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:

One nation under surveillance for liberty and justice for all.

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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

After leaving his hotel in Hong Kong, Snowden was sheltered by many asylum seekers belonging to multiple nationalities (including two Sri Lankans and one Filipino) until he left for Moscow.

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Goofs

Snowden uses a Rubik's cube to smuggle a microSD card out of a secure NSA facility. The cube he uses is a newer Rubik's tiled speed-cube, as evidenced by the small slots on the center caps. Snowden was employed by the NSA in 2013 and went to journalists in 2013; the model of cube he uses was not introduced until 2014.

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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

Featured in The Graham Norton Show: Tom Hanks/Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Gemma Arterton/Mo Farah/Olly Murs (2016)

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Soundtracks

String Quartet No. 1
Written by Joseph Haydn
Arrangement by Walter Warren
Courtesy of De Wolfe Music

User Reviews

Snowden was a Patriot

I don't understand people that complain about this movie.

There is zero to complain about in this movie. You got to wonder if the low reviews are government paid employees or just Oliver Stone haters.

I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen. I was mesmerized from the beginning of the film until the end. I honestly had no idea it ran two hours and 20 minutes. A movie is never too long if you don't look at your phone and check the time. Myself, nor did anyone in the theater once look down at their phone. The movie had great cinematography, excellent pacing, strong emotional dialogue, and solid character/relationship arcs. You can't ask for much more of a drama based on a true story. Excellent job Oliver. Welcome back!

The truth is people don't want to hear it. If it doesn't directly affect their cozy iPhone streaming lives, than they don't want to hear about it. They don't want to hear that they are wage slaves. They don't want to hear that there is no such thing as privacy in this country. They don't want to hear that the government isn't a democracy. People don't want to hear that the American government isn't a government at all, and that it's been replaced by a multi-national fortunate 100 corporate conglomeration funded by the international banking cartel. People don't want to know the truth.

I'd venture a guess that most of the people that rated this movie poorly didn't even see the movie. These are the same people that can't handle the truth. Open your eyes people. Don't be another corporate wage slave.

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