The Second Civil War (1997 TV Movie) User Reviews

A Hilarious and Sad Tribute to the Politicians, Lobbyists and Press of a Warrior Nation

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 25 June 2004]

In a near future, after the nuclear explosion of a bomb dropped by India in Pakistan, an American non-governmental group decides to bring the Iranians orphans to Idaho. The silly governor of Idaho (Beau Bridges) is the political opponent of the American president (Phil Hartman) and decides to not permit the immigration of the children to his state. Indeed his greatest concern is relative to his sexual and affective life with the American-Mexican journalist Christina (Elizabeth Peña) and he does not give much importance to his statement. The stupid president decides to follow the advice of Jack Buchan (James Coburn) and his advisors, and sends the U. S. Army to the border of Idaho, which is protected by the National Guard troops. Due to the last chapter of a famous soap opera, the president gives sixty-seven and half hours to Idaho permit the ingress of the children. The greatest American network covers all of this confusion in a sensationalist way. All of these absurd misunderstandings together culminate in the American Second Civil War. This movie is a great dark and dramatic comedy, made before the tragedy of September 11th. In Brazil, it was not promoted and I found the VHS by chance on sale. When I saw the name of Joe Dante and the cast, I decided to buy and watch it. It was a worthwhile entertainment. It is a sort of `tribute' to the politicians, lobbyists and press in USA, and without the participation of Michael Moore. Martyn Burke and Joe Dante explore the warrior spirit and the racial segregation of the American people, the immigration problem, the lack of common sense and the search for votes of the politicians, the unreasonable advices of lobbyists and civilians and military advisors and the performance of the manipulative press in a funny (and even sad) story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `A Segunda Guerra Civil' (`The Second Civil War')

Much more than a TV-movie

[Cirio · 8/10 · 4 February 1999]

"The Second American Civil War" appeared in the cinemas in Italy and caused many discussions probably because of the correspondences between its plot and the matter of secession in Northern Italy promoted by the Lega Nord party. Anyway, this movie is great for other reasons and deserved to be seen in the cinemas of any country. The only lack of the movie is the weakness of the characters such as the pathetic figure of the old wise journalist (James Earl Jones). However the real main character is the background, that is the society, the medias and the political class. Dante strikes all these categories with a brilliant and grotesque satire and represent all their contradictions.

The influential News Net spread idiotic and mediocre message. The politicians only care about keeping their careers with the political tricks (the ultimatum mustn't interfere with the popular soap-opera). Finally Dante paints a society that can't find an alternative between "We are all brothers" and "This is my land and here I command".

You MUST SEE it, if you have the chance because it is far the best movies of is genre (much better than "Wag the Dog")

Best political satire since Wag the Dog

[theanomaloushost · 7/10 · 11 October 2020]

Talk about biting political satire that's probably the most effective thing since Wag the Dog. There's this made for HBO film that came out in 1997 titled The Second Civil War. Like many of the decent films of that decade, it takes shots at all sides (it might lean a little more to the left than the right, but only a little, which is quite refreshing), takes aim at politicians and the media, and begs the question at how good of an idea the Melting Pot and forced immigration really is (it tackles those issues in more directions than you're used to). And it ends on a somewhat dreary (yet provides a decent last laugh) note that doesn't provide any answers, at least no easy ones, leaving it up to the viewer to ponder. God I miss the days when they wouldn't bash a blunt message over your head.

Near-Prophetic

[Jithindurden · 7/10 · 17 October 2023]

Calling it the near future in the beginning without specifying the year worked great since this could've been the actual state of the USA a couple of years ago, being absolutely the black comedy in real life. The beginning of India nuking Pakistan was not something I expected from this movie. But then that leading to internal conflict in the US, then personal situations of politicians and the prejudices of people working together to make everything worse and worse as it went on all were really great ideas. Choosing to centre the movie in a newsroom so they can cover everywhere was also a great choice. There are just so many great ideas in this film and so many commentaries made. A lot of them worked and a lot of them didn't. It was a bit overcrowded. I feel like this would've worked better if it was much longer with more things grounding it to the narrative to let the messages speak for themselves. The whole wasn't really as great as the sum of the parts. There are many things in it that are shown like they are exposing stuff, while the direction makes it feel like even while showing such things, they are not understanding the actual complexities and believe in a more idealistic world without considering what should actually be done. It could also be attributed that a lot of these might be considered hyperbolic in the 90s while it feels much closer to reality now, so that may be why the very Americanised idealistic view the makers had that they were afraid to be broken. There are also many aspects of it that clearly show this is a pre-9/11 American movie, which couldn't have been part of such a movie afterwards.

Overall, I loved a lot of it but thought some of it was pretty stupid. However, as a movie, it did work to get its point across, and being almost prophetic of how The US has become recently, it deserves appreciation, even though it has its fair share of flaws.

Interesting but rather obvious and neither as funny nor as clever as it needed to be

[bob the moo · 21 June 2004]

It is the near future and a nuclear attack on Pakistan from India has left millions as refugees. As a planeload of orphans leaves for America, the Governor of Idaho declares Idaho's borders shut to immigrants. With one eye on the opinion poles, the President of the United States reacts with a strong hand and gives the Governor 67.5 hours to change his mind (thus avoiding a ratings clashing with a popular soap opera on a non-news channel). As a news network tries to engineer the best view of the action, events spiral out of control with racial tension being triggered in Texas and Los Angeles.

I do not know which film came first but in 1997 this film was put out on TV at around the same time as Wag the Dog was released. Wag was a superb film that was very sharp and funny and it is to this film's detriment that it is very easy to compare the two. Although the plots are different they both satirise the media's influence on politics and politics' concern with image and winning votes and do so with a big cast and a mix of tension and laughs.

However it is not as well carried off here as it was in Wag The Dog and it gets bogged down in rather sappy and obvious messages about acceptance of one another. In some way this is pointed out in funny ways such as Congressman Singh having a deep south accent, the Governor eating Mexican food for breakfast and in love with a Mexican woman; but too often it is obvious and a little sappy. This takes away its intelligence and makes it feel less clever than it really should be to be as sharp a satire as it clearly wants to be. On the flipside of this the film isn't nearly as funny as it should be – it has the occasional really funny bit (James Coburn suggesting that the Irish can be taken off birth control to outbreed the other races and thus win votes was akin to some of Dr Strangelove for my money!) but generally it is not as funny as it really should be.

However I still really enjoyed it and felt it was both clever and funny and even if too much of it wasn't up to the standard of really good satire, it is still worth seeing. The cast echoes the ensemble feel of Wag The Dog even if it lacks a couple of really big names in the way Wag did. None of them really dominate the film or really stand out, instead they seem happy to share the lines and the screentime without overplaying – only Coburn really goes for it and makes a good impression on the film. Having said that the majority do OK with what little they have and it is hard to ignore a cast that features so many famous faces. CoBurn is great even if Hartman, surprisingly, fails to make much of an impact. Bridges but lumbered with much of the 'message' in later stages, Jones is worth seeing although it is Hedaya and Perlman who dominate the newsroom scenes. Leary makes the bridge between this and Wag and the rest of the cast features all manner of faces including Elizabeth Peña, Dick Miller, Kevin Dunn and Kevin McCarthy.

Overall this is a good film but not as good as it should have been; for my money satire needs to be funny and clever and, while this manages to be both at times, it is not as consistent as it really should have been. It gets bogged down in the message and it loses it's edge when it really should be getting stronger and sharper. It is by no means as good as Wag the Dog but it is still worth a look as, although not consistent it is still interesting in its comments and is sporadically funny and clever.

Timely political farce

[WylieJJordan · 7/10 · 22 February 2006]

A funny, old-fashioned political farce set in an up-to-the-minute situation. An aggressive woman who heads an organization to "save the children" plans to move Pakistani orphans to Idaho. The governor of that state (Beau Bridges) decides to play to anti-immigrant sentiment by saying he will close the borders against further immigration.

The American President (Phil Hartman) is a simpleton who managed by his political adviser (James Coburn). They're only interested in re-election, and are perfectly willing to resort to civil war to make it happen.

A CNN-like news organization, "NN", which employs a rainbow of immigrants, and whose announcer is James Earl Jones, plays the potential conflict for all the advertising dollars it's worth.

The governor (Beau Bridges) is really much more interested in his affair with a Mexican American reporter for "NN", and she seems to be the only person aware of the irony.

brilliant movie banned by HBO?

[sterhill-1 · 10/10 · 17 January 2005]

This movie was an original film made by HBO and was shown in 1997 and then disappeared.

Why? Too many un-PC remarks is my guess. At one point Dan Hedaya (head of the CNN look-alike NetworkNews) yells that somebody needs to get the White House on the phone "unless Tokyo has foreclosed on it!". The story is brilliantly created and the cast is amazing.

Look at the cast and ask yourself how this film could just disappear.

The mayor of Los Angeles is giving a speech, and the newsroom is frantically looking for a translator. But NOT to translate into Spanish. No, to translate HIS speech into English.

I say shame on HBO for letting this film slide into oblivion, You can still find it, used, on VHS but it never went to DVD. You cannot buy it from HBO.

You gotta ask yourself why... Edited to add - now on DVD if you can find it.

Uneven satire with moments of greatness

[fuente-2 · 7/10 · 22 June 2003]

While this TV-movie is by no means as good as Dante's later effort 'Small Soldiers', it is without question far superior to Barry Levinson's embarrasing (not to mention godawful and hamfisted) 'Wag the Dog'. It goes a bit over the top in preachiness at times, particularly in the James Earl Jones character's voice-over. This character's exchanges with techie Godfrey also tend towards the cloying. The good parts include Denis Leary's war-zone reporter, Ron Perlman's liberal arguing with a conservative colleague and Elizabet Peña's character's fight with the governor. As always with Dante, however, greatness is in the small things (Remember The cathedral of Saint Eva Marie?). The satire lies in the assumptions about the state of the world a few years from now. The scenes from LA, Rhode Island and the House of Representatives completely make up for any weaknesses in the film. Dig that meeting of the commanding officers of the opposing military forces! The supporting cast is littered with great names and great cameos, among them Dick Miller and Roger Corman.

Brilliant, criminally overlooked satire

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 8/10 · 25 December 2015]

Joe Dante's brilliant, stinging political satire The Second Civil War was awarded a pitifully limited cable release on HBO instead of the wide distribution it deserves, and I think that may have something to do with the fact that it hit a bit too close to home for some people with scarily accurate portrayal of the thoroughly idiotic state of mind that is present in every aspect of American politics. Come to think of it, the film was really prophetic when I think of how mangled things are in our neighbours disillusioned abode. Dante is a director who usually sticks to gooey fantasy/horror/comedy such as Gremlins or The Burbs, but here he ventures into the real world, without losing an ounce of his comic streak. There's trouble brewing stateside when renegade Idaho Governor Jim Farley (daft Beau Bridges) announces that he's closing his state's borders to immigrants, conveniently right at the time when Mexican refugees are scheduled to be brought in. This causes an uproar across the land as his immature antic catch the attention many different key players across the board. Ironically, he's shagging a sexy Mexican publicist (Elizabeth Pena, RIP) who is appalled with his behaviour. The frustrated US President (Phil Hartman) sends dapper 'fixer' Jack Buchan (James Coburn nails the darkly odd tone) who finds himself in over his head. Suddenly the Governor mobilizes troops to secure the state border, and schit gets real when the President retaliates by stationing forces of his own surrounding Idaho. The country seems to be on the brink of a ridiculous yet very plausible conflict of 'civil' proportions. Tension gets widespread when a hotshot New Network CEO (Dan Hedaya) and his drastic right hand man (Ron Perlman) send rogue report Denis Leary to cover the story. There's also additions to the unbelievably good cast from James Earl Jones, Roger Corman, Brian Keith, Johanna Cassidy, Dick Miller and more. The comedic tone abruptly shifts to deadly serious as actual violence erupts and we know that the film means business as our laughs go up in tank smoke as we get uncomfortable at the mirror being held. It's satire, it's fun but it's also a warning at the dangers of impulsive decision making and uneducated lunacy. At heart it's a comedy though, and a criminally overlooked one at that.

Welcome to the Human Race.

[ragana · 7/10 · 26 April 2005]

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 advisers and referencing one of his predecessors, a Governor more interested in liaisons 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 bring people together. Pretty unfashionable now, isn't it?" "Your wife, she's Jewish, ain't she?" "You know, I forgot what she is, all I remember is that we met on the back of a bus." "I'm trying to remember the words to the Pledge of Allegiance. I said it a million times when I was a kid. Right now I can't seem to remember the words."

Way over it

[PeterJackson · 4/10 · 8 August 2002]

I noticed that a viewer thought this film was far better than WAG THE DOG. Might I disagree? This film is in many ways not on the same level as WTD. That film had acting, subtlety (despite its outrageousness), wit and brains. This film has neither. It's a stupid stupid (not to mention racist)thing that goes over-the-top too often. Way too often and waaaaaay over it. And it simply hasn't got the actors too for this sort of things. WAG THE DOG had De Niro and Hoffman (among others), this film's only virtues are James Coburn and Denis Leary (though the latter's part is seriously under-written, as are all parts actually). All of the others simply don't fit in. Perlman, Hedaya, Beau Bridges, Elizabeth Peña, ... none of them make sense in his/her part.

And as far as the story goes... Well, if you're looking for subtlety, look somewhere else, because this one makes sure that you're not only not caring about the characters, but also that all of its attempts at black comedy or satire fall short(it had one good thing though, but I can't remember it)and that none of the events depicted seem believable. yes, it tries to give th e film a sense of reality by making the governor look like President Clinton, the president a dim-witted puppet and the head of News Net a sensationalistic b***ard, but all what it's trying to say sounds hollow and, yes, racist. See, for a film like this you need a careful handling of the subject. This film goes for cheap shots and smashes all of its messages without realizing it. A bad job for director Joe Dante, who really is more at home at the comedy-horror genre than at this political satire stuff. How to succeed in saying nothing at all. 4/10 (maximum)

A brilliant film, very funny but dreadfully accurate.

[mplesset · 10/10 · 18 January 2004]

Loved it when it was first released, but now (2004) it seems amazing just how prophetic it was. The effects of overwhelming immigration into the U.S., and the hopeless ineptitude of the government, are themes that are more and more apparent as the years go by.

Topical comedy usually has a short life, seen a few years later it often loses its comic impact, but this one hasn't lost a thing when seen today. It has the rare quality of being both comic and profoundly serious.

Like most people, I only have a few that I can give a "10", but this is one of the few.

Ridiculous in a good way

[Rabster22 · 7/10 · 13 December 2003]

Though not a 100% spoof in the Airplane! league, this film is quite ridiculous in it's own way. It hits more targets than it misses, and it has some truly wonderful moments. By no means a 'must see' it is nonetheless a useful waste of time.

So what's the message here? Is this merely a spoof?

[ipswich-2 · 5/10 · 21 April 2000]

I think you need to be an American to fully understand the satire at play here. This is a spoof of American politics, government and the hypocrisy of the news media. While Wag the Dog gave us a numbing account of how the media can shape public opinion, the Second Civil War only shows how inept the government and media organizations are. Isn't it frightening if the movie a portent to how political life will shape out in the future? I didn't find the movie funny in any way, nor is that any real message for us to learn.

One of the best political satires since "Wag the Dog"!

[MovieAddict2016 · 14 December 2003]

Political satires are interesting films, and they can sometimes be especially good. "Wag the Dog," with Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman, is one of the best political satires in decades, and "The Second Civil War," though not nearly as smart as the former, is pretty darn funny in its own right, and -- if you can find it on TV or home video -- you'll probably find yourself smiling at it.

I hadn't expected too much sitting down to watch "The Second Civil War." I had never heard of it before, and my TV guide didn't give it an especially favorable review. But it is a surprisingly good TV film.

"Since when was the country run by a soap opera?" asks US President Phil Hartman in the deliciously dark political satire "The Second Civil War." Star-studded and laugh-packed, the film may seem like mediocre fodder at first, but you'll soon find yourself getting caught up in the mild genius and clever wit of it all. Yes, the film is a public TV production, but that does not reflect its position as a film.

The plot: Orphans from Pakistan are being immigrated to Idaho, but the Governor of Idaho doesn't like this idea one little bit, so he closes the border of Idaho and refuses to permit any Pakistanis into his state. This causes problems, of course, and immediately news and media from around the world start to monitor the entire situation in anticipation of something dreadful to happen.

The US President, played by Phil Hartman, likes Dwight D. Eisenhower, but lacks the smarts to be President -- he covers behind the image of an all together man and quotes Eisenhower in speeches. He shifts his nationwide announcements so that they do not interfere with soap operas. His advisor reminds him that women got mad last time he did that.

Idaho threatens to separate from the United States of America, and "The Second Civil War" is essentially a satire of the political scene and the newspeople surrounding it. "Boys, it looks like Idaho is going to war," says news anchorman Denis Leary. "I smell another emmy."

Anticipating Idaho's separation from the USA, the President and his staff make a last ditch effort to save their country by placing the Pakistanis in the middle of the battle. But this only makes matters worse.

Dennis Leary ("The Ref") is funny, but other great actors include Dan Hedaya ("The Addams Family"), Beau Bridges, James Earl Jones and James Coburn, to name a few of the A-list cast members. They all play pivotal roles in the plot, and when the film gets them in lengthy word fights it is at its best.

To top it all off, the film is directed by Joe Dante, who has brought Gremlins and werewolfs to life in the past. Dante is great at making imaginations come to life -- his kiddy action film "Small Soldiers" was even fun to sit through. Like Robert Zemeckis, Dante uses film as a medium for wit and imagination. He's made some great films. Here is another one.

4/5 stars.

• John Ulmer

Omnidirectional, comic scorn

[davidmvining · 7/10 · 16 December 2023]

So, I was most of the way through Joe Dante's filmography when I went through the overall list of everything he'd done again. He'd done a whole lot of television work, especially since the box office failure of Matinee, and it was a bit difficult to sort through stuff that could be pretty easily ignored (like C. S. I. Episodes) and other stuff that may or may not need attention. I settled on three things, the two Masters of Horror episodes Dante directed (mostly just because I had done the episodes that John Carpenter had directed), and this, The Second Civil War, an HBO movie he made just before Small Soldiers. Well, I mostly chose to do it for two reasons (as opposed to something like The Warlord: The Battle for the Galaxy, a television show pilot that didn't get picked up). The first was because it did get a limited theatrical release in Europe. The second was that Dante reportedly thought it was the best movie he'd ever made. Well, I couldn't just ignore that.

And what I found was a searing bit of omnidirectional political satire set in a future (though still 1998?) where America has spent at least a decade being overrun by immigrants and refugees from across the planet to the point where the governor of Rhode Island, Chinese by heritage, ends up calling for the end of immigration into America because it's changing the Chinese hybrid version of Rhode Island that he and his constituents call home.

The actual focus of the film's dramatic action is a standoff between the President of the United States (Phil Hartman, which should give you a clue about the tone of this film) and the governor of Idaho (Beau Bridges) after a nuclear blast in Pakistan displaces a large segment of the population and a charity is flying a planeload of children from Pakistan to Idaho as refugees. One of the smaller issues with the film is that the history of the wild, out of control immigration is only addressed in fits and starts, not coming up for about half an hour, actually, which may be the point and I'm wrong.

Anyway, the drive of the action comes from the NN newsroom run by Mel (Dan Hedaya) who talks about how their job is to put to trains on the same track and get them to crash. In a film where everyone comes out bad except a couple of characters, it's the media at large, especially those in charge, that comes out worst. They're manipulative, dishonest, and they do everything they possibly can to make sure that the train crash happens.

The comedy of the film is really consistent and often laugh out loud funny, digging in a knife into everyone in the film, from the person running the charity complaining about the cameraman (Dick Miller) using the wrong lens and dreaming of more donations to the governor being more concerned about his affair with a newscaster to the president needing to constantly find comparisons with previous presidents (the funniest being when he misunderstands the suggestion for FDR as Teddy Roosevelt).

The movement of the plot escalates in the standoff with the governor putting up roadblocks into the state with the National Guard, the army facing them down (a great little scene as two old generals insult each other mercilessly to their face while people watching on TV, unaware of what is being said, waxing poetic about the beautiful things they must be talking about), and a potential standdown that gets misunderstood leading to shooting. All of this is happening while no one really seems to care about it, the issue gets pushed aside constantly, and the governor unwittingly ends up collecting supporters from other states (like the aforementioned Chinese governor of Rhode Island).

There are also fairly isolated funny bits like the Hispanic mayor of Los Angeles giving a fiery speech in favor of the refugees, turning it into a call for repatriation of California into Mexico, and a race war breaking out because the African American parts of Los Angeles don't want it. Or, when James Earl Jones, the sage, older newsman who remembers when news was news (yeah, sure, I've seen Ace in the Hole), interviews a Congressman from Alabama who is a Sikh with this absurd Southern/Sikh accent combination.

I think Dante was skewering everyone here, and I wouldn't presume to use this to determine his own political outlook, but it really does feel like the anti-immigration side comes out better here. Yes, they're still skewered (there's a militia in Idaho that gets some satirical attention, in particular), but the actual plotline's winning moment is when the coalition of states forms and becomes public. I kind of get the sense that Dante really doesn't care that much about politics, and he was just out to skewer everyone, though.

And I think it works. I grate at the effort to make the "good" newsmen the heroes (Denis Leary plays the other) and the attempt at character-based pathos around the governor and his girlfriend (Elizabeth Pena), probably the film's actual dramatic and thematic point about combining cultures since she's Mexican and it's been a subplot through the whole thing about how she wants to break it off with him because of the whole immigration thing, but I also see the same sort of attitude here as I saw in Matinee, about leaving behind the troubles of the world to just live a little life away from it all.

It's really funny. It's got real satirical bite. It's omnidirectional in its scorn. It's got that anarchic spirit that Dante brought most obviously in Gremlins 2. This is a small gem in Dante's filmography, and I'm glad I didn't skip it.

Could Immigration Cause a Civil War? The Question Raised in this Film

[Hollywood_Yoda · 10/10 · 5 April 2013]

"The Second Civil War" is a film that may touch the hearts of many people or it may make your blood boil, depending on which side of the fight you're on! I am talking about IMMIGRATION. In the film, the governor of Idaho does not want to grant amnesty to a group of immigrant refugees and it causes national tension thanks to the news channel covering the incident.

Beau Bridges plays Jim Farley, the governor of Idaho who himself is in love with a woman who is an immigrant and of Spanish origin, but blocks the refugees from another nation from entering his state. Meanwhile, the President of the United States (played by Phil Hartman) threatens to send in troops if Farley does not allow the immigrants' entrance to Idaho.

The whole fiasco of a civil war could have been avoided if it wasn't for the reporters covering the event. Hearing the wrong thing said, the reporters put pressure on the President to fire on the Idaho National Guard, conflict ensues. Denis Leary plays a reporter on the front lines in Idaho when the first shots are heard.

This is not a comedy! This film is meant to be something we should all think about. Do we go so far to protect immigrants over citizens that it causes a civil war?

Excellent points raised regarding immigration and national identity

[yog-4 · 9/10 · 9 March 2005]

This movie raises a number of excellent points about retaining ethnic identities in a world of melting point political rectitude gone wild. It shows that every ethnic group in the WORLD has formed a special interest political faction in the US, but when the citizens in Idaho say, enough, we like our OWN national identity, war is declared. A number of GREAT quotes and sound bites! Overall plot edgy and unpredictable. Played for a few laughs, but all in all quite a serious treatment of this issue, even more relevant today (2005) than it was when issued. It must be seen in the context of what was going on at the time, specifically, the later half of the Clinton presidency. A blatant ripoff of the ideas in "The Turner Diaries", right down to using the same states and caricatures of certain ethnic groups, without, of course, giving any credit to the original material, but well worth watching, and a worthy companion piece to the book.

Christians will not like this !

[chasmilt777 · 1/10 · 21 June 2006]

I recently bought this DVD because of the all-star cast. It was an HBO made for cable movie and was suppose to be a comedy. I love Beau Bridges, Phil Hartman, and James Coburn. I collect all of their movies.

I liked the story and found the funny parts too realistic to laugh at. The most disturbing factor was the number of times the Lord's name was taken in vain. It was so numerous that I could not enjoy this film. What in the world was HBO thinking ? The saddest thing is that great actors like Hartman, Coburn, and James Earl Jones have this picture listed among their respective legacies.

It's hard to believe that Beau Bridges won an Emmy for his role as the Gov. of Idaho. I don't keep up with the Emmy Awards. Was there nothing better aired on TV in 1997 ? Don't get me wrong. Beau Bridges is a great actor. I loved him in "Adam's Woman", a movie which has never been released on DVD.

I'm not exaggerating about the excessive language. Even non-believers will find it overdone and annoying.

Incredibly prescient dark comedy gem

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 6 February 2017]

Idaho governor Jim Farley (a fine performance by Beau Bridges) closes the state's borders to a bunch of Pakistani child refugees. The idiotic president (a divinely dim-witted portrayal by Phil Hartman) decides to make a stand against Farley that only causes things to spiral out of control while News Net reports on the resultant pandemonium with an eye solely on keeping viewers glued to their TV screens.

Director Joe Dante keeps the wickedly funny and entertaining story moving along at a swift pace as well as adroitly maintains a darkly humorous, yet still oddly humane tone throughout. Martyn Burke's barbed and scarily prophetic script predicts with uncanny accuracy the gross ineptitude of the Trump administration, with a doltish chief executive who's nothing more than a mindless puppet who's easily manipulated by shrewd and influential lobbyist Jack Buchan (James Coburn in peak smooth form); the chaos caused by Trump's Muslim ban, an America that's degenerated into angry warring factions, and an amoral media that cares more about ratings and sensationalism than covering world events in a thoughtful and intelligent manner.

The bang-up cast of familiar faces keeps this picture humming: Joanna Cassidy as poised news anchor Helena Newman, James Earl Jones as dignified old school reporter Jim Kalla, Dan Hedaya as excitable TV producer Mel Burgess, Denis Leary as sarcastic field reporter Vinnie Franko, Elizabeth Pena as Farley's lusty paramour Christina, Ron Perlman as levelheaded director Alan Manieska, and Dick Miller as cynical cameraman Eddie O'Neill. Jerry Hardin and Brian Keith are hilarious as a couple of crusty bellicose generals with an old score to settle. Moreover, there are a wealth of terrific supporting contributions from such always welcome folks as Kevin McCarthy, William Schallert, Robert Picardo, Rance Howard, and even Roger Corman. Mac Alhberg's dynamic cinematography and Hummie Mann's catchy military score further enhance the overall sterling quality of this total doozy.

Comic tragedy

[Mike-DD · 8/10 · 24 August 2000]

Phil Hartman is hilarious as the inept and waffling President, and Beau Bridges convincing as the Governor of Idaho, in this movie where mistakes and misread news pile up until a seemingly innocuous situation becomes a second civil war.

Phil Hartman brings some of the sarcastic wit from Newsradio into this telemovie. Some of the funniest moments are when he is actually debating with himself or others over what actions to take. Meanwhile the movie slowly progresses along the lines where not only is war imminent in the country, but war seems to be erupting everywhere between people - Congressmen, newsmen, et al...

Quite an engaging movie and the ending is one you would not want to miss as well, if just for that few seconds of riotous and comical misunderstanding.

A Fantastic Film That Forecasts/shadows Donald Trump?

[targetlad72 · 8/10 · 1 July 2016]

Having looked back thorough Joe Dante's work I came upon this film, obviously I had to illegally download it, then watched it.

Based in a CNN type newsroom, a story begins to brake about the governors of Idaho closing it's border to the rest of America.

A loosed brained President then plans to send it the National Guard, to invade the state.

James Earl Jones has a great part as a reporter, as does Dennis Leary. Credit must really go to Kevin Dunn playing the Governors right-hand man. Congratulations as well go to Robert Picado, hidden name and small role.

Americans of voting age. See this film to observe what President Trump's would be like (Red Dawn too).

Dante's inferno ?

[Phroggy · 10/10 · 3 April 1999]

If Joe Dante was Inferno's king, I'd like to go there… seriously, this guy is a dangerous terrorist who can't help destroying from the inside every convention, every cliché in the book, like some offspring of Tom Robbins and Roger Corman meeting on Rabelais' grave.(See what he did with "Small Soldiers" : an anti-militarist toys movie made to sell militarist toys !) Here he destroys everything that propaganda movies like "Top Gun" has been doing for a while - and, like our Italian friend up there judiciously pointed out, this one is too close to the bone to be taken just as comedy - it might better be described as "satire".

This one wasn't theatrically released in France, unlike in Italy, but played on a film festival called "Les inédits d'Amérique"

wonderful film

[rwreb1942 · 9/10 · 19 April 2011]

This is an excellent film wonderfully acted by all. Very very funny Beau Bridges is excellent and even dear Brian Keith as the General is extremely funny. The whole concept of of blocking borders of a state because of imigration is as up to date then as it is now. Its a great shame that films today are not of the quality onf films of yesteryear. Story lines and acting is much more superior than those junk movies of today. The use of the F word today seems must be included and jet the older films did not need it as the scripts were better. Lately i have been watching or rather erewatching these older films and the new are not a patch on them.

When you get right down to it, this is our country.

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 8 December 2005]

I've never seen a Joe Dante movie that I didn't like, and "The Second Civil War" adds to his list of great movies. After India launches a nuclear bomb at Pakistan and orphans several children, a humanitarian organization tries to bring them to Idaho, but Gov. Jim Farley (Beau Bridges) closes the border. As the movie progresses, we see that Farley is having an affair with reporter Christina (Elizabeth Pena), the president (Phil Hartman) doesn't know what to do, the major news organization is more interested in getting viewers than in reporting the news, and everything boils over into another civil war.

While the whole thing sounds pretty grim, Joe Dante knows how to play it for laughs. The movie portrays some interesting immigration patterns: the mayor of Los Angeles speaks only Spanish, and Connecticut is almost all Chinese. The movie almost seems more relevant nowadays, considering that last year's election solidly divided the country into "red states" and "blue states" (although that's not really an accurate description).

And the rest of the cast. As always, Joe Dante casts Dick Miller, Kevin McCarthy, and Robert Picardo; here he casts them as a cameraman, the Chief of Staff, and a reporter, respectively. Also starring are Dan Hedaya, James Earl Jones, Ron Perlman, Joanna Cassidy, James Coburn, Brian Keith, among others. A very impressive movie. Joe Dante may be America's most underrated director.