The Siege (1998) Critic Reviews
Metascore®:
Based upon 11 Critic ReviewsHighest Rated
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It's a thinking person's thriller, where pyrotechnics give way to plot, character development supplants fight scenes, and adrenaline does not short-circuit intelligence. Read the full review
A political thriller with more plausibility -- and yes, more thrills -- than most. Read the full review
What a shame, therefore, that in its puritanical treatment of the only strong female character, the otherwise politically correct police story is blithely unaware of its own closet misogyny.Read the full review
It's a cautionary tale about the excesses of jingoist paranoia, and the folly of it all is that the more the film descends into somber liberal chest thumping, the less engrossing it becomes.Read the full review
In its clumsy way, it throws in comments now and then to show it knows the difference between Arab terrorists and American citizens.Read the full review
The Siege is not a documentary but a glossy Hollywood entertainment that is prey to all the exaggerations, simplifications and acting histrionics that come with the genre.Read the full review
A potentially provocative idea is played out to diminishing returns.Read the full review
Edward Zwick's ultimately sedate thriller starts out with crisply efficient style and the potential for a much more involving story.Read the full review
As a nail-biting thriller, The Siege is too confusing, and as a thought-provoking social drama, too confused.Read the full review
Most of the fault rests with the script, which gets to this issue late and feels only perfunctory, more interested in the jolt of the image than the jolt of the idea.Read the full review
