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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:68

Fresh:67

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 rotten rating)
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This film has received a lot of praise from critics, but not that many people will find this that entertaining.

Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | comment 5 Comments
10/07/04
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com

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

No review available.

comment Comment
05/29/04
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
New Times

The greatness of The Battle of Algiers lies in its ability to embrace moral ambiguity without succumbing to it.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/09/04
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

The verity of a documentary...with the narrative drive and emotional charge of a great thriller

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
02/11/04
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net

It looks beyond any question to be an original documentary film, put together from newsreel footage, complemented by staged dramatic scenes.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/26/03
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times

A fascinating movie in its own right, more relevant because of today's world situation.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
05/14/04
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Still powerful and upsetting because of its unpolished immediacy ... and because the movie declines to judge the terrorists' actions.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
03/25/04
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

An epic of intimate objectivity.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
05/13/04
Chris Vognar
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

"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
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Gripping and technically dazzling documentary-style drama.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
03/25/04
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Superb and unrivalled.

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

Perhaps the finest political film of the 1960s.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
03/19/04
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

The most important piece of political filmmaking since Battleship Potemkin.

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

Like all masterpieces, it speaks to later ages as powerfully and intelligently as to its own.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
01/08/04
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

The same power it had 40 years ago is still evident.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/24/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Pontecorvo has nearly accomplished the impossible: to make an epic film that convinces the viewer he is watching the real thing.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
10/26/03
Don Druker
Don Druker
Chicago Reader

'The Battle of Algiers' serves potent warning to those who envision warfare, or any Western-dictated settlement, in areas so hungry and so foreign.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/12/03
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

It takes about an eighth of a second for the film to seem all too relevant.

Full Review Source: Fresno Bee | comment Comment
05/13/04
Donald Munro
Donald Munro
Fresno Bee

It remains a surprisingly instructive and cautionary lesson in the way that populist movements can burn parent states down to their grass roots.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
04/01/04
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
 
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