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.
The story of Chesley Sullenberger, an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew.
In 1974, high-wire artist Philippe Petit recruits a team of people to help him realize his dream: to walk the immense void between the World Trade Center towers.
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Stars:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Charlotte Le Bon,
Guillaume Baillargeon
A dramatization of the disaster in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the worst oil spill in American history.
Director:
Peter Berg
Stars:
Mark Wahlberg,
Kurt Russell,
Douglas M. Griffin
Loosely based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a three hundred million dollar contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan.
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.Written by
Open Road Films
Its performance during its opening weekend was the lowest opening of Oliver Stone's career for a film playing in over 2,000 theaters. See more »
Goofs
A long-time Hawaii-based NSA employee advises Snowden in Oahu's Tunnel complex toward the end of his career when epilepsy was becoming problematic to take time off to travel back "the States" to visit his doctor. Hawaii is a state. Even tourists in Hawaii know that the continental US is referred to as "the Mainland."
However, military contractors are often overseas for much of their careers, and have a habit of referring to the US as "the States". Since both these characters have been contractors for years, they both would most likely have become adjusted to saying this, and not "the mainland", which is mainly a local Hawaiian saying. See more »
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...
See more »
Next Order
Written by Boys Noize (as Alexander Ridha) and Skrillex (as Sonny Moore)
Performed by Dog Blood
Courtesy of Boysnoize Rec. GmbH and Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement With Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing See more »
In June, 2013, it came out that the National Security Agency had a massive espionage network in place. Within a few days, the source of the information revealed himself. Edward Snowden was a computer professional who had been working first for the CIA, and then switched to the NSA. Before long, his conscience started bothering him, and so he downloaded evidence of the espionage network, flew to Hong Kong, and revealed it to journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill, while director Laura Poitras filmed the interview. Without a doubt it was the biggest story of 2013.
This story got told in Poitras's Oscar-winning documentary "Citizenfour". Oliver Stone's "Snowden" tells the story, but also looks at the years leading up to Snowden's employment by the NSA: his military service, his stationing in Geneva, and then Japan, and finally his employment with the NSA outlet in Hawaii.
I don't know if I would go so far as to call this a masterpiece, but what's mind-blowing is the sheer scope of not just the espionage network, but everything else that it comprised. Without a doubt, the most important scene is the worldwide revelation of Snowden's leaks, and Snowden's subsequent flight to Russia, where he remains to this day.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a fine job as Snowden, as do Shailene Woodley as his lover Lindsay Mills. The rest of the cast includes Zachary Quinto (Spock in the "Star Trek" reboot) as Greenwald, Melissa Leo (Alice in "The Fighter") as Poitras, and an assortment of other people, including some surprise cast members.
All in all, I recommend the movie. Even though the viewer knows the plot, it's still a suspenseful story.
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In June, 2013, it came out that the National Security Agency had a massive espionage network in place. Within a few days, the source of the information revealed himself. Edward Snowden was a computer professional who had been working first for the CIA, and then switched to the NSA. Before long, his conscience started bothering him, and so he downloaded evidence of the espionage network, flew to Hong Kong, and revealed it to journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill, while director Laura Poitras filmed the interview. Without a doubt it was the biggest story of 2013.
This story got told in Poitras's Oscar-winning documentary "Citizenfour". Oliver Stone's "Snowden" tells the story, but also looks at the years leading up to Snowden's employment by the NSA: his military service, his stationing in Geneva, and then Japan, and finally his employment with the NSA outlet in Hawaii.
I don't know if I would go so far as to call this a masterpiece, but what's mind-blowing is the sheer scope of not just the espionage network, but everything else that it comprised. Without a doubt, the most important scene is the worldwide revelation of Snowden's leaks, and Snowden's subsequent flight to Russia, where he remains to this day.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a fine job as Snowden, as do Shailene Woodley as his lover Lindsay Mills. The rest of the cast includes Zachary Quinto (Spock in the "Star Trek" reboot) as Greenwald, Melissa Leo (Alice in "The Fighter") as Poitras, and an assortment of other people, including some surprise cast members.
All in all, I recommend the movie. Even though the viewer knows the plot, it's still a suspenseful story.