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MOVIES / ON DVD / BLOODY SUNDAY
Bloody Sunday

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Bloody Sunday (2002)

92%
100%
85%
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92 %
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.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

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 staged in contest to British laws that permitted internment without trial, the film charts... 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]

Genre: Dramas

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

Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Paul Greengrass
Producer: Mark Redhead

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 4, 2004

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Paul Greengrass - Writer/Director, James Nesbitt - Actor,
  • Don Mullan - Co-Producer/Author of the book BLOODY SUNDAY
  • Cast & Crew Interviews

Interactive Features:

  • Interactive Menus
  • Scene Selection

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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Ratings Image
4/5

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 | comment Comment
12/30/06
Alan Morrison
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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N/A

Comparisons with The Battle of Algiers are not inappropriate.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/06
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/5

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 | comment Comment
03/21/02
FilmFour.com
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4/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/21/02
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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N/A

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

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

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/21/02
Richard Kelly
Sight and Sound
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N/A

Stunning.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/08
Scott Foundas
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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N/A

Greengrass sacrifices character and plot to a chilling impressionistic stylization.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/08
Patrick Z. McGavin
Chicago Reader
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N/A

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 | comment Comment
11/01/07
David Ansen
Newsweek
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N/A

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

Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/06
Alan Dale
Blogcritics.org
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3/4

Intense and difficult, but rewarding.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/04/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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5/5

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
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image
B

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 | comment Comment
02/20/04
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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N/A

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 | comment Comment
12/01/03
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
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5/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
10/15/03
Jurgen Fauth
About.com
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3.5/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
05/28/03
Newsday
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A

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

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/03
Mark Robison
Reno Gazette-Journal
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4/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/10/03
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle
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N/A

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 | comment Comment
01/19/03
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press
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N/A

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 | comment Comment
01/08/03
Gregory Weinkauf
New Times
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Related Forums

'Bloody Sunday' named one of top five Irish films!
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BLOODY SUNDAY - First a powerful a U2 song, now a riveting Paul Greengrass film!!!
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Around the Network

• Bloody Sunday at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bloody Sunday at AskMen
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