Bowling for Columbine (2002)

Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer:

Michael Moore

Stars:

Michael Moore, Salvador Allende, Charlton Heston

Won 1 Oscar. Another 33 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Michael Moore	...	Himself / Narrator
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Salvador Allende	...	Himself - President of Chile (archive footage)
Jacobo Arbenz	...	Himself - President of Guatemala (archive footage)
Mike Bradley	...	Himself - Mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Arthur A. Busch	...	Himself - County Prosecutor: Flint, Michigan (as Arthur Busch)
George Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Caldwell	...	Himself - Police Detective
Richard Castaldo	...	Himself - Columbine Victim
Dick Clark	...	Himself
Bill Clinton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Steve Davis	...	Himself - Deputy Sheriff (archive footage)
Ngo Dinh Diem	...	Himself - President of South Vietnam (archive footage)
Mike Epstein	...	Himself - Shopper in Mall
Joe Farmer	...	Himself - Superintendent of Schools (archive footage)

Storyline

The United States of America is notorious for its astronomical number of people killed by firearms for a developed nation without a civil war. With his signature sense of angry humor, activist filmmaker Michael Moore sets out to explore the roots of this bloodshed. In doing so, he learns that the conventional answers of easy availability of guns, violent national history, violent entertainment and even poverty are inadequate to explain this violence when other cultures share those same factors without the equivalent carnage. In order to arrive at a possible explanation, Michael Moore takes on a deeper examination of America's culture of fear, bigotry and violence in a nation with widespread gun ownership. Furthermore, he seeks to investigate and confront the powerful elite political and corporate interests fanning this culture for their own unscrupulous gain.

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Plot Keywords:

gun | violence | bank | firearm | interview | 

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Taglines:

Is America a nation of gun nuts? Or just nuts?

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violent images and language

Details

Official Sites:

michaelmoore.com - Michael Moore responds... Official site

Country:

Canada USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 2002 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Akiryhtos polemos

Filming Locations:

Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,738 (Hong Kong) (6 June 2003)

Gross:

$312,914 (Brazil) (20 June 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Atlantis Communications, Dog Eat Dog Films, Iconolatry Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first rough cut of the film ran about six hours.

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Goofs

A clip of a Godzilla-type monster roaring is shown while showing gun-related death rates for Japan. The clip, however, is from Gorgo, which was a UK production.

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Quotes

Michael Moore: If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine or the people in that community, what would you say to them if they were here right now?
Marilyn Manson: I wouldn't say a single word to them I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one did.

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Crazy Credits

There is no cast list, either at the start of the film or at the end. People are credited either by subtitle, by the narrator or by themselves.

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Connections

Features Roger & Me (1989)

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Soundtracks

"Happiness Is a Warm Gun"
(1968)
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by The Beatles
Courtesy of EMI-Capitol Music Group
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

overall, he makes a fair point

Whatever you may throw at Michael Moore's methods, there are some points made in the film that are valid.

FACT: The United States has a gun-related homicide rate that is totally disproportionate to its population when compared to every other country in the world.

By the end of the film, however, Mr. Moore has already discounted the ownership of guns as a cause, and the blame lies firmly at the feet of the selective and sensationalist media.

By far the most insightful comments in the film are made by Marilyn Manson - namely that there are certain businesses and politicians in the United States that capitalise on on fear.

I don't see this as an anti-gun film, but more an observation of a country that is so completely gripped by fear, that it is spiraling downwards into deep and dangerous paranoia. That this fear is driven by certain forces for profit is sickening and it needs to be uncovered.

When I see so-called 'gun nuts' or apparent racists being interviewed, I feel nothing but pity for them. Their views have been formed by nothing less than the media saturation they are exposed to on a daily basis.

I guess these things are far more apparent to those of us who live outside the USA and witness the continual aggressive acts it perpetrates upon countries that are far too small and weak to defend themselves.

Watch this America, then "South Park, the Movie" and after that take a good long look in the mirror.

10/10