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Movies / On DVD / Battle of Algiers
Battle of Algiers

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Battle of Algiers (1966)

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Reviews Counted: 67

Fresh: 66

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 9/10

Consensus: A powerful, documentary-like examination of the response to an occupying force, The Battle of Algiers hasn't aged a bit since its release in 1966.

Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Box Office: $188,820

Synopsis: Gillo Pontecorvo's presents a harrowing, documentary-style depiction of the Algerian's people's struggle to liberate themselves from France between 1954 and 1962. The film creates a stunning... Gillo Pontecorvo's presents a harrowing, documentary-style depiction of the Algerian's people's struggle to liberate themselves from France between 1954 and 1962. The film creates a stunning illusion of realism by combining actual newsreel footage with staged sequences featuring amateur and professional actors playing characters based on real people (including Saadi Yacef, the one-time leader of the FLN in occupied Algiers). With it's depiction of political torture and violence retaining every bit of the impact they had upon the film's original release, THE BATTLE FOR ALGIERS was re-released theatrically in 2003 to great acclaim and reevaluation. Winner of 11 International Film awards. [More]

Starring: Yacef Saadi, Jean Martin, Brahim Haggiag

Starring: Yacef Saadi, Jean Martin, Brahim Haggiag

Director: Gillo Pontecorvo

Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Screenwriter: Gillo Pontecorvo, Franco Solinas
Composer: Ennio Morricone

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Oct 12, 2004

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Battle of Algiers

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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"The Battle Of Algiers" is a one of a kind masterpiece of pure cinema that you will never forget.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/26/09
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

It's a frank blend of exoticism, eroticism and foreshadowed horror.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

It's a dedicated effort with importance as a 'document.'

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/18/08
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the essential works of world cinema.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
03/10/08
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

A riveting reconstruction of the struggle for independence in mid-50s Algiers, its pseudo-documentary style still feels as headline-fresh as its content.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/15/07
Matthew Leyland
BBC

Gillo Pontecorvo's epic of revolutionary fervour has dimmed not an iota since it was first released in 1966.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
05/11/07
Independent

Forty years on, the film’s lost not a fraction of its power.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
05/11/07
Philip Kemp
Total Film

Faux-documentary masterpiece

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
05/11/07
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph

Whatever they made of The Battle of Algiers at the Pentagon, this is a must-see for everyone else now.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
05/11/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

Brilliantly directed set-pieces and remarkable thronging crowd scenes make the film a masterpiece; the ominous familiarity of its subject makes it a must-see.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
05/11/07
James Christopher
Times [UK]

The most important piece of political filmmaking since Battleship Potemkin.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/11/07
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine

The inspiration and blueprint for docudrama and ideological cinema worldwide.

Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio | comment Comment
02/07/07
Prairie Miller
WBAI Web Radio

what really resonates on watching Algiers is its message about the widespread loss of civilian life and the staggering destruction to civic infrastructure as the heaviest costs of war

Full Review Source: Cinema Writer | comment Comment
12/07/06
Jay Antani
Cinema Writer

Superb and unrivalled.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Dave Calhoun
Time Out

While it's clear that the movie is very much a stacked deck, which invariably takes the Algerian side, the bias doesn't lessen the film's lesson.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
09/08/05
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

No review available.

comment Comment
02/17/05
Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

No review available.

comment Comment
11/19/04
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

What lessons a modern viewer can gain from the film depends on who is watching and what they want to see.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A thrilling movie with the unusual message that sometimes terrorism works.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
10/21/04
Mark Robison
Reno Gazette-Journal

It's as fresh and suspenseful as anything before or since.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
10/19/04
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
CNN.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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