Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer (WGA):

Michael Moore (written by)

Release Date:

25 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The temperature where freedom burns!

Plot:

Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Plot Keywords:

Dark Humor | Evil | Political Protest | Audience | Burn Victim

Awards:

26 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stevie Wonder	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Baker III	...	Himself - Former Secretary of State (archive footage)
Richard Gephardt	...	Himself - Congressman (archive footage)
Tom Daschle	...	Himself - Senator (archive footage)
Jeffrey Toobin	...	Himself - Author of "Too Close to Call" (archive footage)
Al Gore	...	Himself - U.S. Vice President and Senate President (archive footage)
Condoleezza Rice	...	Herself - National Security Advisor (archive footage)
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself (archive footage)
Saddam Hussein	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Bush	...	Himself - Former U.S. President (archive footage)
Ricky Martin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Byron Dorgan	...	Himself - Senator in Subcommittee on Aviation (archive footage)
Osama Bin Laden	...	Himself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Fahrenheit 911 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violent and disturbing images, and for language.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | USA:R (certificate #40791) | Italy:T | Australia:M | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:18PL | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:12 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | Kuwait:(Banned) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 (theatrical) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Baghdad, Iraq

Company:

Lions Gate Films

Trivia:

The highest-grossing documentary in its opening weekend: $23,920,637 (equalling the three-month run total of Moore's last film Bowling for Columbine (2002))

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Was it all just a dream?
Al Gore: God bless you, Florida! Thank you!
Narrator: Did the last four years not really happen? Look, there's Ben Affleck. He's often in my dreams. And the Taxi Driver guy. He was there too. And little Stevie Wonder, he seemed so happy... like, like a miracle had taken place. Was it a dream? Or was it real?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Manufacturing Dissent (2007)

Soundtrack:

Aqualung

If this is news to you, wake up!

Yes, Michael Moore has an agenda. However, every documentary does. Believe it or not folks, but a documentary does not just show reality, it also interprets it. Remember the experts that Ken Burns shows in all of his documentaries? He used them to interpret the facts of the Civil War, Jazz, and Baseball, among others. The Ken Burn's agenda just wasn't as controversial as Michael Moore's.

The point of a documentary is for those who see it to start making their own judgments. If you don't agree with Michael Moore's interpretation of the why's of the Iraq war, what is the right interpretation? Can you use the facts or find more facts to come up with a different interpretation? I would call that highly unlikely, but I would like to see the interpretation.

This documentary set out to answer the question "Why is the US in Iraq?" I can tell you I have asked that question a lot and I found no good reason. Michael Moore has done the same thing, just to a larger audience. While you might disagree with his assessment that it was strictly for money, it is hard to support a different view after seeing this movie. You would be hard pressed to find any evidence linking Iraq and Al-Qaeda. Why? Because it doesn't exist. No matter how much Bush railed for a link, even he had to admit it wasn't there.

I guess I would like to see a Republican version of events. I just can't imagine what it would use as evidence. How can you refute the 7 minutes of inactivity of Mr. Bush in the Florida classroom on 9/11? How can you refute the fact that planes were loaded up with Bin Laden relatives on 9/13? How can you call the "coalition of the willing" a coalition if it includes countries that send no troops? These are the facts folks. Michael Moore interpreted them to slam the Bush administration. I was saying the same thing before this movie. However, I reach a small audience since I don't make movies. Thanks to Michael Moore for making this film. Maybe some of the clueless, like Britney Spears, will wake up and start questioning what is going on out there. Because, Ms. Spears, in America, we are allowed to question the president. He isn't God, he is a human being.

So, pro-Iraq war people, give me your interpretation. Why? Why are we there? Why don't we have Osama Bin Laden? Why?