MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Filmmaker, author, and political activist Michael Moore trains his satirical eye on America's obsession with guns and violence in his third feature-length documentary, which gets its title from a pair of loosely related incidents. On April 20, 1999, shortly before they began their infamous killing spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attended their favorite class, a no-credit bowling course held at a bowling alley near the school, the same bowling alley which would become the scene of a robbery and triple homicide two years later. While pondering these events, Moore humorously considers the link between random violence and the game of ten pins; along the way, Moore calls on the Michigan Militia (and gets to know some of the models for their "Militia Babes" calendar); spends some time with James Nichols, brother of Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols; visits K-Mart's corporate offices with two teenagers injured in the Columbine massacre as they ask the retail chain to stop selling bullets for handguns; investigates the media's role in the American climate of fear and anger; compares crime statistics in the United States with those of Canada (which, despite higher unemployment and a larger number of guns per capita, manages to rack up a small fraction of the homicides committed in the United States), and questions actor and National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston regarding his appearance at a pro-gun rally held in Littleton a few days after the Columbine massacre, and a similar rally in Flint, MI, after a six-year-old boy killed a classmate with a gun he took from his uncle's house. Bowling for Columbine received its first public screening at the 2002 Ann Arbor Film Festival; the film's official premiere took place a few months later at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Subtitle: Mult
• Features:
  • cc
  • Exclusive Michael Moore interview on his Oscar win & acceptance speech
  • Personal introduction by Michael Moore
  • "Return to Denver/Littleton" featurette
  • Interview with Michael Moore by former Press Secretary Joe Lockhart
  • Audio commentary by receptionists and interns
  • Teacher's guide
  • Segment from "The Awful Truth II: Corporate Cops"
  • Michael Moore's "Action Guide"
  • Film festival scrapbook
  • The Charlie Rose Show with Michael Moore
  • Marilyn Manson's "Fight Song" music video
  • Photo gallery
  • Original theatrical trailer

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Documentary Feature - 2002 (Michael Donovan, Michael Moore)

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Documentary - 2003
•     Nominated Best Documentary - 2002

• Cannes Film Festival

•     Won 55th Anniversary Prize - 2002 (Michael Moore)

• Chicago Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Documentary - 2002

• French Academy of Cinema

•     Won Best Foreign Film - 2002

• IDFA

•     Film Presented - 2009

• Independent Spirit Awards

•     Won Best Documentary - 2002

• National Board of Review

•     Won Best Documentary - 2002

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2002

• Toronto Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Documentary - 2002

• Writers Guild of America

•     Nominated Best Original Screenplay - 2002 (Michael Moore)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Michael Moore
       Charlton Heston
       Matt Stone
       Marilyn Manson
       Dick Clark
       George W. Bush
       Barry Glassner - himself

• Director:

  Michael Moore

• Producer:

  Charles Bishop, Michael Moore, Michael Donovan, Kathleen Glynn, Jim Czarnecki

• Screenwriter:

  Michael Moore

• Composer (Music Score):

  Jeff Gibbs, Bob Golden

• Editor:

  Kurt Engfehr

• Co-producer:

  Kurt Engfehr

• Supervising Producer:

  Tia Lessin

• Co-producer:

  Rehya Young

• Executive Producer:

  Wolfram Tichy

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Francisco Latorre, James Demer

• Animator:

  Dave Concepcion, Harold Moss, Matthew Bookbinder, Gaia Cornwall, Bob Gleason, Miguel Hernandez, T. Woody Richman, Kareem Thompson, Aneurin Wright

• Camera Operator:

  Brian Danitz, Michael McDonough

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Reilly Steele, Peter Waggoner

• Executive in Charge of Productio:

  Jenipher Ritchie

• Dialogue Editor:

  Matt Haasch

• Research:

  Lana Garland, Gina Kim

• Additional Cinematography:

  Mike Casey

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Joe Caterini

• Post Production Supervisor:

  David Coole

• Dialogue Editor:

  Rob Daly

• Additional Cinematography:

  Michael Desjarlais, Craig Hymson

• Research:

  Catherine Johnston, Nicky Lazar, Donna Lee, Elizabeth Marcus, Amy McCampbell, Katy Mostoller

• Line Producer:

  Siobhan Oldham

• Research:

  Aneetha Rajan, David Schankula, Nancy Swartz

• Executive in Charge of Productio:

  Dirk Wilutzki

• Dialogue Editor:

  Pat Donahue

• Additional Cinematography:

  Christopher Bell

REVIEW:

• In Michael Moore's best work, the director's attitude toward his subject walks a fine line between bemusement and bitter outrage, and those two extremes are closer than one might ever expect in his film Bowling for Columbine. Moore's examination of America's three-way addiction to guns, violence, and fear doesn't offer many answers to the tough questions it poses, but to a large degree that's part of the point; one of the film's most telling moments comes when Moore interviews the father of one of the students killed in the Columbine High School massacre, and after a while he can only conclude ruefully that he simply doesn't know why America has become such a violent society. Of course, Moore certainly has his opinions about this matter, but for every moment where he's taking on K-Mart for selling handgun ammo or Charlton Heston for appearing at major pro-gun rallies days after highly publicized incidents of handgun violence (in the latter case, at least Moore's entitled as a member of the NRA), there's another where Moore sets out to find if it's true that Canadians don't lock their doors by simply barging in unannounced, or visits a bank where you can get a free rifle for opening a savings account. Moore is able to make the absurdity of real life communicate his message just as well as his rage or sadness, and the film's pointed but effective comedy not only makes the film more entertaining, but also reinforces the more somber (and sometimes shocking) material elsewhere. Bowling for Columbine has an obvious and specific political agenda (and your appreciation of the film may well have a lot to do with the degree to which you share his views), but Moore seems less interested in determining who is right or wrong than in asking what can be done to make America a safer and saner place to live, and for all the craziness (both funny and disturbing) on view, it's the shaggy regular-guy humanity of Bowling for Columbine that makes it most effective, both as a polemic and as cinema. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi