Bowling for Columbine

2002 "Are we a nation of gun nuts or are we just nuts?"
8| 2h0m| R| en| More Info
Released: 11 October 2002 Released
Producted By: Alliance Atlantis
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: https://michaelmoore.com/movies/bowling-for-columbine/
Synopsis

This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.

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Amy Adler As most of the world knows, in April 1999, two Columbine High School students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, took guns to school and shot thirteen students and one teacher dead. How did they get the guns? What does bowling have to do with anything? Those looking for an in-depth look at the two shooters will be disappointed. Although Mr Moore does record that Harris and Klebold went bowling on the morning of the shooting and later takes two of the wounded students, now recovered, to buy bullets at Kmart, this is not really about Eric and Dylan. Rather, it is more of an examination of the "gun culture" of the USA. The National Rifle Association, in this film headed by Charlton Heston, has ensured that getting a gun and ammunition is as easy as filling a prescription. Moore notes that we are unique among countries in that our rate of gun shootings and killings far surpasses that of Canada, our nearest neighbor, and other Western civilizations. Some have blamed violent video games, some singers like Marilyn Manson (interviewed in this film as a favorite singer of Harris), still others that "family department" stores like Kmart and Walmart have the weapons and the ammo. Interestingly, Moore also takes a look at Work-to-Welfare programs like the one near his hometown of Flint, Michigan. A young single mother was forced to work at a casino, 90 minutes away, to satisfy the welfare requirements but still couldn't pay the bills. When she was forced to move in with an uncle and had to leave her six year old son in his care, the young lad found his uncle's gun and took it to class, only to shoot a fellow student dead. what a tragedy! In short, anyone wanting to talk about the Second Amendment and gun control would do well to begin with this film. Those seeking in- depth information on the Columbine shooting should look elsewhere.
SnoopyStyle Left wing filmmaker Michael Moore examines the issue of guns in America. The title refers to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold responsible for the Columbine High School massacre were supposed to be bowling for their class earlier that morning. Moore sarcastically wonders if bowling caused the massacre. He takes a wide-ranging look at guns and the overall culture in America. He talks to various people. The most compelling is James Nichols, brother of Terry Nichols who was convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing. The man has crazy eyes. There is a glee in his demeanor about guns. Marilyn Manson has a couple of intriguing responses. Matt Stone comes from Littleton which is next to Columbine High School. There is a cartoon in a South Park style that gives some simplified views of fear in America. Moore concentrates more on this idea that Americans live in fear. He contrasts America with the world by going to Canada and their unlocked doors. This is not a traditional documentary. One can easily pull it apart by pointing out any number inaccuracies and loose facts. Moore is painting a picture and a feeling. The best idea is to pull everything back to fear in America and get out of the actual guns as the issue. Sometimes, he overreaches by going general politics. Also, not everybody in Canada keeps their door unlock. This is a little scattered but Moore eventually puts everything into focus.
tomgillespie2002 In the wake of the recent shootings in Virginia by a masked gunman live on air and the seemingly endless mass killings in America taking place in schools, movie theatres and churches, it seemed like the perfect time to re-visit Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore's breakthrough documentary on gun violence in America. It has been 16 years since the massacre of 12 students and 1 teacher at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, and 13 years since Michael Moore won the Best Documentary Oscar for his extremely provocative and shocking film. The main question is has anything changed? The answer is a resounding no. In fact, gun violence seems more out of control than ever.Starting out tongue-in-cheek, Bowling for Columbine begins by telling a few amusing, almost too-ridiculous-to-be-true anecdotes highlighting America's love of guns. Moore opens an account in a bank, only to be rewarded with a rifle for doing so. and begging the question of just how sensible it is to be handing out guns in a bank. We then learn of a couple of men who thought it would be funny to dress up their dog in hunting gear with a rifle strapped to it's back, only for the gun to fall off and shoot one of them in the leg. These early moments are hilarious as Moore interviews the type of crazy-haired lunatics who should have their own soundtrack of twanging banjos, but serve to set up the audience for something more serious and all the more troubling.Is America's violent history to blame for the amount of gun deaths that occur every year? Most large countries, such as Britain, Germany and Japan, were built on bloodshed and have committed recent atrocities. Is America's love of guns as a way of life the reason for so much violence? Canada is also a gun-loving nation of hunters, but Canadian's leave their doors unlocked when they leave their home. Is it the poverty and mass unemployment? Nope - check out almost any other country with the same social issues but without the same levels of crime. It's when Moore takes a trip across the water to Canada that he seems to have the revelation. He catches a clip of the news, where the breaking story is the introduction of speed bumps. These people weren't being drilled with fear 24/7. Switch on the news in America, and you see young black males being chased down, arrested, and thrown into the back of a police car, or as interviewee Marilyn Manson points out, there are adverts telling you that if you don't brush with Colgate, you'll have bad breath and no- one with come near you.For the majority of Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore raises some terrifying questions and makes many very good points, all delivered with powerful, ironic montage's, insightful interviews, and a wry humour. But the last quarter descends into a Moore vanity piece, as he puts himself in front of the camera when he should remain behind it. Moore takes a couple of Columbine's survivors to Walmart to campaign against their sale of bullets and brings the press with him. Although it gets the job done, Moore's ever-presence as a kind of working man's hero makes it come across as a cheap publicity stunt. There's also the climactic interview with NRA president Charlton Heston, who Moore lures in under false pretences and then ambushes with questions of gun-control, a tactic that crosses any journalistic boundaries into sheer rudeness and left me uncomfortable. However, Bowling for Columbine is still an extremely powerful film, and is still shockingly relevant over a decade later. Every week, the news seems to deliver a story about yet another massacre and yet a lot of American's still argue that guns are important for self-defence, which is an extremely depressing thought indeed.
thefinalword The American scheme (dream) is laid bare for anyone to see in this movie. First a few things I have to disclaim. Michael Moore can be crass at times. His method of getting interviews are bordering on trolling at times, but one has to remember that it is honestly a joke believing these people will stand up for the charges made against them. I think without these comedy bits his documentaries would be a bit dry, even if he is off the mark sometimes.As I watched this movie I really started to wonder why is it that Americans are so backwards and controlled by fear. He interviews people who have no idea that they are displaying their mental illnesses on camera and it punctuates his points incredibly. People spend so much time criticizing Moore that they prove his point, Americans are not willing to listen or rethink their values. Their immediate response is to attack someone with opposing views, not with debate but with verbal or emotional abuse. Unfortunately Moore (and me and other Americans) also are guilty of throwing dirt before talking it out. So there is also that irony to be pondered. All in all it is a fascinating movie that is a singular documentary on the gun problem in America. People like Moore give us a reason to be proud to be American. Even if we aren't a part of the "gravy train".