Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer (WGA):

Michael Moore (written by)

Release Date:

25 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

The temperature where freedom burns!

Plot:

Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Plot Keywords:

Interview | Iraq | George W. Bush | USA | Paranoia

Awards:

26 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stevie Wonder	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Baker III	...	Himself - Former Secretary of State (archive footage)
Richard Gephardt	...	Himself - Congressman (archive footage)
Tom Daschle	...	Himself - Senator (archive footage)
Jeffrey Toobin	...	Himself - Author of "Too Close to Call" (archive footage)
Al Gore	...	Himself - U.S. Vice President and Senate President (archive footage)
Condoleezza Rice	...	Herself - National Security Advisor (archive footage)
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself (archive footage)
Saddam Hussein	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Bush	...	Himself - Former U.S. President (archive footage)
Ricky Martin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Byron Dorgan	...	Himself - Senator in Subcommittee on Aviation (archive footage)
Osama Bin Laden	...	Himself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Fahrenheit 911 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violent and disturbing images, and for language.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | Malaysia:18PL | Australia:M | USA:R (certificate #40791) | Italy:T | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:12 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | Kuwait:(Banned) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 (theatrical) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Baghdad, Iraq

Company:

Fellowship Adventure Group

Trivia:

Michael Moore was still fighting with the MPAA over their verdict of giving the film an "R" rating during time it was being played in limited release. Because of the MPAA's indecision, the film was initially released as "Not Rated" until the surprise box office success and inevitable wide release. Moore lost his bid for "PG-13" and the film carried an "R" rating from then onward

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Was it all just a dream?
Al Gore: God bless you, Florida! Thank you!
Narrator: Did the last four years not really happen? Look, there's Ben Affleck. He's often in my dreams. And the Taxi Driver guy. He was there too. And little Stevie Wonder, he seemed so happy... like, like a miracle had taken place. Was it a dream? Or was it real?

Movie Connections:

References The Blues Brothers (1980)

Soundtrack:

Danger Ahead

My brief review of the film

Despite the mind-numbing subjectivity, the first half of this pseudo-documentary is interesting, and if Michael Moore had just stuck to his conspiracy theory with the September 11 terrorist attacks, he would have made reasonably good film. But the second part of the film, in which he attacks the war on Iraq, manages to present nothing that a well-versed viewer has not seen before. It is just the same old anti-war messages and sentiments. It shows the horror and suffering caused by war but hardly anything about the war on Iraq in particular. Films such as 'All Quiet on the Western Front' were made over 70 years ago with same anti-war messages. In many ways, Moore's pseudo documentary is best compared to the propaganda used in the Russian and the German autocracies of the 1930s. It tries to engage the viewer, it tries to make its subject matter interesting, but all that it is, is totally manipulative. In any war life will be lost, people will be unhappy and many will protest, so how then does any of this differ from what a C-grade history student at school already knows? A lot of what Moore says is not credible anyway, and since the release of the film over 50 deceptions have been pointed out, where Moore has doctored footage and used his information out of context. For the first half of its duration, the film is amusing and interesting, even if not credible, but the second half of the film is a routine bore – and that is certainly not what a viewer wants to be left remembering at the end of a film. Moore has admitted himself that the purpose of the film was to stop George W. Bush being re-elected, but it will fail to provoke such a view in a person who is not ignorant and who is not moved by age-old sentiments. As amusing as the film may well be at times, it is an overall failure – an utter failure.