The Second Civil War

TV-MA

1997

1 hr. 37 min.

Comedy

List

67%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

61%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

The media, the White House and the world watch as Idaho's governor (Beau Bridges) closes borders to a planeload of Pakistani refugees.

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Jithin K

Calling it the near future in the beginning without specifying the year worked great since this could've been the actual state of the USA a couple of years ago, being absolutely the black comedy in real life. The beginning of India nuking Pakistan was not something I expected from this movie. But then that leading to internal conflict in the US, then personal situations of politicians and the prejudices of people working together to make everything worse and worse as it went on all were really great ideas. Choosing to centre the movie in a newsroom so they can cover everywhere was also a great choice. There are just so many great ideas in this film and so many commentaries made. A lot of them worked and a lot of them didn't. It was a bit overcrowded. I feel like this would've worked better if it was much longer with more things grounding it to the narrative to let the messages speak for themselves. The whole wasn't really as great as the sum of the parts. There are many things in it that are shown like they are exposing stuff, while the direction makes it feel like even while showing such things, they are not understanding the actual complexities and believe in a more idealistic world without considering what should actually be done. It could also be attributed that a lot of these might be considered hyperbolic in the 90s while it feels much closer to reality now, so that may be why the very Americanised idealistic view the makers had that they were afraid to be broken. There are also many aspects of it that clearly show this is a pre-9/11 American movie, which couldn't have been part of such a movie afterwards. Overall, I loved a lot of it but thought some of it was pretty stupid. However, as a movie, it did work to get its point across, and being almost prophetic of how The US has become recently, it deserves appreciation, even though it has its fair share of flaws.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/17/23

Full Review

jon c

There was only ever one civil war in American history Yet there's never been a second...until now Director Joe Dante and HBO Films make a political thriller starring Beau Bridges, Phil Hartman, James Earl Jones, Kevin Dunn, Dennis Leary, Ron Pearlman, Dan Hadaya Taking place in Boise, Idaho in the near future the borders are being closed by Governor Farley Pakistan is hit by Indian bombers putting many Pakistanis homeless and escaping as refugees Farley makes a bold move going against the federal government opening up Idaho to the refugees despite his anti-immigration views and that he's having an affair with a female Mexican-American tv reporter He's completely oblivious to the nation's current problems This acts as a satire of anti-immigration sentiment in america All art is messy as hell, we forget what the pledge of allegiance means, who do we trust to run the country while trying to please everyone, when it comes to immigration who stays and who goes? A moron in the Oval Office isn't that uncommon now given the Trump Administration as well as a second civil war taking place after the Capitol Riots The news fleets as well as the politics involved these days This American satire touches on the issues at hand while poking fun at them too but not forgetting the serious ramifications

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The specific plot details might be exaggerated and inaccurate, however what this gets right is how hyperpolarization will be what destroys us.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

The only thing Dante didn't foresee about the circle of hell we currently reside in is the fragmentation of a unifying news media and the algorithmic sculpting of reality by the Internet—just throw in a pandemic, trade Elizabeth Peña for a Fox fox, and have everyone glued to their phones.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

a title maybe a little too pompous for a comedy that doesnt make you laugh. Too much a television movie than anything else, it has an original plot but the viewers cannot really follow the events, because it is boring and sometimes it doesnt either add up.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

J'adore quand Dante est caustique comme Ã§a... Bien grinÃ§ant comme il faut, mÃªme si l'ensemble reste un peu en surface. AprÃ (C)s c'est une comÃ (C)die donc ca passe. Mais c'est vrai que j'aurais bien voulu une version faite par Oliver Stone aussi.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

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Joe Dante

Director

Beau Bridges

Gov. Jim Farley

James Coburn

Jack Buchan

Phil Hartman

The President

Dan Hedaya

Mel Burgess

James Earl Jones

Jim Kalla

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Howard Waldstein

CBR

Albeit a politically charged romp with plenty of dark comedy, The Second Civil War still has some worthwhile evergreen commentary to espouse.

Jul 18, 2023

Full Review

Travis Johnson

Mr. Movie's Film Blog

After the Trump administration, what's unbelievable about a moron in the Oval Office? After the Capitol Insurrection, what's crazy about a Second Civil War?

Jul 1, 2021

Full Review

Rory L. Aronsky

Film Threat

The news is fleeting and so is politics and that's exactly what's portrayed here.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 1, 2006

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 6, 2005

Full Review

Chris Barsanti

Filmcritic.com

Rated: 4/5

Jan 29, 2004

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 8, 2002

Full Review

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Synopsis

The media, the White House and the world watch as Idaho's governor (Beau Bridges) closes borders to a planeload of Pakistani refugees.

Director: Joe Dante
Executive Producer: Barry Levinson
Rating: TV-MA, R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 2, 2018

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