IslandGuru Who payed the critics

ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

BruceUllm This picture was a waste of effort to produce and is a waste of effort to understand. The characters do not elicit any sympathy from me and represent nihilists and losers. If THEY can't have success, then NOBODY can. So, they join a so-called holy war and become terrorists. History is full of such fools who decide that all modernity is wrong simply because they can't or won't fit in.If this picture accomplished anything, it deepened the American suspicion of all things and all people from the Middle East. One minor and somewhat amusing thing I noticed: our main character never could get a decent shave -- even on the Big Day.

ericdetrick2002 I was waiting for a public service announcement at the end saying, "Terrorists- they are not bad people, just mis-informed". Ugh. You know, I am a well educated person; I am in no way "close-minded". Don't serve me a platter full of dung and tell me it is actually desert. I don't like it when writers and/or directors pull the emo trip on their audience, especially with this particular subject. Hitler was a bad guy, I don't see any films about him being mis-understood.These terrorists (and don't forget to call them what they were) were not mis-informed. Nor was this something that they did out of panic, instinct, or defense. This was one of the most well planned, and yes, thought out, murders in history. There's more blame insinuated on the American leaders then the terrorist (who are indeed made out to be martyrs). For a film maker to put out such a piece of propaganda, in hopes to make people understand what these poor mis-guided people had to go through, reminds me of why I own a DVD player- I don't have to worry about crap like this coming through my video monitor.On a technical level this film worked. In fact, if this tragedy had not happened, and this was just a story it probably wouldn't have bothered me as much. But I know the reality of this, and unfortunately there are people who are actually forgetting the truth and reality behind it. Film can do that. Which, is why i'll stick to my own viewing collection. What's on tonight's list...I think i'll watch "Cannibal Holocaust"...

siddiqui247 I saw this movie back in Dubai last year during its premiere in the Dubai International Film Festival.The thing I liked most about this movie was the fact that it wasn't biased towards a certain point of view, and even though I believe that you can't have complete objectivity in anything, I think this movie did a superb job in trying to portray the entire process of how those students became suicide bombers, which is something I'm sure people wonder about nowadays, especially in the west. At the same time, it also shows the intelligence mishaps that were played out by the US government before 9/11.What I found amusing was that the entire Arab audience that watched the movie was angry and started singing their song..."it shows all Arabs as terrorists...etc" whereas half of the other audience (non-Arabs) didn't feel it was like that at all, and naturally the entire audience ignored the actors and the producers during the Q and A session and started arguing amongst each other. Which basically shows how controversial this movie is and why it hasn't really been released yet. A shame really. I think the American audience (and the rest of the world) could use a little more light on the incident.In conclusion, I hope it can be released soon so I can own it on DVD asap. It's definitely worth watching again and again.

Richard Brunton There is no doubt about it, this is a controversial movie, and it took me a while to see it. Missing it at the Edinburgh Film Festival really got to me but I managed to see it just recently.I understand that it doesn't yet have a US\Canada release and although there have been talks, nothing has yet been signed up, and no wonder. The subject matter is focused on one of the hijackers of the September 11th Twin Towers attack. Yes. Very controversial and highly emotionally charged topic.The first thing I'd say about the movie is it is portrayed as an unbiased movie, however that isn't quite true but it's clear to see why. The movie solely rests with the hijackers and the lead up to those terrible events of September the 11th but doesn't concentrate on the events of that day, there are a few shots that remind you of the actual attack, but detail isn't entered into and I think that actually is a good thing.There's a lot of strong feeling about that day, and very rightly so, but in a movie which tries to take no sides, concentrating on the events would clearly fill any sane person with great sadness and a strong anger against the hijackers and the groups to which they belong.Okay, so let's put that part to the side and try and concentrate on the movie itself. Antonio Bird has carried through Ronan Bennett's story very well, documenting the process of the main character, Ziad Jarrah played by Karim Salah, transforming from a Western Muslim living the life of a typical student, to a Muslim extremist.Salah portrays the role excellently, carrying with total believability, the slow change. He starts as a typical student, interested in his own life and ignoring his initial upbringings looking at love and life as a Doctor. Slowly, he is indoctored into a group of Muslims, rediscovering his religion, and from there an extremist pulls him across to their cause and the change in the character is small but obvious. He becomes strong, self assured, and angry.This carries on for much of the movie, but when the realisations of what is happening and what he is committing to become more apparent, his love for his wife and their Western life come into contention.From the outset this movie shocks, and it does very well in showing what was behind one of the hijackers. What isn't so good is it doesn't quite hit the mark on this very change. I could see what changed him, and I could understand the peer and religious pressure around him (this is very eloquently shown in the movie) but you still find yourself asking why? A vital few steps are missing, and this may purely be down to the lack of historical information, or the complexity of the subject.Although an even more difficult subject, I felt the religious and Jihad side could be tackled more, but that might have made the film more inaccessible to the mainstream Western audience.In the end, the movie condemns what these people did with an extremely loud voice, but not from the extreme Western view that can often be heard today, but from the characters words and actions throughout their brief history. Indeed some of the victim support groups from that day have applauded the release of a film to understand the fundamentalist mindset.This movie is well worth watching, believe me when I say it isn't all from the side of the hijackers, and it does not attempt in the slightest to justify events, it is an attempt at understanding.