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Movies / On DVD / Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday

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Bloody Sunday (2002)

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Reviews Counted:101

Fresh:93

Rotten:8

Average Rating:7.9/10

Consensus: Bloody Sunday powerfully recreates the events of that day with startling immediacy.

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In documentary style, Paul Greengrass' BLOODY SUNDAY, which chronicles the events of January 30, 1972 in Derry, Ireland, is filmed with gritty gray realness. Surrounding a peaceful protest march... In documentary style, Paul Greengrass' BLOODY SUNDAY, which chronicles the events of January 30, 1972 in Derry, Ireland, is filmed with gritty gray realness. Surrounding a peaceful protest march staged in contest to British laws that permitted internment without trial, the film charts the progress of the march from the night before it to the night following it. As the final organizing of the march takes place that morning, MP Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt) rushes from the street where police barriers are being erected to his office where he fields a string of urgent phone calls. Meanwhile Major General Ford (Tim Pigott-Smith) arranges for a heavily armed troop of commandos in fatigues and face paint to be ready to intercept the march if it turns violent. A third persona, Kevin McCorry (Allan Gildea), is a young lad with a prison record who believes in the cause of the march but wants to avoid conflict and any real trouble. As the march proceeds, and chaos ensues, the British militia opens fire onto the unarmed crowds, shooting 27 and killing 13 in one of the most shocking instances of excessive force in Irish history, ending any hope of nonviolent resolution, and stoking the IRA. [More]

Starring: James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Gerard McSorley

Starring: James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Gerard McSorley, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Allan Gildea, Gerard Crossan, Mary Mouldes

Director: Paul Greengrass

Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Paul Greengrass
Producer: Mark Redhead
Studio: Paramount Classics

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Bloody Sunday

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Greengrass has deliberately chosen to provoke an emotional rather than intellectual response with his film -- but sometimes provocation is much preferred to the British media's maintenance of the status quo.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Alan Morrison
Alan Morrison
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Comparisons with The Battle of Algiers are not inappropriate.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Trevor Johnston
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Whether you'd call this 'docudrama', 'faction' or 'factual drama', the result is enough to make you seethe with anger and moral outrage.

Full Review Source: FilmFour.com | comment Comment
03/21/02
FilmFour.com

Goes some way towards explaining how the tragedy occurred and its enduring legacy today.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/21/02
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Forget about the controversy: this is visceral, rocket-fuelled film-making.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/21/02
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Greengrass' dramatic re-enactment, galvanised by documentary techniques, is so dense and alive with detail that it should be viewed attentively.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
03/21/02
Richard Kelly
Richard Kelly
Sight and Sound

Stunning.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/11/08
Scott Foundas
Scott Foundas
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Greengrass sacrifices character and plot to a chilling impressionistic stylization.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/11/08
Patrick Z. McGavin
Patrick Z. McGavin
Chicago Reader

Watching director Paul Greengrass's explosive Bloody Sunday, you have to remind yourself at moments that you're not looking at a documentary.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
11/01/07
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

Bloody Sunday demonstrates an historical thesis formulated in retrospect, which fits oddly with Greengrass's continuous-present technique.

Full Review Source: Blogcritics.org | comment Comment
06/24/06
Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Blogcritics.org

Intense and difficult, but rewarding.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/04/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

As atuações viscerais e a direção pseudo-documental recriam com contudência um dos episódios mais revoltantes da história da luta irlandesa contra a dominação britânica.

comment Comment
02/09/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Captures the horrors of a civil rights march taking a wrong turn in the Northern Ireland city of Londonderry on Sunday, January 30, 1972.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/20/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

This is tragedy in its rawest form: bloody chaos I couldn't help but watch. . . . The tension is palpable and the brutality is immediate.

Full Review Source: Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada) | comment Comment
12/01/03
Brian Gibson
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

The immediacy is overwhelming...an extraordinarily powerful film.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/15/03
Jurgen Fauth
Jurgen Fauth
About.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/28/03
Newsday

An amazing feat of movie making, “Bloody Sunday” leaves you stunned.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
04/24/03
Mark Robison
Mark Robison
Reno Gazette-Journal

No victories here, but Greengrass' film is a triumph in anguish.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/10/03
Kimberly Jones
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle

The audience is placed right in the center of events in a multi-sensual, horrific 'you are there' virtual reality of social protest that grabs you and never lets go.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
01/19/03
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

The film exudes a universality that may apply to any conflict, especially any that provokes people to become killing machines in the name of nationalism.

Full Review Source: New Times | comment Comment
01/08/03
Gregory Weinkauf
Gregory Weinkauf
New Times
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
all

Latest News for Bloody Sunday

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The fact that a studio went out and made a movie about 9/11 should come as no big surprise; true-life tragedy has made its way into tons of well-known (and often excellent)... More...

March 30, 2006: "United 93" to Premiere at Tribeca
The Tribeca Film Festival and Universal Pictures today announced that "United 93," the feature film which chronicles the unfolding drama of the hijacked September 11th... More...

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