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Movies / On DVD / September Tapes
September Tapes

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September Tapes (2004)

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21 %
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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:7

Rotten:27

Average Rating:3.8/10

Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:Sep 24, 2004 Limited

Synopsis: An incredible achievement, SEPTEMBER TAPES chronicles one man's attempt to find notorious terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Don Larsen is the man responsible for the filming; an intrepid... An incredible achievement, SEPTEMBER TAPES chronicles one man's attempt to find notorious terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Don Larsen is the man responsible for the filming; an intrepid documentarian, he was joined by a bounty hunter in his exhaustive search of the dangerous Afghan landscape. After a battle raged in the Southern hills, eight tapes were discovered containing Larsen's efforts. Detained by the U.S. government for a lengthy period, it was believed the tapes would never be seen by the public. Until now. The sensational footage sees Larsen confronted by the Taliban, make some thrilling headway into finding the terrorist leader, and attempts to provide salient comment on events the filmmaker experiences. The first film to be made in Afghanistan since the collapse of the Taliban, SEPTEMBER TAPES is guerilla filmmaking at its gutsy best. [More]


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Release:

Jan 11, 2005

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Reviews for September Tapes

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It’s jingoist machismo disguised as deep insight.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/24/05
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

Finally, there are no truths, higher or lower, in September Tapes...just a lot of din.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
10/06/04
Eric Monder
Eric Monder
Film Journal International

Johnston's rough-hewn handheld footage generates a sense of dread as a defining force behind the camera, more concrete than any onscreen images.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
09/30/04
Sheri Linden
Sheri Linden
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's riddled with stilted voice-overs and eye-rollingly awful dialogue.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
09/25/04
E! Online
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
09/25/04
Boston Phoenix
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It's hard to make a case for an American film that intentionally mixes fact with fiction when the facts concerning 9/11, the Taliban and the fate of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden are already so elusive.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/24/04
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Afghanistan shouldn't be used as a backdrop for some director's selfish attempt at provocation.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
09/24/04
Jonathan Curiel
Jonathan Curiel
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film itself still feels faked, and its calculated exploitation of some real tragedies may be the most unbelievable thing of all.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
09/24/04
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The whole notion of exploiting a war and its victims to shoot a commercial feature is reprehensible.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/24/04
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Squanders incredible verisimilitude by undercutting it with credibility-defying storytelling.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/24/04
Kevin Crust
Kevin Crust
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Credit September Tapes with raising thorny questions about what forms of cinematic storytelling do justice to truth.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
09/24/04
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Eventually collapses under the weight of its no-budget arrogance, but it goes some interesting places beforehand.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
09/24/04
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

War porn, an amateurish and incomprehensible mishmash of alleged fact and fiction.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/24/04
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It shares a lot with the Hollywood product: a forced gimmick, a dislikable protagonist, a transparent plot twist and a lot of unconvincing drama.

Full Review Source: Boston Herald | comment Comment
09/24/04
Paul Sherman
Paul Sherman
Boston Herald

This disturbing docudrama is a remarkable achievement on many levels.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
09/24/04
Timothy Knight
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

An underwhelming execution of an interesting concept.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
09/24/04
Brian Zoromski
Brian Zoromski
IGN Movies

It yanks us eyes-first into a place that we, in our living rooms, have known only as a cliché.

Full Review Source: Offoffoff | comment Comment
09/24/04
Joshua Tanzer
Joshua Tanzer
Offoffoff

Alternating between the despicable and the inept and sometimes capturing both in a single moment, September Tapes is a craven attempt to cash in on the 9/11 tragedy.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
09/24/04
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News
 
 
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