Product Details

• Actors: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Jacobo Arbenz, Mike Bradley
• Directors: Michael Moore
• Writers: Michael Moore
• Producers: Charles Bishop, Charlie Siskel, Chris Aldred, Gillian Aldrich, Jeff Gibbs
• Format: PAL
• Language: German (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: German
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,128 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000916TJ
• For more information about "Bowling for Columbine" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Michael Moore's superb documentary (following in the footsteps of Roger & Me and The Big One) tackles a meaty subject: gun control. Moore skillfully lays out arguments surrounding the issue and short-circuits them all, leaving one impossible question: why do Americans kill each other more often than people in any other democratic nation? Moore focuses his quest around the shootings at Columbine High School and the shooting of one 6-year-old by another near his own hometown of Flint, Michigan. By approaching the headquarters of K-Mart (where the Columbine shooters bought their ammo) and going to Charlton Heston's own home, Moore demands accountability from the forces that support unrestricted gun sales in the U.S. His arguments are conducted with the humor and empathy that have made Moore more than just a gadfly; he's become a genuine voice of reason in a world driven by fear and greed. --Bret Fetzer

From The New Yorker

Michael Moore's rounded guzzler's belly hangs over his jeans, his shirt is untucked and probably untuckable, and his baseball cap covers a mass of unhealthy hair. He's an American satirist disguised as a loser. In his latest provocation-a documentary mixing stock footage, interviews, gun-dealer advertisements, and the like-he goes after America's gun culture, which he sees as the product of a collective guilt over slavery and the slaughter of Native Americans, a guilt that manifests itself in paranoia and a relentless obsession with security. Moore, as always, is less a reliable or coherent thinker than a left-wing joker with a camera, but some of his mocking sallies have a way of hitting their target. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Movie, April 14, 2003

By 

"dalexnyc" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bowling for Columbine (DVD)

I have taken 4 friends to see this movie. I have even seen this movie while I was in Montreal to see what the Canadian reaction would be. I must say, I was embarrassed to be an American after watching this movie. I then thought of all the things I should be doing to make this place a better place to live. In other words, this is a thought provoking movie that is truly provocative.

You will see Charles Heston wring his hands in nervousness after he says, "We don't want any more of that civil rights business going on again", or "the reason America is violent is because of all the mixed ethnicities." What an idiot.

And that is just what Michael Moore does, he shows people and the government in their natural element speaking freely, and shows us how insane they are and sound. From George Bush proclaiming that our number one priority should be defense spending when people all over the country are out of work and children are living in poverty without parent supervision, to the crackpot rednecks who are buying more "guns and ammo" because they want to protect themselves from the "evil doers." It's this candid honesty of Moore's subjects that makes us look inward to how this country gone astray. Then Moore tries to explain this with his amazing short animation movie "A Brief History of the United States of America." Although he simplifies everything, and it is truly brief, it hits home and is certainly eye opening.

Moore tries to explain the question of why America is so violent. Why we are the unique country in the world that kills people with guns on the astronomical level that the United States does. He offers a lot of options to this answer, but ultimately, he leaves the question open for the viewer to search out within him/herself for the answer and make change.

A truly great achievement and I can't wait till his next film that is due out 2 months before the election that will no doubt, open up people's eyes to the corrupt and blood thirsty administration that occupies the White House.

Bravo Mr. Moore! Bravo!

38 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I like Moore, but why does he have to >lie< to make his point, May 2, 2006

By 

Troy (Lancaster, PA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bowling for Columbine (DVD)

I was very, very disappointed with this documentary. It largely consists of editing tricks (lies) to make its point. Example:

In one of the Heston speeches, it appears Heston is telling the Columbine mayor "too bad" in response to the tragedy. In reality, if you look carefully, HESTON'S TIE CHANGES COLOR SEVERAL TIMES during the speech. Hmmm. Why? Because Moore is editing together multiple speeches/ random phrases, from many different cities, to give the ILLUSION of a single speech. Moore is not showing us a real speech. He's showing us a >fake speech< that he wrote himself & using Heston like a puppet.

Why does Moore have to create fake speeches to make his point? Why lie? It makes no sense.

171 of 229 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Did Not Want To See This Movie..., November 4, 2003

By 

Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein "bigfootsalienbaby" (under the rubble) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bowling for Columbine (DVD)

OK, I had heard so many negative things about this movie that I didn't want to bother with it. Then, my beloved brought it home. We watched it together and I completely flipped! Michael Moore is a film-making genius! His guerilla style is perfectly suited for the subject matter. Who else has even attempted to ask the question "Why so much fear and violence in america?" without finding simplistic, kneejerk answers? Moore takes us to Columbine to not only relive the tragedy, but to talk with the surviving victims. He even takes them to K Mart's HQ to confront the company's policy of selling handgun ammo (the columbine shooters purchased their bullets at the local k mart) with successful results. This is not just some propoganda film about the evils of gun ownership. Moore himself was raised with guns and still carries his NRA membership card. This movie is about Moore's quest to find out why we love to kill each other so much here in the states. Is it poverty? Nope, other countries have worse economic problems without the bloodletting. Is it violent music or video games? Uh-uh, these are endemic throughout the civilized world. Could it be the proliferation of handguns? No, Canada has millions of guns and it's big cities have the murder rates of our small towns! Is it our violent, gun-toting history? Negative, the entire planet has a bloody, violent past. Moore has the audacity to try to get to the bottom of this mess. BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE is not for the squeamish or the political zealot from either right or left. It's for folks who wonder at what we've become. It's for people like me who hate the idea of barracading themselves in their homes for fear of being slaughtered. This fear is also challenged here. Many sacred cow arguments are terminated. Prepare to be angered, saddened, provoked, offended, and oddly entertained as only Michael Moore can do. A must own classic...