Snowden (2016)

The NSA's illegal surveillance techniques are leaked to the public by one of the agency's employees, Edward Snowden, in the form of thousands of classified documents distributed to the press.

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

Kieran Fitzgerald (screenplay by), Oliver Stone (screenplay by)

Stars:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo

4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Melissa Leo	...	Laura Poitras
Zachary Quinto	...	Glenn Greenwald
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Edward Snowden
Jaymes Butler	...	Drill Sergeant
Robert Firth	...	Dr. Stillwell
Rachel Handshaw	...	CIA Polygraph Adminstrator
Christian Contreras	...	CIA Psychologist
Parker Sawyers	...	CIA Interviewer
Rhys Ifans	...	Corbin O'Brian
Ken Thomas	...	Warrenton Gate Guard (as Kenneth Thomas)
Nicolas Cage	...	Hank Forrester
Michael Benz	...	CIA Student
Shailene Woodley	...	Lindsay Mills
Tom Wilkinson	...	Ewen MacAskill
Joely Richardson	...	Janine Gibson

Storyline

SNOWDEN stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and is written and directed by Oliver Stone. The script is based on the books The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man by Luke Harding and Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena.

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Plot Keywords:

internet | mass surveillance | nsa | whistleblower | journalism | 

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Taglines:

The only safe place is on the run.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality/nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a scene where Edward gets up and leaves Hank Forrester's office. As he heads toward the door, there is a photograph on former US president John F Kennedy on the wall. Oliver Stone directed the film JFK and it was released in 1991.

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Goofs

After showing the Geneva landscape with the water-jet, then all the part on the street has nothing to do with Geneva but from another EU country (probably Italy, France or an Eastern EU country). Very strange to indicate Geneva and then showcase another inner city. Indeed, you'll see Snowden on the scooter:

• crossing a bridge that does not look like any bridge in Geneva;
• none of main street for cars are paved in Geneva;
• none of the advertisement in Geneva are made in tubular display panel (the one you see written Elizabeth ad).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Glenn Greenwald: [sitting under a big green balloon alligator] So?
Laura Poitras: This is the only alligator.
Glenn Greenwald: Four minutes past. We walk in one minute. He was clear on that.
Laura Poitras: He's coming.
Glenn Greenwald: No, he is too young to have that kind of access.
Glenn Greenwald: [to Snowden as he walks up] Uh, what time does the restaurant open?
Edward Snowden: Noon. But the food is a bit too spicy. This way...

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Connections

References United 93 (2006)

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Soundtracks

Only You Can Tell
Written, Produced and Performed by Jeremy Villecourt
Artist Croquet Club
Courtesy of Anjunadeep

User Reviews

Well laid out movie.

It's a great Oliver stone movie, seems right up his alley to do a film About a conspiracy and about questioning the government.

It's weird when people do movies about such recent events but hey that's how fast the media works these days.

It's a great ensemble cast as Stone tells the story of Edward Snowden who discovered that the government was spying on us weather we did anything wrong or not and decides to let us all know.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Snowden as a very likable guy, even if he was a Bush supporter, but most importantly he was a dude who loves his country and felt what they were doing to its citizens was wrong.

As Snowden, Levitt had the biggest chunk of screen time in a film filled with well know actors taking small, but important roles, like Zachary Quinto who played the guardian journalist chosen to tell Snowden's story and Nicolas Cage who's character acted like a mentor for Snowden's at the CIA.

Stone's fairness to the whole situation is painting a lovely portrait of the whistle blower himself

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

UK France Germany USA

Language:

English American Sign Language Russian

Release Date:

16 September 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Snowden

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,000,058, 18 September 2016

Gross USA:

$21,587,519

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$37,357,216

Company Credits

Production Co:

Endgame Entertainment, Vendian Entertainment, KrautPack Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1