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Movies / On DVD / Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday

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Bloody Sunday (2002)

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Reviews Counted:101

Fresh:93

Rotten:8

Average Rating:7.9/10

Consensus: Bloody Sunday powerfully recreates the events of that day with startling immediacy.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence and language

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Oct 4, 2002 Limited

Box Office: $555,414

Synopsis: In documentary style, Paul Greengrass' BLOODY SUNDAY, which chronicles the events of January 30, 1972 in Derry, Ireland, is filmed with gritty gray realness. Surrounding a peaceful protest march... In documentary style, Paul Greengrass' BLOODY SUNDAY, which chronicles the events of January 30, 1972 in Derry, Ireland, is filmed with gritty gray realness. Surrounding a peaceful protest march staged in contest to British laws that permitted internment without trial, the film charts the progress of the march from the night before it to the night following it. As the final organizing of the march takes place that morning, MP Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt) rushes from the street where police barriers are being erected to his office where he fields a string of urgent phone calls. Meanwhile Major General Ford (Tim Pigott-Smith) arranges for a heavily armed troop of commandos in fatigues and face paint to be ready to intercept the march if it turns violent. A third persona, Kevin McCorry (Allan Gildea), is a young lad with a prison record who believes in the cause of the march but wants to avoid conflict and any real trouble. As the march proceeds, and chaos ensues, the British militia opens fire onto the unarmed crowds, shooting 27 and killing 13 in one of the most shocking instances of excessive force in Irish history, ending any hope of nonviolent resolution, and stoking the IRA. [More]

Starring: James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Gerard McSorley

Starring: James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Gerard McSorley, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Allan Gildea, Gerard Crossan, Mary Mouldes

Director: Paul Greengrass

Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Paul Greengrass
Producer: Mark Redhead
Studio: Paramount Classics

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Apr 22, 2003

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Reviews for Bloody Sunday

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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The immediacy is overwhelming...an extraordinarily powerful film.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/15/03
Jurgen Fauth
Jurgen Fauth
About.com

'...the film’s considered approach to its subject matter is too calm and thoughtful for agitprop, and the thinness of its characterizations makes it a failure as straight drama.'

Full Review Source: All Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/05/02
Josh Ralske
Josh Ralske
All Movie Guide

The film could have been one of the year's finest, if only it was more accessible.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
11/01/02
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Little more than a well-mounted history lesson.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/26/02
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No victories here, but Greengrass' film is a triumph in anguish.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/10/03
Kimberly Jones
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle

Goes some way towards explaining how the tragedy occurred and its enduring legacy today.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/21/02
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC

What's most striking about Greengrass' film is just how real it all feels.

Full Review Source: Beach Reporter (Southern California) | comment Comment
10/28/02
Brian J. Arthurs
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

Bloody Sunday demonstrates an historical thesis formulated in retrospect, which fits oddly with Greengrass's continuous-present technique.

Full Review Source: Blogcritics.org | comment Comment
06/24/06
Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Blogcritics.org

You're not merely watching history, you're engulfed by it.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/11/02
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
11/18/02
Boston Phoenix

An exceptionally accomplished historical recreation.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
08/25/02
Wade Major
Wade Major
Boxoffice Magazine

Greengrass sacrifices character and plot to a chilling impressionistic stylization.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/11/08
Patrick Z. McGavin
Patrick Z. McGavin
Chicago Reader

As an act of filmmaking, it is superb: A sense of immediate and present reality permeates every scene.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/25/02
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Rarely do gunshots elicit such shock. Rarely does violence feel so horrific.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/24/02
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As atuações viscerais e a direção pseudo-documental recriam com contudência um dos episódios mais revoltantes da história da luta irlandesa contra a dominação britânica.

comment Comment
02/09/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

The result is solemn and horrifying, yet strangely detached.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
10/04/02
Jackie Potts
Jackie Potts
Citysearch

Intense and difficult, but rewarding.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/04/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Assumes familiarity with the background of the 'troubles' and proceeds viscerally to portray the British as murderers of Irish demonstrators in 1972.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
10/05/02
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

There is no solace here, no entertainment value, merely a fierce lesson in where filmmaking can take us.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
10/10/02
Mary F. Pols
Mary F. Pols
Contra Costa Times

The handheld camerawork and bleached-out color palette suggest something more akin to combat footage, and candid moments recorded on the sly give Bloody Sunday a chilling realism.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
10/31/02
Gary Dowell
Gary Dowell
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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Latest News for Bloody Sunday

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