Bowling for Columbine (2002) |
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Bowling for Columbine (2002) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Documentary |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Production Assistants, Interns And Receptionist Introduction-Michael Moore Audio Introduction Featurette-Michael Moore On His Oscar Win Notes-Transcript Of Michael Moore's Oscar Acceptance Speech Interviews-Cast-With Michael Moore and Clinton's Press SecretaryJoe Lockhart Featurette-Michael Moore's Return To Denver/Littleton Interviews-Cast-Michael Moore On "The Charlie Rose Show" Interviews-Cast-UK Press Conference; Film Festival Scrapbook Gallery-Photo Music Video-Marilyn Manson - Fight Song Notes-Michael Moore's Books Web Links DVD-ROM Extras Trailer-Manufacturing Consent; Amandla!; Shifting Sands Trailer-Power And Terror Noam Chomsky In Our Times |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2002 | ||
| Running Time | 114:02 (Case: 120) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL (67:57) Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Michael Moore |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Madman Entertainment |
Starring | Michael Moore |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual | ||
| RPI | $34.95 | Music | Jeff Gibbs |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English Spanish English for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Is America a Nation of Gun Nuts? Or Just Nuts?
Inspired by the tragic events that occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on 20 April 1999, when two students went on a shooting rampage killing 12 fellow students and a teacher, Bowling For Columbine is an examination of the fixation that American culture has with guns and violence. Filmmaker Michael Moore, known for championing the cause of the working-class with his television show The Awful Truth and his earlier documentary, 1989's Roger and Me, collected the Academy Award for Best Documentary for Columbine, the biggest among many awards the film has since won. An outspoken individual who is often labelled as a rabble-rouser and trouble-maker, Moore did no harm for the film's publicity when he brazenly criticised the war in Iraq as part of his Oscar acceptance speech.
Bowling for Columbine opens with the amazing scene we all saw in the theatrical trailer of Moore opening an account at a local bank and being given a free rifle as part of the promotion the bank was running at the time. If it were not so very real and the bank staff so obviously displaying no concern at all over this bizarre deal, it would be funny. It is probably the clearest sign in the whole documentary that all is not right in the 'Land Of The Free' when it comes to the firearm culture. From here Moore moves from one bizarre situation to the next as he tries to uncover just what is it about America and guns that sees it lead the world in firearm related homicides. The country has some 250,000,000 (yes - a quarter of a billion) guns in circulation and recorded more than 11,000 gun-related murders in 1999 alone.
The events of the Columbine shooting occupy a significant proportion of the first part of the film. In between footage of Moore returning to Littleton and interviewing some of the locals, there is haunting security camera footage of the actual day of the shooting. We see what looks like the school cafeteria as the students quickly evacuate and the gun-toting students leisurely stroll around. This is overlaid by the audio of the 911 phone calls made as the shootings were occurring. This is without a shred of doubt the most moving and visually confronting part of the film, but is followed closely by the moment Moore takes one of the survivors of Littleton to Kmart headquarters. The guns used by the killers in Columbine fired bullets bought for just a few cents each at the local Kmart store. One of them is still lodged in the spine of the survivor, so Moore thinks he should be able to appear at Kmart and ask for a refund. It makes for a priceless moment in the film and the stunning conclusion is a win for the little guy.
Moore also questions the morals of the powerful gun lobby group, The National Rifle Association and their leader, actor Charlton Heston after they turned up in Denver just two weeks after the Columbine shooting for their national rally, much to the disgust of the local people. After many months of trying, Moore finally manages to speak to Heston in the closing stages of the film. He also speaks with shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, the man whose music was deemed responsible for the massacre by a great many in Denver. Manson comes across as articulate and clear in his thoughts and offers some real insight into what he believes are the problems facing the youth of America. Moore also speaks with the brother of convicted Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols. James Nichols comes across as one of these people who live their life in fear, surrounded by conspiracy theories and truly believing the world, and especially the government, is out to get them. He shows Moore the 44-Magnum he sleeps with under his pillow in a moment that obviously rattles the normally unflappable Moore.
Moore crosses into Canada to compare a country with a similar gun ownership ratio but with people who are significantly less inclined to use them on anything other than wildlife, while the second half of the film is more focused on the violence that seems to permeate every facet of American life. The environment of fear that the American media cultivates on a daily basis is one reason offered as to why the out-of-control gun problem exists.
Many people (including those with an awful lot to lose by having tighter gun control) have criticised Moore for his handling of some of his so-called facts and his careful editing of various pieces of footage to make the NRA seem more evil than they probably really are. This is certainly a documentary heavily biased towards an anti-gun stance, but in the end if all it does is spark some debate among those people in the United States who own those 250,000,000 guns and the crazies that sleep with them under their pillows, then it has done its job to perfection. Incidentally, Moore has answered many of the critics who have bombarded the media with accusations of bias and errors in the film. His website at www.michaelmoore.com is quite detailed and makes interesting reading as he answers all the doubters.
Whatever the faults of this film, be they sloppy fact presentation or slightly careless and misleading editing, it is a worthy winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary. At the very least it makes me extremely glad I live in a country with reasonably rigid controls on gun ownership. I live in a country where I don't know anybody who owns a gun. It appears the reverse would be the case if I lived in the USA.
The video transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. This is slightly different to the theatrical aspect ratio which was 1.85:1. It is also 16x9 enhanced.
Don't expect too much in terms of a pristine, vibrant, or colourful image here. The film is split between hand-held videotape footage from Moore and archival news or security camera footage. There is grain evident on many of the shots with poor lighting, but there is no low level noise.
Colours aren't exactly what I'd call vibrant, but the style of film and the content matter presented doesn't really call for heaps of bright colour.
There are no MPEG or film-to-video artefacts. Film artefacts are also mostly absent in the new material, but often dominate the archival footage.
There are a couple of subtitle options. I sampled the English variety during much of the commentary track and found them pretty accurate.
Disc one is a dual layered disc that is RSDL formatted with the layer change occurring at 67:57. Not bad placement, that while quite obvious, is not disruptive to the flow of the programme.
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This documentary comes well equipped with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. It is joined by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Commentary track for a grand total of three audio soundtracks.
Being a soundtrack dominated by narration and interviews, it really doesn't need the use of all six speakers. Mostly anchored to the centre channel for much of the running time, there is some reasonable separation of sound effects across the front speakers and mostly notably the music. Whenever a song plays over some of the footage there is a nice opening up of the soundstage. Dialogue is clear and there are no audio sync problems.
There are a few songs present. Marilyn Manson's Fight Song gets an airing, as does Louis Armstrong with What A Wonderful World. The Lennon/McCartney composition Happiness Is A Warm Gun, a song John Lennon wrote about the craziness of gun advertising also features.
Despite being a full 5.1 soundtrack, there is little surround channel or subwoofer usage.
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PAs, interns, and a receptionist! Yes - you read that right. This is a rather strange commentary track, provided by eight people who worked on the film in what could only be described as junior positions. Michael Moore states in his audio introduction (see below) that he doesn't feel the need to do a conventional director commentary because the film already says everything he wanted to say. So instead he got several of the junior crew to do it. Unfortunately, what we get is not a great commentary in any respect. It's like trying to watch the film with eight other people in the room and they are all talking over the top of each other. It becomes quite tiresome at times and at the end of the film you are really none the wiser as a result of anything they have to say. I found this to be a complete waste of time.
An audio only introduction from Michael Moore that runs for a couple of minutes. He talks briefly about the film and what its purpose is. He also outlines the reasons why he has not provided a normal commentary style track. He feels that the film pretty much speaks for itself and everything he wanted to say is contained in the film.
Not given permission by the Academy to use the footage of his now infamous Oscar acceptance speech when he lambasted the War in Iraq and the President of the United States, Michael Moore here offers videotaped explanation of that speech, how it came about, and what the Oscar win meant to him. It has quite a lengthy running time of 15:32, but he does tend to ramble a little for the first half.
Funnily enough this is a one page transcript of his 45 second speech.
Filmed for the US Comedy Festival on 27 February 2003, this is a one-on-one with former Clinton administration press secretary Joe Lockhart quizzing Michael Moore about several issues. It does not take long to get him fired up about several political issues. He is also presented with the annual 'Freedom of Speech' award at the end of the interview. Quite lengthy, clocking in at 21:06.
This isn't as emotional as I thought it would be. On 26 March 2003, Moore conducted a talk at Denver University. In front of a very large audience, with many of the people involved in the Columbine tragedy present, Moore touches on many topics, many similar to the above featurette. He talks about the tragedy only briefly, but then discusses the gun debate and what ordinary people can do about it. The featurette rounds off with Moore signing copies of his book Stupid White Men and chatting with several students. Runs for 25:09.
Much of the same material from the previous interviews is getting covered again in this featurette. This is a 24:47 segment where interviewer Charlie Rose quizzes Moore about his film and his politics. Importantly, this segment does include the theatrical trailer, which isn't included anywhere else on the Region 4 disc.
A lengthy 26:21 featurette showing Moore's UK press conference for the launch of Stupid White Men and includes plenty of discussion about Columbine. A fair bit of the material from the other interviews is again repeated, but Moore does discuss the differences between UK and US cultures.
Covers three film festivals (Cannes, Toronto, and London). The former takes up the bulk of the running time, showing the presentation of a special jury prize to Moore for Bowling For Columbine. It was the first documentary nominated for the main competition in nearly 50 years. The rest of the running time is made up of interview segments that cover much of the same material as previously seen. Runs for 15:42.
A pretty dismal effort here with only 10 photos presented. They are also far too small to be of much use.
The man that many blamed for the Columbine tragedy, shock-rocker Marilyn Manson and the video for his song Fight Song. Runs for 2:59.
A static page of very small text advertising two of Moore's book - Stupid White Men and Dude, Where's My Country.
Links to either www.michaelmoore.com or www.bowlingforcolumbine.com
This is a fairly comprehensive set of ROM content which is designed as a guide to help school teachers explore the themes presented in the film. It helps them to set some lessons and activities designed to help students develop critical thinking skills, historical analysis, and open their minds on many universal issues. All the content here is available from the www.michaelmoore.com website.
Four trailers for other Madman titles.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
There are a couple of differences between the Region 1 and Region 4 versions. The main difference, aside from the content, is the Region 1 disc is presented on a dual sided (DVD-14) disc, whereas we get a two disc set complete with decent disc artwork.
The Region 4 disc misses out on:
The Region 1 disc misses out on:
Not a whole lot of difference. I like the packaging of the Region 4 with the two discs complete with artwork. The missing extras are of no major consequence since we do get to see the trailer in the Charlie Rose Show extra. I'll lean to the Region 4 in this case.
Bowling For Columbine is one documentary not to be missed and this two-disc DVD presentation is an excellent package of an important piece of film.
The video quality is acceptable for a film that uses many different quality source elements. There are no issues with the actual authoring of the disc.
The audio is functional. The 5.1 surround soundtrack is perhaps a little bit of overkill, but it is clean and clear.
The extras are numerous if perhaps a little repetitive.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Loewe Xemix 5106DO, using RGB output |
| Display | Loewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Harmon/Kardon AVR7000. |
| Speakers | Front - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10 |