A fourteen year-old Aborigine girl escapes with her sister and cousin from a 1930s Australian government camp intended to forcibly assimilate them into White society. [ Rabbit-Proof Fence credits: Dir: Phillip Noyce/ Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Laura Monaghan/ 94min/ Adventure-Drama/ Government as Bigot] One of the things that so often makes government cruel is … [Read more...]
Equilibrium (2002)
In a future dystopian world, government forcibly drugs the population to keep it passive--until one of its own agents turns renegade and sets in motion a rebellion. [ Equilibrium credits: Dir: Kurt Wimmer/ Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs/ 107min/ Action-SciFi/ Government Enforced Morality] Equilibrium is very much in the tradition of anti-authoritarian cinema. … [Read more...]
The Tunnel (2001)
After successfully escaping from East Germany, a young man constructing a tunnel to help his sister to get out finds that many more want to bolt to freedom as well. Based on a true story. [ The Tunnel credits: Dir: Roland Suso Richter/ Heino Ferch, Nicolette Krebitz, Sebastian Koch/ 150min/ Thriller, Action-Adventure, Foreign/ Escape from socialism] How to See It Amazon … [Read more...]
The Patriot (2000)
In response to British atrocities, a war hero reluctantly joins in the American Revolution. [ The Patriot credits: Dir: Roland Emmerich/ Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson/ 164min/ Action-Adventure/ American Revolution] This is primarily a film about family loyalty and about war per se, and only secondarily one about the American Revolutionary War. Nonetheless, … [Read more...]
Mercury Rising (1998)
When an autistic child inadvertently cracks the U.S. government’s ultra-secret communications code, the National Security Agency (NSA) tries to protect the viability of the code—by killing the child. [ Mercury Rising credits: Dir: Harold Becker/ Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Simon Lynch/ 108min/ Action-Adventure, Drama/ Individualism] Should the one be sacrificed for the … [Read more...]
Antz (1998)
An individualist ant saves his colony. [ Antz credits: Dir: Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson/ (voices of) Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman/ 87 min/ Animated, Action-Adventure/ Individualism] Ants are collectivist by nature. Throughout their lives, they work and die for the colony, mindlessly sacrificing themselves for the greater good. However, the protagonist ant at the … [Read more...]
Escape from L.A. (1996)
A resourceful enemy of the state is given a choice: help the government retrieve a stolen high-tech weapon—or die. [ Escape from L.A. credits: Dir: John Carpenter/ Kurt Russell, Stacy Keach, Steve Buscemi/ 101 min/ SciFi-Fantasy, Action-Adventure/ Government Enforced Morality] “The United States is a no-smoking nation—no smoking, no drinking, no drugs, no women (unless, … [Read more...]
The Journey of August King (1995)
A lonely farmer helps a slave-girl escape her master. [ The Journey of August King credits: Dir: John Duigan/ Jason Patric, Thandie Newton, Larry Drake/ 92 min/ Action-Adventure/ Anti-Slavery] No trailer available. This story takes place in 1815, in the southern U.S. The “journey” it relates is both a trek and a personal transformation. In the beginning, the shy, lonely … [Read more...]
Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad (1994)
Slaves escape to freedom in Canada with the help of abolitionists. [ Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad credits: Dir: Don McBrearty/ Janet Bailey, Michael Riley, Ron White/ 90 min/ Action-Adventure/ Canada/ Anti-Slavery] In 1850, the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, a law that diminished the relative safety of the North as a haven for escaped slaves by … [Read more...]
The Fortress (1992)
A young couple is sent to prison for violating a law that forbids having more than one child, and must outwit a high-tech incarceration system to escape. [ The Fortress credits: Dir: Stuart Gordon/ Christopher Lambert, Kurtwood Smith, Loryn Locklin/ 95 min/ SciFi-Fantasy, Action-Adventure / Reproductive Liberty] In the projected future of The Fortress, the U.S. … [Read more...]