I threw The Siege out there originally. Let me just say that I hope it wouldn't make the top ten, but I'd have to see the rest of the list to know.

Predictable indeed, but at least it brings up some real stuff about terrorism. It talks about cells, how they operate, and deals with how governments often overreact.

Mainly I just wanted to throw something out there. As far as a Hollywood movie that deals directly with terrorism, I can't really think of any others. V for Vendetta, but I thought that was just as predictable and ended up being such a gross oversimplification that it lost a lot of its message (presuming it had one).

Known a few of those morons (I don't dispute the characterization), I have to agree 100%.

The Bill Ayers stuff during the campaign was comical - the GOP and the right in general should be on their knees thanking Ayers, Bernie Dohrn and the rest of them. They did more to destroy the left in the US than Dick Nixon, John Mitchell, and the rest put together.

As a Chicagoan and a lefty it was appalling (I was 16 in 1969) when these numbnuts ran up and down State Street breaking Marshall Fields windows during the "Days of Rage" and acting as if this was what was going to get the "revolution" going. It was pathetic and not serious but it upset a lot of people - a WHOLE lot of people and helped spur on a Nixon administration fueled (not that they needed much help) backlash against the left and liberalism in general, deserved or not (and in the case of the Weatrhermen it was deserved) that exists in the country to this day.

These folks - and some of them have atoned in some ways - still don't understand how counter-productive and just plain STUPID and narcissistic they were. We all hated the Vietnam war and wanted to end it. We all felt that Nixon and his cronies were dangerous and people of bad character (as events proved, eventually), but these people hurt those movements.

I don't know if this amazing film about the IRA hunger strikes and Bobby Sands has been discussed before in this context, but it came out last year, and will be out on DVD in February from Criterion. The overarching theme is the passage from life to death, and the value of dignity, but there is much detail in here about the motivations and morale of IRA members. I would think it could be instructive for anyone looking for insight into why people would destroy themselves for a cause.

... and with all the perspective the passage of time, maturity (well, maybe), events, etc. grant, it seems like the only sane conclusion.

And the backlash of course was there.

Comparatively, however, if we're going to talk about who caused more pain, grief, and human carnage during those years, who gets the laurels?

The Weathermen or the people supporting the war?

I lived through that time, as I know Tom did too. As I recall, there were morons aplenty, and they came in all shapes and sizes.

And, you know, it may sound like a cop-out, but the times did seem to make people a little nuts. The Weather Underground was nuts.

Fine.

But were they more nuts than the Christmas bombing?

Btw, this film really appeals to college=age students. Their still-somewhat-adolescent (in the non-pejorative sense) craving for moral clarity resonates with the logic the Weathermen followed. Expressed quasi-syllogistically:

Those who perpetrate and support evil are evil--

Napalming civilians who pose no threat to you is evil--

Evil must be opposed by any means--

Those who perpetrate and support napalming civilians must be opposed by any means.

They sense that there's something wrong with the equation, but they still find it attractive.

A wonderful film.

I could have done without the group-grope scene in the van, however.

Don;t get me wrong. It's openly anti-capitalist/imperialist, pro-environment, far left, PoMo hogwash.

But you'll regret not ponying up the $15 bucks to catch it on IMAX 3-D while you can.

The movie is just visually stunning.

PS- I should TOTALLY get royalties for promoting this thing.

Tom,

I have not seen the film. But surely you don't mean to suggest that being responsible for "only" at least four murders (a math researcher at the University of Wisconsin and an armored car guard and two police officers during a robbery), plus three of its own members accidentally killed while making a bomb for another attack, is neglible?

Christopher M Schnaubelt

Besides Battle of Algiers, I'd probably suggest a few other terror related films;
Army of Shadows, Elevator to the Gallows, Brazil, Closely Watched Trains, and One Day in September all jumped out at me from my Netflix ratings. But yeah, I'd have to maintain that Battle of Algiers is probably the film that depicts terrorism in the most unbiased and really engaging way. That scene where the French officers talk about being tortured by the Nazis as they're about to interrogate the Algerian? Now THAT's filmmaking.

And, if you wanted to get into the nitty-gritty, the Odessa Steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin might count as state terrorism, so there's always that.

The best documentary about terrorism.

Lets put this in perspective, does the Weather Underground fall under the following definition?

"The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a Government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives" (FBI Definition)

Without a doubt, Bill Ayers and his cronies were terrrists.

If you disagree, you need to do a little more reading. What do you think about Timothy McVeigh... only a disgruntled white male? Don't let even the moronic Weather Underground off the hook. If a significant portion of their leadership hadn't blown themseves up while building a bomb what would have been their target, how many others would they have killed?

"The Siege" might seem predictable now, but viewed in the context of 1998 the questions it asks about civil liberties and torture in the face of recurring terrorist attacks are eerily prophetic. Also, the screenplay was written by Lawrence Wright, one of the least appreciated (Pulitzer aside) writers on Al Qaeda.

And don't forget "The Little Drummer Girl". Not as good as good as the book, but what movie ever is.

I surrender.

I am enjoying this attempt to create a top ten list of terrorism films. Though it is a bit unorthodox, I would like to suggest "The Dark Knight" be added to the list. Although I am reluctant to suggest a traditional blockbuster and was way overhyped, I would argue that the portrail of The Joker in that film was a fairly accurate portrail of the anarchist terrorists of the late 19th and early 20th century, and that the film attempted to deal with the complex issues that modern states encounter when trying to deal with the threat of terrorism. Though the attempt to discuss these issues in the movie brought mixed results, I think the film still warrants consideration for the list.