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The Siege

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2:06

The Siege

R

Released Nov 6, 1998

1h 56m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

44%

Tomatometer

62 Reviews

53%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

After terrorists attack a bus in Brooklyn, a Broadway theater and FBI headquarters, FBI anti-terrorism expert Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) teams up with CIA agent Elise Kraft (Annette Bening) to investigate. Soon, martial law is declared in New York City, and General William Devereaux (Bruce Willis), a sadistic racist, is put in command. When Devereaux begins rounding up Arab-Americans and forcing them into a detention camp, Hubbard and Kraft must fight back in the name of freedom.

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Critics Consensus

An exciting, well-paced action film.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B-

Sep 7, 2011

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Globe and Mail

Rated: 4/4

Oct 10, 2002

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Ken Hollings

Sight & Sound

The Siege attempts to update the bluffs and counterfeints of the Cold War spy thriller, not to advance any ideological point but to obscure the fact that it doesn't have one.

Mar 5, 2002

Full Review

Zaki Hasan

Zaki's Corner

Unfortunately, the movie's ignorant portrayals of other cultures while espousing a message of brotherhood comes across as not a little hypocritical.

Rated: B-

Feb 16, 2019

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a solid concept in search of a consistent (and engaging) execution.

Rated: 1.5/4

May 29, 2016

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Ryan Cracknell

Calgary Movies

More political than entertaining, The Siege is a reflection of our heightened awareness and sensitivity to terrorism and the price of freedom.

Jun 21, 2007

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Farah R

I enjoyed watching Denzel Washington give another brilliant performance like he always does, but The Siege isn’t a good movie. The story is ridiculous.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/05/25

Full Review

M H

Classic Denzel performance in a film that asks many questions we still deal with in 2024. My one criticism is that you have to suspend disbelief for much of the 3rd act to remain compelling. That being said, the movie was entertaining and enjoyable

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/26/24

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mark g

Benning and Willis are terrible. Washington does not give one of his best performances. These things indicate the real problem here, just not very well written.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

09/26/24

Full Review

Kim P

The character actors (Valley, Reddick, Shaloub and Proval) far outshone the stars' performances in this dull, clumsy, plodding movie. That's not ideal.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

09/09/24

Full Review

Horror fan 4

Lead by an all star trio this movie is really good. The thought of marshall law being put in place is crazy. Tim Treakle

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/07/24

Full Review

Dominique R

2 Worst Denzel movie iv watched. Annette cannot act. Avoid all movies that stars Annette Bening. The story is so over the top with cliches from the 90's. I could only cringed my way through 20 minutes of this movie.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/16/24

Full Review

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Edward Zwick

Director

Denzel Washington

Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard, Assistant Special Agent-in-charge FBI Counter-intelligence Task Force

Annette Bening

Elise Kraft

Bruce Willis

Major General William Devereaux

Tony Shalhoub

Agent Frank Haddad, Counter-intelligence Task Force

Sami Bouajila

Samir Nazhde

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The Siege: Trailer 1

2:06

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Synopsis

After terrorists attack a bus in Brooklyn, a Broadway theater and FBI headquarters, FBI anti-terrorism expert Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) teams up with CIA agent Elise Kraft (Annette Bening) to investigate. Soon, martial law is declared in New York City, and General William Devereaux (Bruce Willis), a sadistic racist, is put in command. When Devereaux begins rounding up Arab-Americans and forcing them into a detention camp, Hubbard and Kraft must fight back in the name of freedom.

Director: Edward Zwick
Producer: Lynda Obst, Edward Zwick
Screenwriter: Lawrence Wright, Lawrence Wright, Menno Meyjes, Edward Zwick
Distributor: Fox, 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 20th Century Fox, Bedford Falls Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 6, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $40.9M
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Surround, SDDS, Dolby Digital

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