Rating: 
Summary: Flawed but Hilarious
Review: Michael Moore's latest is engaging cinema, to say the least. His sarcastic, ultra-liberal approach to "the awful truths" of America have never been so entertaining. It's a cross between Candid Camera and 60 Minutes.
This time, he confronts the gun-culture of America. He highlights the fact that Charleton Heston and his merry band of pro-gun extremists held a rally near Columbine shortly after the tragedy there. Then, he and his ilk held ANOTHER gun-rally shortly after another child/gun tragedy in Flint, MI where a 6-year old child shot and killed a 6-year old classmate (Heston claims in the final interview of the film that he didn't know this had just happened when he appeared in Flint). Heston really shines when he claims that the reason for all of the violence in America is due to "mixed ethnicity". This statement is almost as jaw-dropping as Bob Eubanks' anti-semetic joke in Moore's debut, "Roger & Me", unless of course, you are a bigot.Also interviewed, and similarly pathetic, is James Nichols, brother of Terry Nichols and friend of Timothy McVeigh, both convicted in the Oklahoma City bombing. James, of course, is pro-gun, but doesn't believe the right to bear arms includes nuclear weapons ("There are a lot of nuts out there," he claims, to the howling delight of the audience). Marilyn Manson pops up also, commenting on how he was also blamed for Columbine because the idiots that killed at Columbine listened to his music. Another highlight is when Michael invites two Columbine survivors to join him at the K-mart headquarters in Troy, MI, to "return the bullets" that are still embedded in their flesh from the Columbine attack (reportedly purchased from the local K-mart). This stunt results in K-mart's announcement that they will be pulling ammunition off of their shelves, to Moore's own astonishment. Although there is a lot of serious business in the movie, it is packaged with enough laugh-out-loud footage to make it bearable, even entertaining, even in light of the constant barrage of violence played out on nightly newscasts. The only major downside is Moore's lack of thoroughness in certain areas. For instance, he claims Canada has as many guns as we do in America, and therefore the death-by-gun rate should be the same (of course Canada has FAR fewer gun-related deaths than the U.S.). However, Canada bans handgun ownership. This is not pointed out. Also, he tries to blame Michigan's "Welfare to Work" program for the classroom shooting of the 6-year old child, his claim being that because the mother of the shooter had to work far from home (via bussing), she had to leave her children in the care of her brother, who owned the gun that the child found and brought to school. This is a stretch, as when he also blames General Motors for this tragedy, inferring that it was because GM ruined Flint, MI that this tragedy occured. These tangents, although interesting, often seem somewhat scattershot. There are other flaws as well, and many will depend on your viewpoint, but no matter what you think about Michael Moore or gun control, this movie is funny, thought-provoking and will stick with you awhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Counterpoint
Review: O.k., hundreds of people have posted in their reviews the right wing web site that attacks Michael Moore's "Bowling For Columbine". Here is Michael's response: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/wackoattacko/ 1) No, buying the gun in the bank was not staged.
2) Of course Lockheed would not let him film a "weapons" rocket, but they are still the largest weapons-maker in the world and Titan IV rockets among others are manufactured in Littleton.
3) Yes, Heston did speak in Denver 10 days after Columbine
...and so on. I just thought people should be able to see the other side of the story.
Rating:
Summary: review from France
Review: hi! i've read all the reviews here in amazon.com
I'm afraid to see that so much americans are leaving completely out from reality. Sincerelly, the documentary of moore reveals a lot of problems you have you in the states. don't tell me i'm a stupid frog 'cause i live in florida since 1995 so, i think i start to know your country. this moore's documentary is so real... no weapon aloowed, no crime in the street. I read somewhere in the review that you are safer in New York's street than in london's or paris... sorry, but it's wrong... so what, you don't like it? that's right, you're a f*****g conservative republican who live outside relaity...
you'll love it? that's cool... it shows that USA are not totally lost... Oh, yeah, just another little thing, what do you have against socialist... it's not because in the states you have an extreme right government? (hello, M. Bush... i was also an alocholic and I also see god... that's why i stop... LOL! )
Rating: 
Summary: Moore is a moron
Review: This is a very weak "docudrama." Moore is back in true form, you know, that Barbara Streisand-radical socialist-self loathing-fat white-suburban looser with a camera syndrome. Moore's political agenda is always the same - and it is quite transparent. If your curiosity is getting the best of you, and you feel you must see this flick, then at least buy it "used" instead of buying it new... that way, at least Moore doesn't get any money from it. That's what I did :) Moore is like a welfare mother with eight kids...we need to cut back his paycheck.
Rating: 
Summary: The Partisan
Review: I'm no fan of Michael Moore, but my roommate talked me into seeing this film a few weeks ago, and I have to admit being fairly impressed with it. "Bowling for Columbine" is, among other things, quite enjoyable. Moore has grown considerably as a filmmaker, and here he shows a keen eye for pacing and indulging his viewers' sense of mystery. For the most part, he also manages to counterbalance the need for moving and amusing the audience with the danger of making light of a very serious matter. If you want to spend two hours thinking about dark, politically-charged subjects in an entertaining manner, this movie will do the trick. However, Moore remains prone to all of his old, annoying habits. Self-righteous sarcasm? Got it. Manipulative, callous grandstanding? Got it. Playing fast and loose with the facts? Yes -- but it could be worse. What "Bowling for Columbine" does best is bury most or all of the "single-answer" explanations for American gun violence. Over the course of the film Moore explores many of the typical, and not-so-typical, scapegoats. These include gun makers, race relations, Hollywood depravations, paranoid minutemen, video game violence, the news media, the NRA, our unravelling social safety nets, and Marilyn Manson -- but no one cause ever stands out as central. The movie makes a very strong, though understated, case that the true root of gun violence is the social and economic breakdown of American communities, and that only by developing a more vibrantly interreliant and nurturing society will we be able to turn the tide of that breakdown. Unfortunately, though every piece of evidence points Moore towards that conclusion, in the end he throws his anti-gun allies a bone and goes after gunmakers and the NRA with both barrels blazing. It's ironic, because while both those villains certainly have blood on their hands, Moore's partisan tactics reveal him to be as enmeshed in our violent culture as those he would demonize. Welcome to America, old buddy. Maybe we can shoot our way out.
Rating:
Summary: Great documentary. Everyone should watch it.
Review: Michael Moore is trying to give our country back to us. He has done an outstanding job of giving us a movie that explains the connections between greed, violence, media manipulation, and political doublespeak. Hurray for Michael. Great documentary.
Rating:
Summary: The best movie i've ever seen
Review: this is the greatest movie that i have seen in my whole life
Rating:
Summary: What's the real message here?
Review: Moore is a Socialist (self proclaimed I believe), before watching this film you should understand how socialist views are different from a Representative Republic. Read up on it, ponder it and then consider this, Socialism is a great concept, the only problem is history has proven it doesn't work. When you level the playing field and make everyone equal you kill individual motivation. Moore "documentary" (go here to learn more about why this isn't a documentary http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html ) is more of a training tool for socialism than anything else. Moore carefully cuts and paste interviews together to paint the picture he wants to paint, that is a out of control, violent USA that has to be stopped, this is without a doubt the real message behind the film (and what makes it so dangerous), the other topic (which is used a ploy and disguised as the primary subject) is this very simple premise "If we take the guns away, people won't kill other people with guns". Even if that were true, it's a ridiculous notion to think the solution is that simple Note: the aforementioned under tone, Moore doesn't believe that either, the real problem he's trying to show us the US government itself. That along with the lies pointed out in the hyperlink above, makes this little more than a modern propaganda piece for Socialism. Don't believe me? Moore even has a teachers guide companion available for purchase from his website, if you want spread propaganda what better way than through the public school system though teachers! If you're a parent you should sit down and watch this film with your teenager and explain to them people like Moore, your children will make their own judgments, but at least you can give them both sides, that's something their teacher certainly won't as they read from Moore's own text book.
Rating: 
Summary: Michael Moore really hates old people
Review: This movie almost had me. It gave a pretty nice argument for fear/craziness and it's cause...but then, instead of plowing the point home, Michael ends the movie by verbally assaulting a famous old man who likes guns...which has nothing to do with anything...at all. Until Moore's next role as Babe's stunt double, we may have to sit through more of this "it's so good, it's such an eye opener!" bull because all this movie amounted to was that 1 Charlton Heston is to blame for violence in America
and
2 Michael Moore needs to do Tai Bo If movie critics weren't such communists in the first place, people wouldn't think this was so great. But Hollywood is just a place of self worship. Thank you Michael. Thank you Hollywood.
Rating:
Summary: Lies, and bad LIES....
Review: For a critical analysis of this work, please visit www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html. "Bowling is fiction. It makes its points by deceiving and by misleading the viewer. Statements are made which are false. Moore leads the reader to draw inferences which he must have known were wrong. Indeed, even speeches shown on screen are heavily edited, so that sentences are assembled in the speaker's voice, but which were not sentences he uttered. Bowling uses deception as its primary tool of persuasion and effect." "Moore's fabrication here cannot be described by any polite term. It is a lie, a fraud, and a few other things. Carrying it out required a LOT of editing to mislead the viewer,...."
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