Customer Reviews

Homeland Security

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Television pilots that fail to be picked up as series are showing up on the shelves as movies and the transition is all too apparent. HOMELAND SECURITY was supposed to be a series for TV, a form of explaining how the Department of Homeland Security came into being after the tragedy of 911. The 'film' version is mildly instructive, mildly entertaining, and in the end it is a hodge podge of ideas of how a long series might run crammed into 87 minutes.

What begins as a diatribe against the lack of cooperation and interaction among the CIA, FBI, and military intelligence (lower case intended!) suggesting that had their been centralization of information, perhaps 911 could have been prevented, ends up as a sprawling mélange of ill-connected pieces. The problems arise in attempting to explain the intricacies of the schisms in Afghanistan (a lot of pyrotechnique footage for this confusing section) along with the preludes of terrorist sub rosa influx into the country, footage from the 911 events, and personalization of some of the perpetrators and victims - all in compressed time broken by obvious black screen moments where TV commercials were placed.

The cast (Tom Skirett, Scott Glenn, Grant Show, Marisol Nichols, et al) tries hard to make the fuzzy script (written by Christopher Crowe) work, but the direction by Daniel Sackheim is jittery and ultimately seems to sell out to the political Right - probably at the demand of the non-cable TV network. Probably at the inception of the idea of tracing the evolution of Homeland Security as a force more intelligent in centralization of information was a good idea. It just gets too watered down and relies on the repetition of the line 'it was all there in front of us waiting for us to connect the dots'. Still, some food for thought. Grady Harp, August 05

Great Movie , it's enlightening to some factual items and some journalistic liberties but all in all a good movie that gives the "behind the scenes story" , leading up to 09/11/2001 .

Very good movie! The acting was well worth watching for but unfortuanately it was way to short. They should have made a series or at least a mini series out of it. Scott Glen and Tom Scarrett worked well together. It was so hard to put all these different agency workers together and achieve the goal they are looking for. Being in law enforcement myself here in NY for nearly 30 years, I can tell you, that cops...of any age or department or agency, have large egos, and for them to put their personal feelings aside and work towards a common goal to rid our country of this menace, is well worth watching.

Homeland Security brings to the screen the events that brought about 9/11 and the subsequent establishment of the Homeland Security Department.
The film goes back and forth between events in the U.S. and abroad following the lives of those people that played a role (direct or indirect) in laying the foundation for what became the coordinator of intelligence agencies.
Scot Glenn, Tom Scerritt, and the rest of the cast, carry out their performances very well, and the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide more than just a few thrills, not to mention a few tears.
The acting, the setting, the plot, the dialogues, and the music are overall good.
Even though the series never materialized, Homeland Security is worth watching as it will surely provide for an evening's entertainment.

Homeland Security lives up to what had happened on that day. From the views of the writers director & producer as to what had happened and what had happened for days after. Good action/drama movie for you that enjoy the type, I enjoyed it GREATLY!!! Have watched several times since I bought it. A good investment in action/drama movies.

HOMELAND SECURITY (2004) Directed by Daniel Sackheim.

Starring Scott Glenn, Tracy Scoggins, Christopher Maher (as Hamid
Kharzai) Andrew Robinson and Tom Skerritt.

Covering the period from the summer before September 11, 2001 and
ending on January 29, 2002, this film pilot for a proposed series deals
with the creation of the dept of Homeland Security intended to assemble
and codify all data coming from the various law enforcement and
intelligence agencies so that they are no longer working at cross
purposes and so prevent another terrorist attack on American soil. The
story is concerned primarily with the coming together of the team that
would have served as the ongoing characters. In the course of which we
see the near miss of capturing Osama Bin Ladin at Tora Bora, the
Anthrax attacks begin, Muslim terrorist cells are rounded up and the
attempt to smuggle in radioactive material through the Canadian border
is stopped.

Because it is a pilot and because obviously the 9/11 War was not
resolved by Jan 29. 2002, the film functions more as a movie would
about Pearl Harbor or Lexington and Concord thus it does not really
have an ending but rather is a begining. Consequently it lacks a
certain dramatic pay off. As it is, it still bites off a litle more
than it can chew just for the six months it does cover. So it is a
little cursory and rushed. It does not help that the two leads are not
known for their dynamic acting styles.

That said. Considering that 99 percent of the films about the 9/11
War......save THE HAMBURG CELL, CHASING FREEDOM and THE PATH TO
9/11........have been appaling BIRTH OF A NATION/ETERNAL JEW/MISSION TO
MOSCOW style poisonous rubbish, this single almost feels like a triple.
If there were a plethora of better films out there, this film would
probably be about average but, in a pile of excrement, a single daisy
is a bouquet. Historically the film is interesting and it serves as a
decent sequel to PATH TO 9/11 being the only film one is aware that
covers the Anthrax attacks, the Ukranian smuggling attempt and the hunt
for Osama Bib Ladin so it gets points for originality. It has to be the
only film in which Hamid Kharzai is a character. The proposed series
could have been fascinating and served the artistic imperative to
enlighten, ennoble and entertain. There is an incredibly brave and
original subplot concerning Skerritt's liberal daughter that one is
amazed was even scripted let alone filmed that makes the picture
subversive just by itself. However, like THE PATH TO 9/11, the series
was censored by liberals before it could get started. However, unlike
that film which has been completely censored, this is available on DVD.

As can be seen by other reviews of the film, the film is hated with
that psychotic hatred that characterizes the Left but this reviewer is
not going to fall into the trap of going to the other extreme by
declaring the film a masterpiece. It is good. It could be better. But
it is perfect viewing on the anniversary when the United States was
attacked on her soil, we were plunged into war with an atavistic
barbarism from the Dark Ages and the country, asleep for 8 years, was
forced to play catch up.

This film shows the start of that effort. Tragically It is doubtful
that there will be a better film on this subject.

Recommended for normal Americans.

Liberals should watch the Michael Moore thing for the 87th time.

Finally, a movie (first made for a tv series) that shows the truth about went happened and how we had so many clues but failed to connect the dots to prevent 9/11. I'm sure this movie didn't get publicity becuase it doesnt have hollywood stars portraying America as the bad guy. Great stuff. Rent it.