The Siege (1998)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 60
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 33
An exciting, well-paced action film.
Average Rating: 5.1/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 9
An exciting, well-paced action film.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 52,556
Movie Info
Edward Zwick directed this action thriller about Islamic militants unleashing terrorism in New York City. As FBI Terrorism Task Force-chief Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) investigates, a false-alarm bomb threat is followed by a legit bomb, with many killed when a Brooklyn bus explodes. Agents track a suspect through Brooklyn, while Hub teams with Middle East expert and NSA operative Elise Kraft (Annette Bening). After the FBI wipes out three Arabs in a Brooklyn apartment, an explosion in a
Nov 6, 1998 Wide
Apr 20, 1999
20th Century Fox
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Cast
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Denzel Washington
Anthony Hubbard -
Annette Bening
Elise Kraft/Sharon Brid... -
Bruce Willis
William Devereaux -
Tony Shalhoub
Frank Haddad -
Mark Valley
FBI Agent Mike Johansse... -
-
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All Critics (71) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (33) | DVD (20)
It's difficult to sustain a responsible subtext when you're delivering the jolts required to keep butts in the seats.
Top CriticEven at its most unbelievable, The Siege has the performances of Washington and Bening to fall back on, and a theme that understands that what's difficult is not choosing right from wrong but 'choosing the wrong that's more right.'
More political than entertaining, The Siege is a reflection of our heightened awareness and sensitivity to terrorism and the price of freedom.
Zwick (Courage Under Fire) has fashioned another ethical tour de force that reveals his dedication to serious filmmaking.
If you like political thrillers with lots of explosions, domestic terrorism, and vein-popping army Generals, this movie's for you.
A gripping build up gives way to an incredibly dumb finish.
A flawed but not uninteresting political thriller that struggles with middling success to satisfy the dual aims of being both commercially entertaining and socially significant.
The Siege attempts to update the bluffs and counterfeints of the Cold War spy thriller, not to advance any ideological point but to obscure the fact that it doesn't have one.
The Siege raises a lot of important questions about racism, free speech, and the power of government. It doesn't deal with them particularly effectively.
It was like eating celery - crunchy and loud and tasty - then zero caloric content after all that trouble chewing it.
The Siege is a good idea that is never quite executed as it should be.
While the ending was pure Hollywood, and there was too much cute spy stuff, most of the film was suspenseful, engaging and thought-provoking.
The first hour is riveting, with a couple of particularly tense scenes. But things go hideously awry from there as the ham-fisted messages begin to dominate.
In all, quite a disappointment.
The movie does deliver its share of action and spectacle, but action and spectacle are clearly not all Zwick and company had in mind with this fumbled Siege.
At some point, the movie itself crosses the line, from a modestly thoughtful attempt to extrapolate a drama from real and urgent events to a generic action piece with predictable good and bad guys and pat, civics-book morals.
The Siege is constantly heavy-handed, not entertaining or insightful, and just goes to prove that not even the best actors can save a film that lacks a satisfactory screenplay.
Audience Reviews for The Siege
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Anthony Hubbard: Melvin White can't spell decent.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| consensus | 35 days ago | 0 |
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Movie: ID: 16451 Title: The Siege Release Date: 1998-11-06 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Top Headlines
"An enemy they can't see. A nation under siege. A crisis they can't control."
I can certainly see why there are all the negative reviews for The Siege, but I can't say I didn't like it. I didn't like aspects of it, but as a whole it was a thoroughly engaging and entertaining movie. It just didn't have a whole lot more to offer the audience. The movie seems to saying contradicting things at the same time and the movie is filled to the brim with wise ass, but bad jokes. Like the joke of Bruce Willis as a General and the dialogue that comes out of his mouth. That was a bad joke.
When the U.S. secretly kidnaps a terrorist; a string of terrorist acts start to occur in New York. An FBI agent is then in for the ride of his life as he tries to stop all the different cells of the terrorist group from executing their destruction. Soon the crisis gets so far out of hand, that martial law is enacted in Brooklyn and people of Arab descent are quarantined. The movie is a little eerie in that it was made 3 years before 9/11, but also because of the whole tie in with WW2 and the detainment camps that were made for the Japanese.
As far as the movie goes, it's just descent. Denzel Washington gives a performance that you would expect from him. He's doing pretty much the same thing as he did in... well, everything. He plays the strong FBI man of morals with intensity and fire, and makes the movie go down a lot easier than it should. I can't say the same for Annette Benning, who I thought was surprisingly bad, and Bruce Willis, who just seemed ridiculous.
In the end, I got enjoyment from Zwick's ridiculously plotted and written film; but I still see it exactly for what it is. It's not a movie that was sending anyone messages about terrorists or that has any importance in the world at all. It's purely entertainment and that was its and purpose. So, on that level it isn't a complete failure.