Battle in Seattle
Set in Seattle, in November 1999, when thousands of protestors took to the streets to take a stance against the World Trade Organistation. Among them are Django (Andre Benjamin), Lou (Michelle Rodriguez) and Jay (NZ's Martin Henderson). Ray Liotta plays the mayor of Seattle, and Charlize Theron his pregnant wife. All their stories intertwine as the peaceful demonstration quickly escalates into a full-blown riot.
- Director:
- Stuart Townsend (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Stuart Townsend
- Cast:
- Charlize TheronRay LiottaWoody HarrelsonMartin HendersonAndré BenjaminMichelle Rodriguez
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Andreas Heinemann
flicksReview
For some reason, Battle In Seattle was only screening at The Empire in Island Bay - out of all the cinemas in Wellington, only one was screening it? I loved the film. It made me laugh, it made me cry. The acting was superb. My biggest disappointment was that the sound did not sync in at least three scenes. Picture lips moving, sound coming out, but they did...
Variety
pressPicture's ambition, cogency and decent performances make up for its uneven aspects. Woody Harrelson has some especially good moments as a cop.
The New York Times
pressA drama is only as convincing as its characters. The people awkwardly forced together in Battle in Seattle are rhetorical mouthpieces tied to the sketchy plotlines of a so-so Hollywood ensemble movie.
Roger Ebert
pressThe result is not quite a documentary and not quite a drama, but interesting all the same. It uses the approach of Haskell Wexler's "Medium Cool" (1969), but without the same urgency.
New Zealand Herald
pressAs a political statement it might be too much, too late. But as film it's still a moderately exciting storming of the barricades.
New Zealand Herald
pressAs a political statement it might be too much, too late. But as film it's still a moderately exciting storming of the barricades.
Los Angeles Times
pressTownsend's sincerity, his admiration for the idealism of the people behind the anti-WTO protests, is never in doubt, but combining drama with historical re-creation is frankly a challenge his filmmaking skills are not up to.
Hollywood Reporter
pressWhile it makes no bones about where its sympathies lie, these fictional stories show a genuine fascination with the role politics plays on both sides of such confrontations and how things can spin out of control with no single person to blame.
Flicks, Andreas Heinemann
flicksVariety
pressPicture's ambition, cogency and decent performances make up for its uneven aspects. Woody Harrelson has some especially good moments as a cop.
The New York Times
pressA drama is only as convincing as its characters. The people awkwardly forced together in Battle in Seattle are rhetorical mouthpieces tied to the sketchy plotlines of a so-so Hollywood ensemble movie.
Roger Ebert
pressThe result is not quite a documentary and not quite a drama, but interesting all the same. It uses the approach of Haskell Wexler's "Medium Cool" (1969), but without the same urgency.
New Zealand Herald
pressAs a political statement it might be too much, too late. But as film it's still a moderately exciting storming of the barricades.
New Zealand Herald
pressAs a political statement it might be too much, too late. But as film it's still a moderately exciting storming of the barricades.
Los Angeles Times
pressTownsend's sincerity, his admiration for the idealism of the people behind the anti-WTO protests, is never in doubt, but combining drama with historical re-creation is frankly a challenge his filmmaking skills are not up to.
Hollywood Reporter
pressWhile it makes no bones about where its sympathies lie, these fictional stories show a genuine fascination with the role politics plays on both sides of such confrontations and how things can spin out of control with no single person to blame.
Review
For some reason, Battle In Seattle was only screening at The Empire in Island Bay - out of all the cinemas in Wellington, only one was screening it? I loved the film. It made me laugh, it made me cry. The acting was superb. My biggest disappointment was that the sound did not sync in at least three scenes. Picture lips moving, sound coming out, but they...
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