Rent Bowling for Columbine (2002)

3.8 of 5 from 160 ratings
1h 54min
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Synopsis:
With his trademark charm and biting wit, Michael Moore's documentary sets off on a rollicking journey to the heart of America, hoping to discover why the American pursuit of happiness is so riddled with mass violence. Moore boldly asks a question that post September 11, no other American dare ask: "Are we a nation of gun nuts - or are we just nuts?" For Americans, it is a damningly funny indictment of a culture of feat that is armed to the teeth and running amuck. For everyone else, it is a humourous warning about what could happen to any country that chooses the American Way of creating a massive permanent underclass that must be fought off with a constitutionally protected Uzi.
Actors:
, , , , , Arthur A. Busch, , , , Richard Castaldo, , , , , Mike Epstein, Joe Farmer, Denny Fennell, , , Jeremy Hix
Directors:
Voiced By:
David Smith, Harold Moss
Narrated By:
Michael Moore
Writers:
Michael Moore
Others:
Michael Donovan
Studio:
Momentum
Genres:
Documentary
Collections:
All the Twos: 1972-2012, A Brief History of Film...
Awards:

2003 Oscar Best Documentary

BBFC:
Release Date:
20/10/2003
Run Time:
114 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Feature
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Feature Commentary by interns with introduction by Michael Moore
  • Exclusive Michael Moore interview on Oscar win and acceptance speech
  • Michael Moore interview with Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart
  • Teacher's Guide
  • Return to Littleton/Denver 6 months after release of Bowling for Columbine
  • Michael Moore on "The Charlie Rose Show"
  • Marilyn Manson "Fight Song" music video
  • Photo Gallery
Disc 1:
This disc includes the main feature
Disc 2:
This disc includes the following special features:
- Exclusive Michael Moore Interview On Oscar Win and Acceptance Speech
- Michael Moore Interview With Clinton Press Secretary Joe Lockhart
- Teacher's Guide
- Return to Littleton/denver 6 Months After Release of Bowling for Columbine
- Michael Moore On "the Charlie Rose Show"
- Marilyn Manson "fight Song" Music Video
- Photo Gallery

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Reviews (1) of Bowling for Columbine

A scarily prescient film which rings more true today than when it was released 21 years ago - Bowling for Columbine review by TB

Spoiler Alert
22/07/2023

Back in 2002, most people who knew of Michael Moore had heard of him because of Roger & Me, a tiny documentary which went on to huge success & became a sleeper hit. After a few other documentaries, Moore then turned his satirical eye on one of the biggest hot-button issues in the US: guns. It would in many ways have been impossible for him not to, as a polemicist and someone who always tackled difficult subjects. And whilst it had been 3 years since the Columbine High School massacre, which this film uses as its main subject & returns to at various points, its impact was still being felt whilst nothing was being seriously done to prevent these types of tragedies happening again.

But rather than do a documentary which was deliberately provocative to antagonise people, Moore comes at it from a very different direction: he tries to make it as humorous as he can, within the limits of the subject matter, to try to reach the members of the audience who are usually not receptive to anyone not totally agreeing with their opinion. One of the first things Moore talked about & was at pains to put across was that when he was younger, he liked & also shot guns. He was also a member of the NRA whilst making the film. So, he had a knowledge of that side of the debate, rather than someone who wasn’t American coming in like a bulldozer.

The film looks at various elements of how guns have influenced the US, but also how this was getting so out of control and each year more & more people were being either seriously maimed or killed. Again, I am writing this review in 2023 and as of the 30th June, there have been 340 mass shooting, defined as 4 or more people being killed. That is a jaw-dropping statistic for halfway through the year. But for a massive part of the US, they will not in any way admit that having the volume of guns in America in any way contributes to this.

There are some fantastic interviews, including with Marilyn Manson, who was wrongly blamed for being a primary influence on the shooters & who says more in 2 minutes about the disaffected people in the world today than any politician has said in most of their careers. There is also a brief but good interview with Matt Stone of South Park fame, who grew up in Littleton & went to Columbine High School.

But there are some valid criticisms of how Moore edits & shoots his films which has to be mentioned as well. And nowhere is this more prevalent than his interview with Charlton Heston towards the end, having at various points showed how Heston behaved within his role as a representative of the NRA. Heston was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease & the whole interview was so uncomfortable and, in many ways, exploitative. It was clear the confusion that Heston had & in the end his walking out of the interview actually did more damage to Moore than to him.

But this is powerful and essential filmmaking, which takes a difficult subject & forces us as the audience to confront it. It’s just a shame that all these years later, things are in no way how Moore and many other hoped they would be.

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