveying America's ignorant rightwing middle-class, upper-class, Bush and his demonesque administration, and the greedy, apathethic corporations of America all by utilizing one subject... why are there more murders with guns in America than there are anywhere else?You may see a few bad reviews on this film, they probably have one star, and have a few sentences. Believe me oh brothers and sisters, these people are the main subject of this film and that is why they leave such rubbish. Those are the ones who have been conditioned by our media and have no knowledge of the grander scheme in which this film portreys. Just by tackling the issue of guns (no this movie is not really about gun control) Moore presents to us the true face of America. Corporations own America. Corporations own America's political parties. Corporations own the media. Coporations own you. Corporations want more revenue. Corporations have little consideration for your mental stability, health or well being, or the rest of the world. All they see us as, is a consumer in which they can squeeze out a few more dollars. This is the true nature of this film. But the way it is presented is very entertaining and humorous. I do think this film is biased, and he uses a figure that we know, Charleton Heston to be targeted as an enemy. This is one downfall of the movie, using an icon and reducing him to slime. Just realize that the Heston part of the film is highly biased, and is slightly inaccurate just for blames sake. But when you see reviews that give this film one star, those are just right-wing ignorants that don't understand the US, politics or the fact that they are locked into their television, brainwashed and have no clue of what is going on in the world and the grander corporate scheme we're all locked into. This film is great.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie blew.
Review: An obvious work of fiction. I can't believe this loud mouth idiot actually won any awards for this vile crap. *IF* he would have presented a more even handed view, I'd probably be more merciful. Until then, may he choke on stale donuts.
Rating: 
Summary: Something has to open our eyes
Review: In this documentary, Michael Moore uses his unique brand of wit to explore America's obsession with guns and violence. He depicts facts about our country's bloody past and present hitting the streets to talk to real people who are all in one way or another affected by guns. He makes you think as he tries to uncover why America has the highest death rate of people killed by guns in the world. I couldn't believe how different it is just to live in Canada. They support each other and have pride in who they are, unlike America's self-centered every-person-for-themselves attitude. The Canadian evening news actually talks about good things and their citizens don't live in constant fear. They had maybe 60 some gun related deaths in the past year to America's staggering 11,000 or so. Still, it isn't so much a film on gun control as it is a film on how we live daily in conformity, and how we are conditioned to believe things based on what we see in the media. He shows the sad stupidity of religious groups picketing a Marilyn Manson concert with the claims that Manson condones violence. But yet the hypocrites state that they won't let Manson in their city "not without a fight." Moore allows Manson to share his views, which is something that a lot of people need to do, just sit down and listen and find out the truth about things before passing judgment. Moore challenges each and everyone one of us to use our freedoms as Americans to try and change the oppressiveness of our country, to stop fearing diversity and to speak up and have a voice. The first step in doing this is to just turn off the television. Stop bombarding our brains with all the negativity, blood shed, and urban legends that is conditioned into us so that we remain living in fear.
With this, Moore won a much deserved Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The DVD includes a lot of extras including his feelings on winning the Oscar and about his Oscar speech. Bowling for Columbine is a very moving documentary that I think as Americans, everyone owes to themselves to experience.
Rating:
Summary: Insulting to my dogs intelligence!
Review: I don't understand what anyone could see in this. Mr. Moore seems to think he can convince people that anything they see on film is true. The sad truth is he's right.
Rating:
Summary: Factually flawed and deceptive. NOT worth buying.
Review: Full of misleading facts and statistics. This WORK OF FICTION is hard to watch. Call it Michael Moore's propaganda flik.
Rating:
Summary: hopeless nation
Review: The movie was fascinating and illuminating. But the reviews for the movie on amazon are even more interesting. Look through them and you will see that all the 1 star right-wing thoughtless one-liner reviews have MULTIPLE individuals voting that each such review was "helpful". In many ways, and sadly, this speaks about America's sorry state of mind and future -- and the lengths to which the radical/hick right are willing to go --- louder than the movie does. Highly recommended for any real thinking American whose father is not his brother.
Rating:
Summary: This is making Republican voting students turn Democrat!
Review: This book is making even Republican voting students think seriously about voting Democrat! I am a theologically conservative Evangelical Christian, but like most of my fellow Brits, whether Tony Blair supporters (like me) or hard-line Conservatives, we are ALL, across ALL the parties, very worried about guns - even the most right-wing ultra-conservative Thatcherite Home Secretary, Michael Howard, voted in a very restrictive gun law a few years back after a Columbine style incident in Dunblane, Scotland. So in Britain the right and the left, Evangelicals and atheists, ALL support gun law restrictions. If a film like this one, however over the top Moore often is, convinces ordinary decent American citizens, Republicans and Democrats, to introduce realistic gun control laws in the USA, it has been well worth while. Christopher Catherwood, Evangelical Christian, Labour Party voter and author of CHRISTIANS MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)
Rating:
Summary: A clever piece of fiction
Review: This so-called "award-winning documentary" is neither very award-winning nor, more importantly, very much of a documentary. It is, indeed, a clever piece of social and political propaganda using a quasi-documentary format. There have been many, many articles, newspaper columns, and web site postings that document the numerous and insidious distortions of fact and misrepresentations of people and events in this film. What I cannot understand is how this man and his books and movies have received so many awards and accolades. If I were superstitious I would say there is something evil loose in the world. How can, for example a work of fiction-- this movie -- win the Oscar for "best documentary"? Maybe Mr. Moore just threatens to sit on everyone, thereby getting his way. Bottom line, watch it for entertainment value only. You will find no truth here.
Rating:
Summary: Every true American should watch this with an open mind
Review: First of all, ideologically blinded conservatives and those who believe in every citizen's right to own an arsenal of weapons shouldn't bother with this, because they will see nothing to alter their prejudices. But this movie should be required viewing for every American who still has an open mind and is concerned about the direction in which our once great country is heading. If you are one of those who wonder why the rest of the world has a problem with us (and don't buy the simplistic reasoning that "they hate our freedoms", even though many nations now enjoy greater democratic freedoms than we do), Michael Moore's Oscar-winning masterpiece might provide some answers. I am not going to quibble with the one-star "critics" who either haven't seen the movie or had already made up their minds before doing so. I respect their opinions and their right to voice them, even if they don't show the same courtesy to those of us who want some tough questions answered in a thoughtful way. That is the point of Moore's work. He is a true American hero in the respect that he refuses to be bullied by right-wing "hateriots" and stands up for his beliefs even when they are unfashionable. But Moore is actually a minor participant in BFC. The star of the movie is, in fact, America. The premise of Columbine is to ask why America is such a violent and hostile society. Surprisingly, Moore does not go for the easy cop-out by suggesting that it is all about our gun laws (as he demonstrates, Canada is even more of a gun-loving nation, yet has only a tiny fraction of the gun-related crime that we do). Neither does he suggest that it is because of violent movies or video games (after all, they watch and play the same movies and games in the rest of the world). Instead, he posits the idea that violence, paranoia and fear is a fundamental element of American history and culture. We have a popular culture that practices sensationalism, and a media that perpetuates fear in the quest for ratings. Our history is littered with episodes where we have overreacted out of fear and paranoia, which is one of the things that the rest of the world finds so bewildering about us. Whether it is fear of minorities, Communists, liberals, conservatives, terrorists, anarchists, the rich, the poor, killer diseases, killer bees, Y2K, losing our jobs, being burgled, raped, murdered or kidnapped, fear and paranoia dominate our national psyche. Which brings Moore (who, incidentally, is a member of the NRA) to raise the fascinating point that a nation that is so afraid and paranoid should not be trusted with guns. One of the most poignant and disturbing scenes in this movie is a montage of U.S. atrocities around the world over the past fifty years, set against the soundtrack of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World". No commentary is needed as we see how tens of thousands of third-world civilians have been murdered as a result of U.S. foreign policy, nor how four million Asians were killed by U.S. forces, nor how we have routinely overthrown democratically elected leaders who dare to disagree with us, and provoked civil wars to suit our own narrow objectives, nor how we trained terrorists and supported dictators that would later turn on their master. The montage concludes, chillingly, with footage of the World Trade Center being destroyed. Some of Moore's assertions miss their mark, most notably the insinuation that Clinton's bombing raids on Serbia may have inspired the Columbine shooters to murder twelve students and one teacher. On the other hand, he doesn't set out to blame any particular group, person or ideology for the violence in our society. The depressing conclusion is that this is just who we are, and we are stuck with it. Moore's success is in illustrating the hypocrisy of American culture and accepted political ideology. He does point us toward how we might become a more rounded, gentler and kinder society, but he doesn't seem to hold out much hope that we can ever do it. Everybody will draw their own conclusions from this amazing piece of work. The conclusion I drew is that we Americans are prisoners of our own history, and if violence made this country what it is, then violence could also be our ultimate undoing.
Rating:
Summary: Take back the Oscar
Review: This is not a documentary. Moore should be ashamed for profiting off of this tragedy.
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