Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

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.

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer:

Michael Moore

Stars:

Michael Moore, George W. Bush, Ben Affleck

29 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Affleck	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stevie Wonder	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Baker III	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard Gephardt	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tom Daschle	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jeffrey Toobin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Al Gore	...	Himself (archive footage)
Condoleezza Rice	...	Herself (archive footage)
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself (archive footage)
Saddam Hussein	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ricky Martin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Byron Dorgan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Osama bin Laden	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

Following up on 'Bowling for Columbine', film-maker Michael Moore provides deep and though-provoking insights on the American security system, the level of paranoia, fear, uncertainty, false values and patriotism, which all combined together to set a stage for George W. Bush to launch a war on Iraq instead of focusing on getting the real culprit(s) behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This documentary also focuses on how some Saudis were safely and secretly flown out of America while planes were ostensibly grounded after the attacks. Archived film footage, candid interviews with politicians, and an overall waste of public funds for a war that was initiated on false pretension to wit: a weapon of mass distraction - to take the focus away from the real enemy and get Americans glued to their TV sets to watch innocent Iraqis and Afghans getting killed. And a war that would eventually alienate the U.S.A. and it's citizens from almost every country on Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

imperialism | cover up | human rights | cult film | anti war | 

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Taglines:

Controversy...What Controversy?

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Michael Moore Official Website

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

25 June 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fahrenheit 911

Filming Locations:

Baghdad, Iraq

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$23,920,637, 27 June 2004

Gross USA:

$119,194,771

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$222,446,320

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fellowship Adventure Group, Dog Eat Dog Films, Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Moore decided not to submit the film for consideration for the Best Feature Documentary Oscar, because the rules for that Oscar category dictate a long waiting time for an eligible film to be broadcast on television. He wanted to attempt to have it broadcast prior to the US presidential election on 2 November 2004, in the hope that it would result in George W. Bush not being re-elected. In addition, since he already won an Oscar in that category for Bowling for Columbine (2002), he felt the above reason took precedence and he might as well let other documentarians have a fair chance at the award. Instead, Moore submitted his film in the Best Picture category which has less strict submission rules (and in which it failed to get a nomination). The film was subsequently broadcast on pay-per-view on 1 November 2004, but did not prevent Bush from being re-elected. When asked about it, Moore commented that Americans have very short memory spans, and had mostly forgotten about the controversies that the film addressed.

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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?

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Crazy Credits

This film is dedicated to ... all the soldiers from the Flint area who have died in the Iraq war ... the 2,973 who died on 9/11/01 and the countless thousands who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq as a result of our actions.

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Connections

Referenced in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Michael Moore/Rita Ora/Kacey Musgraves/Abe Cunningham (2016)

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Soundtracks

Shiny Happy People
(1991)
Written by Michael Stipe, Bill Berry (as William Berry), Peter Buck, and Mike Mills (as Michael Mills)
Performed by R.E.M.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

Thank God for Michael Moore

Before I begin let me say that I am a big Michael Moore fan, ever since the days of The Awful Truth. But not in any nutso, radical activist kind of way. I love my country. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. But I, like Michael and many others, can't just bow our heads and be good little robots of society. We seek change. Not in a bad, violent revolutionary way, but done democratically through the people. Through all the criticism and backlash this film has recieved, one simple idea was grossly overlooked. What Moore put in his film is exactly the kind of stuff we SHOULD HAVE SEEN on the evening news. All the haters out there are accusing his film of being overly one-sided, well guess what folks, in case you didn't notice those precious television news reports we sit through every night while we munch away at our dinners is INSANELY one-sided and biased in every way, shape and form.

With that said, FAHRENHEIT 9/11 is the most important film in the history of cinema. There has never been a film, documentary or not, that has directly attacked our active President. Michael Moore is not some cook radical spewing unsubstantiated accusations through a Hitler-esque propaganda film (as its been called). If Moore's agenda had simply been to "dethrone Bush at all costs", then he could have left out a good fifty percent of the film and focused primarily on the man everyone is convinced he loves to hate. He is very simply offering us a "second opinion" if you will, on all the news media that has bombarded us since September 11th. He is simply exercising his freedom of speech to the tenth degree and THAT is what I love about this country. If this film was made in any other country about their leader, they would be jailed, beaten, and maybe even killed.

And he has tapped into a very important thing about our society. That MOVIES have power. And guess what, lower and middle-class people go to the movies the most. People who don't normally vote go to the movies. People who have no idea who Michael Moore is will go see this movie. And the YOUTH will go see this movie, and they'll bring lots and lots of friends. You remember the youth of our country right? The apathetic, non-political group of 18 to 20 year-olds that were always ignored by politicians? Not that this film has turned them all into a bunch of Bush-haters, but it HAS gotten them involved. What no person or institution has been able to do for the longest time has been accomplished by one little documentary.

As I sat there in the movie theater, with the end credits coming on screen and the house lights shining brightly down. I saw something that I have never seen in my life. I looked around the packed theater (on a Monday night) and witnessed all different kinds of people, old and young, Black and White, applauding and cheering out of their seats. The hair stood up on the back of my head and a tear came to my eye. I was totally blown away by what I was seeing. As I made my way for the exit, I softly whispered to myself, "Now that is what I call CINEMA".

Please, you owe it to yourself to see this movie with an open-mind and a thirst for not the truth, but a "second opinion". It is guaranteed to make you laugh and cry, it will shock and anger you, and you will DEFINITELY never forget it.

Fahrenheit 451 was a book about a society that burned books in order to censor them from the people. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a film about a society that refuses to show certain newsworthy material in order to censor it from the people and instead substitutes its own, self-promoting news in order to manipulate the people. You be the judge.