Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 3760001371031
Format: PAL
Region Code: 2
Theatrical Release Date: March 15, 1997
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Funny yet disturbingly realistic look at our future.
A funny, yet all to realistic look at America's immigration policy debacle. With the country over run by millions of recent immigrants, many of which whom can't speak english, the nation heads for an uncertain future. Leading the counter charge against mass immigration is a state governor whose attention is not on the nations problem, but instead on his estranged hispanic reporter mistress.
Rating:  - Unbelievable HBO Movie!!!
Starts off funny, moves to hilarious and end up very disturbing. An incredible stellar cast. Made in 1997 and for a number of years HBO has pretended it never heard of this film and it is not for sale (today) in the HBO store. It was once sold for a very short time on laser disk and vhs. Then it was pulled and denied. Suddenly it has surfaced on dvd. I figure I'd grab a copy on dvd before it disappears again.
Excellent movie - well crafted and definitely not 'politically correct'.
Rating: - Smart sharp political satire
HBO films comes through again with this biting farce on the melting pot that is America. In the "near future", the governor of Idaho (Beau Bridges), a right winger if ever there was one, closes the state borders to prevent a few busloads of orphaned Pakistani children from settling in his home state. Soon the President (Phil Hartman in one of his few effective screen roles) consults with his spin doctor (James Coburn) to decide what to do. Meanwhile, the Idaho governor is carrying on a torrid affair with a beautiful news reporter from NewsNet, which is reporting all this. NewsNet is the home of news director Dan Hedaya, anchorwoman Joanna Cassidy, veteran reporter James Earl Jones, wiseass reporter Denis Leary, and hotshot camerman Dick Miller (yes, the GREAT Dick Miller of Buckets of Blood fame), as well as news executive Roger Corman (gee, how did HE get in there?).
Well, I'll tell you how he got in there. The film is directed by Joe Dante, and Dante got his start working for Corman's New World Cinema. So he returned the favor and cast Corman in this film. Surrounding the president, aside from Coburn, are advisers and/or secretaries of state and defense William Schallert and Kevin McCarthy (yes, of Invasion of the Body Snatchers).
Of course the irony of the reporter with whom the Idaho gov is having an affair being Mexican-American (Elizabeth Pens) is part of the gallows humor glee on display. JE Jones provides the voice of heart and conscience for the proceedings, and ... Read More
Rating: - Reality as a satire
Public relations should not control a country. Lobbyists should not control a country. Stupid people should not control a country. Joe Dante should make more films. "The Second Civil War" is the most poignant political satire of the nineties, and is a shame that has dissapeared from public scrutiny (no conspiracy theories here!). If some plot points on the film seem to predict facts that happened after 1997, it is because the basis for those occurrences were widely known from before. Basically, Dante says that letting politicians, bussinessman and the media to run things based in petty interests could bring to a turning point in which bad decisions produce catastrophes. Not-so-subtle points about immigrants (white americans) telling other immigrants (non-white americans) what they can do with their asses are a central part of the text, and show to us that the defense of some supposed "American Culture" that doesn't exist is only a ploy to reach other objectives. The film is also very appropiate for the Israel were I live, at only two weeks from the historic disengagement from the Gaza strip. With a cast and a director like that, not many things can go wrong. The only thing not right with this film is that not many people has seen it.
Rating: - Welcome to the Human Race.
In the near future, a planeload of immigrant orphans are on their way to a charity facility in Idaho when the Governor of the state closes its borders and refuses them entry. This sparks a division of military forces, between states government's National Guard and federal government's Army, each hell bent on protecting their own version of the American Dream, as well as their media images. At the center of this Constitutional storm is a President unable to make a decision without checking with his advisors and referencing one of his predecessors, a Governor more interested in liasons with his immigrant news reporter mistress than dealing with immigration laws, a newsroom where facts and truth balance with viewer shares, and a TV audience more interested in their favorite daytime soap opera. The Great American Melting Pot is about to uncivilly boil over.
This HBO black comedy is an excellent mix of political and news media parody, race relations satire, and morality tale. Wonderfully quirky, and sometimes deeply meaningful, dialogue. Characters run the gamut from dignified to loony. Performances from a large cast are all vibrant and spot on. A movie gem.
Favorite Line(s): "Can't make an omelet without busting some sacred eggs. We're making history here and you ain't with us, are you?" "No I'm not." "You should be. Why not?" "Maybe because I'm a reporter, I ain't with anybody. Maybe because too many sacred eggs are getting busted. See, I rode the buses back in the 60s to ... Read More
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