Live from Baghdad
by Mick Jackson
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DVD details
Actor: David Suchet, Helena Bonham Carter, Joshua Leonard, Lili Taylor, Michael KeatonDirector: Mick Jackson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-06-24
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: HBO Video
DVD Reviews of Live from Baghdad
DVD Review: Fantastic movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great movie because it is about the first Gulf War. I think people forget what happened then and how it relates to today. It is also an interesting accounting of the beginning of 24 hour news. All actors do a great job.DVD Review: Reaffirms my opinion
Summary: 3 Stars
While this movie was well written and acted, it did strengthen my opinion about those in the media. I know alot of people may disagree with me on this, but in this film I saw nothing more than sick, egotistical vultures scrambling around trying to find "the next big story" with little regard to the people they hurt. For those of you who view the media of being comprised of elitist know-it-alls, watching this movie will assure you that your assessment is correct.
There are many examples throughout the course of the movie. The obvious fear of the British child being held hostage by Saddam being reduced to merely being a great story. The members of the other networks basically saying that it is their job to tell viewers what is important and why. The CNN crew agreeing to keep quiet about atrocities they saw in Iraq and Kuwait to avoid being thrown out of the country (so much for "we report, you decide"). Weiner sympathizing with the Iraqi propaganda official despite the fact that a hostage he interviewed was kidnapped, most likely under the orders of the same official. And on, and on.
Bottom line, this movie does a splendid job of showing how most of those in the media are legends in their own minds who will stop at nothing to exploit any human tragedy and suffering in the hopes of making it big, although I'm sure that this is not what the makers of the film were going for. There is nothing honorable about them. They were, and are, vultures.
DVD Review: Sound and Fury
Summary: 3 Stars
This is probably a fairly accurate representation of how newscasters operated in Iraq during the Desert Storm War, and of how they operate in general in front-line, crisis situations. I think the movie was aiming at evoking viewers' admiration for the newscasters' courage and stamina in "getting the story." It was supposed to be a paean to CNN as it established itself as a credible, round-the-clock news source during this War. But for me, the movie had the opposite effect. It showed how rash and ultimately futile most of the media people's actions on the scene were.
Everyone is either on an adrenaline rush in this movie, or else is waiting it out in a tavern getting sloshed and sloppy. There is no happy in-between when any sane, informative reporting can take place. During their "on" periods, newscasters are seen rushing down corridors, pushing each other, jostling, jockeying to get the story before other broadcast networks can get it. And the story is usually some canned speech by Saddam Hussein or one of his cabinet members. People stoke their sense of self-importance by surrounding themselves with ringing phones. They agonize over power outages. It's all frenetic activity - signifying nothing.
Because when the War really starts, all that we get out of these many reporters' efforts are exclamations announcing another SCUD missile hit. We get "Wow! That was a big explosion! Wow, another one! The sky is lit up!" People risked their lives to tell the listening American public that a bomb just lit up the sky?
It seems there would have been opportunities for intrepid reporters to go out into Baghdad and get stories that would really have mattered - stories that would have enlightened the American public about the climate of opinion there, about conditions among Iraqi citizens, and about reasons for going to War or not going to War. But virtually nothing like that comes across. In the end, it all comes down to, "Wow, that was a big one!"
So I do think this movie is worth watching, but probably not for the reasons it was made. Instead of coming away from the film with an illustration of how good and worthy our reporters are, you, like me, may come away with an illustration of how far our news coverage needs to advance in order to be a really useful tool in the democratic decision-making process.
DVD Review: Making Money Will Win Out
Summary: 1 Stars
The movie portrays a group of CNN reporters grappling with journalistic ethics and the hazards of reporting in a modern war-zone. The message the film generally sends to its audience, although a bit corny, is that nations can avoid conflict by discussion and, of course, CNN would like to be the ones to orchestrate and film it. In the film Robert Wiener is a pushy on-location producer who is know for doing anything to get a story. Ingrid Formanek is his assistant producer and she turns the hardened journalist away from pursuing the risky ultimate story by reminding him of his family; really pulls those heart strings huh? As stated above the plot is beyond cheesy; it is simply Hollywood entertaining us with the typical fast love and action story. Although Mick Jackson and HBO might say differently, what happened in Baghdad was probably very different then what happened in the film.
It was said that the art of making movies is the art of the middle. Making a film basic enough so that most people can get the jokes and understand what is happening. Hollywood's objective is, obviously, to make enough money to cover the cost of producing a film and at the same time to turn a profit. So, it is understandable if not enjoyable that Mick Jackson makes the events that transpired in Baghdad into some trite love story; he is trying to appeal to a certain kind of crowd that is drawn to those tired old clich?s. It is sad that most directors are concerned with making money first and getting their messages out second.
One thing, however, that Jackson does well is to portray the CNN reporters in his film as people with agendas. He does not try to fool the audience by having his characters spout garbage about "the people's right to know," he cuts straight to the bone with how Weiner is trying to get the ultimate story in order to advance his career. Overall the film works as an entertaining drama, but it provides surprisingly little information of the events surrounding the 1991 Gulf War.
DVD Review: Good
Summary: 4 Stars
This captured the competitiveness the networks had and still have regarding war coverage. Michael Keaton is great as the somewhat overanxious and egotistical CNN producer Robert Weiner. As a journalist myself, I enjoyed seeing how the press would jockey for the story and try to get the fresh angle, the upperhand with the news consumer. Helena Carter is excellent in the film in her role as a CNN co-producer, contrasting Weiner's brash ego with good old common sense. One of the big messages in the movie is that persistence pays and CNN was the most persistent network, it appeared as the Gulf War broke out.
Description of Live from Baghdad
A group of cnn reporters wrestle with journalistic ethics and the life-and-death perils of reporting during the gulf war. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 05/30/2006 Rating: NrLive from Baghdad tells the story of how CNN became the only news agency to cover the first Gulf War from within Baghdad. Michael Keaton stars as CNN executive producer Robert Wiener, who took a small news team into the Iraq capital after the invasion of Kuwait. Along with producer Ingrid Formanek (Helena Bonham Carter), Wiener jousted with teams from other networks, fought with antiquated equipment, and wrestled with Iraqi attempts to control information--in particular with an information minister named Naji (the outstanding David Suchet). After numerous setbacks, Wiener's team triumphed when they had the only connection from inside Baghdad as the American forces began dropping bombs. Though a TV-movie about TV news coverage is a bit incestuous, Live from Baghdad makes for compelling viewing; the script and direction are taut, performances are excellent all around, and the perspective on the war is multilayered. --Bret Fetzer
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