Bowling for Columbine

If Michael Moore avoided his traditional shortcomings, namely simplification, fabrication, and mystification, it would be a reliable five-star rating because the topic he processed is extremely urgent in America and most of the information painfully fits. Overall impression: 75%. Visually attractive documentary, albeit in somewhat populist packaging. (06/18/2006)

A searing look at an American society that lives in a paranoid atmosphere and a media that artificially creates an atmosphere of fear because fear, murder and horrific acts that sell well. Our own experience tells us that it’s not just the American media – just watch the news on commercial TV… It bothers me a little that there are moments where Moore slips into demagoguery, but there is a sincere desire to make a difference, and at times he succeeds. It also proves that a documentary can be much more engaging and entertaining than any feature film. The question is whether everything he reports here is truly objective, whether he is not trying to misrepresent. But anyway, there is something wrong with a society where you can buy ammunition as easily ice cream. (11/16/2003)

It felt a bit cheap how Michael Moore chose Charlton Heston as the sacrificial lamb here; there are surely others who could be blamed as well. However, one understands it when realizing that Heston was a public figure who expressed his views clearly. It’s another demonstration of how Moore can pick an interesting topic, go after it like a dog, and kind of launder your opinions and emotions. (10/14/2016)

A riveting documentary, as well as a subjective testimony about the state of affairs in the United States, which, when thought through to the end, is horribly true. Moore presents his biased vision of the problem of American militant sentiment, but that is why the image of the US in all its ugliness and monstrosity stands out. If only a third of the film were true (and I believe it is), then Orwell's "big brother is bad" would be given a whole new meaning. And from my audience point of view, it does get a new meaning. A nation that learns to promote freedom at all costs by force will not end well. Nor will the world that embraces such a nation as a role model turn out good... An excellent documentary, but it’s too bad Moore sometimes resorts to the typically "USA" emotional blackmailing of the viewer. (01/30/2004)

Michael Moore is an incredibly skillful manipulator. He directs his facts precisely so that they serve his purpose, but it would be a shame to forget that there is more or less a grain of truth behind all of his conclusions. The author goes to great lengths and illuminates the bad side of America through hints that something is wrong with the simple possession of weapons, showing increasingly absurd situations that culminate in a blind man at the shooting range. And then he puts on his strongest ammunition - the high school event, which has tremendous power in the background of the phone recording. Columbine is stronger the more harsh jokes shine between the individual revelations. And in the end, the final impression remains chilling, terrifying, and quite telling. Five stars for bravery. It's just a pity that this success has overshadowed Moore's mind to the extent that he has decided to completely overthrow America with each of his subsequent works. (04/05/2006)