Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
80%RT Audience Score: 70%
Awards & Nominations: 29 wins & 17 nominations
Extremely one-sided in its indictment of the Bush administration, but worth watching for the humor and the debates it’ll stir
Fahrenheit 9/11 is like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of loops and drops, you get a wild ride through the political landscape of America. Michael Moore’s documentary is not for the faint of heart, but it’s definitely worth the ride. It’s a bit like a superhero movie, with Moore as the hero fighting against the forces of evil. And let’s be real, who doesn’t love a good superhero movie? So grab your popcorn and get ready for a wild ride through the world of politics.
Production Company(ies)
Film4 Ingenious Film Partners Special Treats Production Company,
Distributor
Lionsgate Films, Fellowship Adventure Group, IFC Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Baghdad, Iraq
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some violent and disturbing images, and for language
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 1m
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Language(s):English, Arabic
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 23, 2004 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 3, 2007
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore, documentary, politics, Bush administration, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, 9/11 attacks, media, Saudi Arabia, corporations, special interests, R rating, Lionsgate Films, Fellowship Adventure Group, IFC Films, $119.1M box office, directed by Michael Moore, written by Michael Moore, produced by Michael Moore, reviewed by Joe Morgenstern, Namrata Joshi, Kent Jones, Nell Minow, Nick Schager, Mark Cousins, David Walsh, Mattie Lucas, Mark Steyn, Geoffrey O’Brien, Thomas Peyser, starring Michael Moore, Ben Affleck, Stevie Wonder, George W Bush, James Baker, Tom Daschle
Worldwide gross: $222,446,882
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $350,906,934
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 435
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 38,266,841
US/Canada gross: $119,194,771
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $188,028,132
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 392
US/Canada opening weekend: $23,920,637
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $37,734,480
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 340
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $6,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $9,464,918
Production budget ranking: 1,701
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,096,859
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $336,345,157
ROI to date (est.): 2,310%
ROI ranking: 41
Ben Affleck – Self
Stevie Wonder – Self
George W. Bush – Self
James Baker – Self
Tom Daschle – Self
Director(s)
Michael Moore
Writer(s)
Michael Moore
Producer(s)
Michael Moore
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
29 wins & 17 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (237) | Top Critics (60) | Fresh (195) | Rotten (42)
The good stuff — and there’s some extremely good stuff — keeps getting tainted by Mr. Moore’s poison-camera penchant for drawing dark inferences from dubious evidence.
January 7, 2019
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
TOP CRITIC
In all, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a great counterpoint to the Fox News brand of propaganda. It’s also a crusade in its own way.
January 7, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Namrata Joshi
Outlook
TOP CRITIC
Much more than a scathing indictment of Dubya-era complicity, Michael Moore’s exposé lays bare the devastating heartbreak now central to America’s wartime reality.
November 19, 2013
Kent Jones
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Controversial documentary best for older teens.
December 24, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
Fair and balanced, as Fox News might say, this is not.
May 3, 2005
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
TOP CRITIC
Ranks, as a work of cinema, with the best of Santiago Alvarez and Esfir Shub.
October 6, 2004
Mark Cousins
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Fahrenheit 9/11 is an admirable film, remarkable in certain parts, done with considerable and heart-felt sincerity.
February 15, 2021
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site
A documentary tour de force that transcends mere finger-pointing and name-calling for a much higher purpose.
June 5, 2019 | Rating: 4/4
Mattie Lucas
The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)
When a director who’s not exactly known for admirable forbearance suddenly starts exercising it, you can’t help wondering why. Later on in the movie, the old forbearance goes out the window.
January 27, 2018
Mark Steyn
The Spectator
The movie works by the primal curiosity that lured people into nickelodeons, the desire to see what comes next in the string of attractions; and unlike some of those nickelodeon operators, Moore makes good on the promise.
August 21, 2017
Geoffrey O’Brien
The New York Review of Books
Michael Moore’s fierce and funny Fahrenheit 9/11 is not so much a documentary as a mythology, reducing geopolitical complexities to a neat, tawdry narrative.
June 3, 2009
Thomas Peyser
Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)
People say Moore is Un-American for creating a documentary against the president, well, it’s Un-American not to explore other’s views.
April 29, 2009
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed…
Plot
Following up on ‘Bowling for Columbine’, film-maker Michael Moore provides deep and though-provoking insights on the American security system, the level of paranoia, fear, uncertainty, false values and patriotism, which all combined together to set a stage for George W. Bush to launch a war on Iraq instead of focusing on getting the real culprit(s) behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This documentary also focuses on how some Saudis were safely and secretly flown out of America while planes were ostensibly grounded after the attacks. Archived film footage, candid interviews with politicians, and an overall waste of public funds for a war that was initiated on false pretension to wit: a weapon of mass distraction – to take the focus away from the real enemy and get Americans glued to their TV sets to watch innocent Iraqis and Afghans getting killed. And a war that would eventually alienate the U.S.A. and its citizens from almost every country on Earth.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features appearances from Ben Affleck, Stevie Wonder, and George W. Bush himself.
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