The Siege

I just watched the movie The Siege. It was shot in 1998 by Director Edward Zwick (“Glory”, “Legends of the Fall”, “Courage Under Fire” and, more recently, “The Last Samurai”) and it is based on a story by Lawrence Wright, who also wrote the screenplay. After the abduction by the US military of an Islamic religious leader, New York City becomes the target of escalating terrorist attacks. Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington), the head of the FBI's Counter-Intelligence Task Force in New York, teams up with CIA operative Elise Kraft (Annette Bening) to hunt down the terrorist cells responsible for the attacks. As the bombings continue, the US government responds by declaring martial law, sending US troops, led by Gen. Devereaux (Bruce Willis), into the streets of New York City. The movie is very entertaining and Denzel Washington gives, as usual, a great performance. The most interesting about The Siege, however, is the fact that it raises questions, predicts behaviors and unveils plots that might have been disregarded as fiction in 1998, but have become frighteningly real after the tragedy of 9/11 and subsequent events… The script was somehow prophetic and, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, I recommend that you do it now that the 5th anniversary of the day that changed the world is approaching.