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Dirty Wars

Play trailer Poster for Dirty Wars 2013 1h 26m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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84% Tomatometer 70 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill traces the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command. He exposes covert operations to capture and kill people, but those agents do not exist on paper.

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Dirty Wars

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Critics Consensus

Some viewers may find fault with director Rick Rowley's filmmaking methods, but they aren't distracting enough to keep Dirty Wars from serving as a terribly compelling argument against elements of American foreign policy.

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Critics Reviews

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Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard 11/29/2013
4/5
A tense, shocking US documentary that plays out like an episode of The Wire, though in this case it's not a war on drugs that's being fought (and lost), but the war on terror. Go to Full Review David Jenkins Little White Lies 11/29/2013
3/5
Government sanctioned atrocities and journalist Jeremy Scahill fight for top billing in this investigative doc. Go to Full Review Nigel Andrews Financial Times 11/28/2013
3/5
We should be shocked. But the camera is too busy making a hero of reporter-presenter Jeremy Scahill. Go to Full Review Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site 02/27/2021
Dirty Wars points to a series of terrible crimes, but rejects drawing any serious conclusions from them, leaving its audience suspended in mid-air. Go to Full Review Jillian Steinhauer Hyperallergic 02/03/2020
These are small, intimate tragedies, so oddly suited to the cell phone camera, which is meant to capture what's going on in our lives. Go to Full Review Ben Nicholson CineVue 03/06/2019
4/5
It's like a 1970s conspiracy thriller fronted by a voracious gumshoe -- only in place of laconic wit lies moral indignation. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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02/27/2020 I tell people who cannot find it in themselves to criticize anything former President Obama did to see this film. This is what establishment, centrist Democratic representatives are apparently okay with. Keep this in mind for our 2020 election year. See more 03/17/2019 With an eye-catching storytelling and an impeccable clarity in Scahill's thought process, it successfully helps put the war-opposing LibDems and the Republicans in the same basket. One issue it had is, I felt it heavily focussed on one side; the military side of why they did what they did is missing. Only one military general is on record expressing his views. So I just found only one side of war. See more 06/14/2017 Somber, Oscar-nominated documentary about the human toll resulting from the war on terror. It's all told through the eyes of journalist Jeremy Scahill (who also narrates), taking you along for all the frustrations and revelations of investigative journalism. See more 01/08/2017 Pretty straightforward film but also gets it's message across in an effective manner. See more 10/14/2016 How the US government is INCREASING terrorism across the world rather than reducing it. See more 04/30/2016 i finally got up the strength to commit to watching this doc with Jeremy Scahill. it was tough to get through but it was a an important view. DIRTY WARS brings attention to the methods of JSOC as the US's unaccountable special ops who have unlimited funds, answer only to the white house and assassinate enemies with impunity anywhere in the world; spun from Afghanistan and Iraq. DIRTY WARS bolsters the narrative that america's war on terror is not only counter-productive but is the machine that creates more terrorists. as someone who has live through and for the past 25 yrs followed closely the US' involvement in the middle east, this doc is yet another brush to paint the picture that the american military industrial complex is the force for evil bringing devastation anywhere for profit and the expense of everyone. See more Read all reviews
Dirty Wars

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Cast & Crew

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Rick Rowley

Director

David Riker

Screenwriter

Jeremy Scahill

Screenwriter

Anthony Arnove

Producer

Jeremy Scahill

Producer

Brenda Coughlin

Producer

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Dirty Wars

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Movie Info

Synopsis Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill traces the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command. He exposes covert operations to capture and kill people, but those agents do not exist on paper.
Director
Rick Rowley
Producer
Anthony Arnove, Jeremy Scahill, Brenda Coughlin
Screenwriter
David Riker, Jeremy Scahill
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Big Noise Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 7, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$365.6K
Runtime
1h 26m
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