The Siege (1998)

The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York that lead to the declaration of martial law.

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writers:

Lawrence Wright (story), Lawrence Wright (screenplay)

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Annette Bening

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
Annette Bening	...	Elise Kraft / Sharon Bridger
Bruce Willis	...	Major General William Devereaux
Tony Shalhoub	...	Agent Frank Haddad
Sami Bouajila	...	Samir Nazhde
Ahmed Ben Larby	...	Sheik Achmed Bin Talal
Mosleh Mohamed	...	Muezzin
Lianna Pai	...	Tina Osu (as Liana Pai)
Mark Valley	...	FBI Agent Mike Johanssen
Jack Gwaltney	...	Fred Darius
David Proval	...	Danny Sussman
Lance Reddick	...	FBI Agent Floyd Rose
Jeremy Knaster	...	INS Official
William Hill	...	INS Uniform
Aasif Mandvi	...	Khalil Saleh

Storyline

After the abduction by the US military of an Islamic religious leader, New York City becomes the target of escalating terrorist attacks. Anthony Hubbard, the head of the FBI's Counter-Terrorism Task Force in New York, teams up with CIA operative Elise Kraft to hunt down the terrorist cells responsible for the attacks. As the bombings continue, the US government responds by declaring martial law, sending US troops, led by Gen. Devereaux, into the streets of New York City.

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Plot Keywords:

terrorist | new york city | abduction | martial law | military | 

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Taglines:

An enemy they can't see. A nation under siege. A crisis they can't control

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic Spanish

Release Date:

6 November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Against All Enemies

Filming Locations:

6th Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$13,931,285 (USA) (6 November 1998)

Gross:

$40,932,372 (USA) (12 February 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Lynda Obst Productions, Bedford Falls Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title of the movie in Japanese is "Mâsharu·Rô" ("Martial Law").

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Goofs

Nearly the entire movie is set in the dead of winter (heavy coats, visible breath, etc.) yet the fly-over of the capitol building shows trees in full bloom.

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Quotes

[Hubbard holds a briefing on the first identified bomber from Bus #87]
Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard: Ladies and gentlemen, meet the late, uh, Ali Waziri, one of the bombers of Bus 87. We were able to trace this sucker to a... group in Ramallah. That's West Bank - not West Side - for all of you just joining us from Nebraska. Tina?
Tina Osu: We've pulled his landing card and his I-94. So now we know he came in three days ago, out of Frankfurt. What we need now is to fill in the time between his arrival and the incident. We need all ...

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: BMB Spoony Experiment: Tekken (2011)

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Soundtracks

Great Leap Forward
Written by Jim Kerr (as James Kerr) and Charlie Burchill (as Charles Burchill)
Performed by Simple Minds
Courtesy of Virgin Records America, Inc.

User Reviews

One of the Effects of Cinematic Media: Reaction

Watching the 1998 THE SIEGE in 2007 and then rolling through all the reviews of this film from the time of release to the present is a lesson in the power of the cinema. The obvious initial response was less about the film as a film than about the manner in which the FBI, CIA, Military, Terrorists, and public responded to the unimaginable: shouts of protests about 'glorification of occult terrorists', the Hollywood idea of the impossible happening, and the criticism of the fine cast of actors who steeped into roles 'beyond swallowing' are all here in these reviews.

Now, six years after 9/11 reviewers are taking a different view, though most still find the film pompous and obnoxious. Offensive versus defensive. And after viewing the movie as a movie it is gratifying to know that people feel strongly and are vocal about the depiction of the 'war against terrorism' we continue to lose. Movies that make people think and talk are valuable, and in that light the film is more successful than initially considered.

Yes, there are gaping holes in the script and the plot and the concept, but as a little thriller it maintains our attention throughout and offers some fine moments from actors such as Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Tony Shalhoub, Bruce Willis, Sami Bouajila, Ahmed Ben Larby, Aasif Mandvi among others. And then there are the panoramas of New York City under siege with the Twin Towers standing mightily in the cityscape... It begs the question: if scriptwriter Lawrence Wright and director Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Courage Under Fire, Glory, Leaving Normal, Legends of the Fall, etc) were thinking along these lines and finding flaws in our intelligence forces, why weren't the leaders in Washington, DC in tune with 'absurd possibilities'? It makes one think - and that is the best thing about this film. Grady Harp