I worked in the Georgetown area of Seattle during the WTO riots. This movie was hard for me to watch. It is sympathetic to the "protesters", which to this day, I don't understand. I don't know what they were protesting? Why did they have to vandalize personal property of those they don't even know? It's not the first time this has happened here.The rioters attacked my city unprovoked, yet this movie focuses on the plight of the so-called protesters. Woody Harrelson's character was portrayed as a crazy cop, hell bent on killing every protester in sight. Then he is seen apologizing to the lead protester in jail. The mayor is a milquetoast who doesn't have a clue (okay, that part is true). In one scene where the rioters are being booked into jail, a woman says, "Who's going to get us out?" Well, they should have thought about that before they started a street war. I'm glad the police beat the crap out of them.Other than the twisted point of view and editorial license, the acting is marginal at best. There is no chemistry between Woody and Charlize Theron. Disgusting, GenX "I Win" movie for thugs and wannabes.

Some people on here say it was fictional characters used for legal reasons. That is B.S. They used fictional characters to make a fictional movie. They made it seem that a Officer's wife attacked by police was real. They made it look like the violence was committed by undercover police officer's. They made it look like an Officer can't call out sick. In all honesty an Officer can call out sick no matter what is happening. This film is shot completely as a pro activist standpoint, not a true standpoint. The shameful situation is some people are too dumb to realize this is a work of fiction. You should be ashamed.

Battle in Seattle's intention is to merge ensemble feature with Cinema verite. The result is an effective ninety minute feature which is thought provoking, powerful and unconventional. Its statement is not without bias, but I was impressed with the films ability to portray its content (the WTO riots in Seatle) with an open mind to morality. There is something good and bad in both the face of democracy/law enforcement, and the thousands of protesters arguing that World Trade is un democratic, and that major corporations are overtaking nations with no regard for people. My one complaint about the film, is that the ending is presented in too much of a corny Hollywood conventional manner. director/writer Stuart Townsend, is unable to keep the story open to both sides for an hour an a half, so for the climax, he chooses the most obvious solution, and starts putting 'good guy' and 'bad guy' labels on peoples faces.Not Since Gangs of New York has the United States of America looked so self-destructive and un democratic. Perhaps this is why Townsend chose to make the ending happy. Trying to show that America can resolve it's own conflict and is not North Korea, or Iraq. Needless to say, Battle in Seattle is based on true events, and in this case, that means something. Its more than just an advertising slogan. It's an overall competent film, which could use a few trimming here and a bit more material there, but I liked it

People panned this on the grounds that it was too much of an entertainment or drama piece. There _was_ that element in this movie, that given the introduction, was obviously made with the goal of promoting critical evaluation of the WTO and the resulting 'G'meetings and that's hardly a bad thing; it's not as though this movie was meant to benefit hard core anarchists (or rusted on far-right wing nuts). In any case, the drama and depiction of emotions helped to complement the film. It did a great job in portraying the myriad of the forgotten dynamics that exist in these protests- most humans involved in these situations in real life have all kinds of dramas going on, which massively colour their perspective, relation and reaction to these events- the cops, the protesters, the politicians, the journalists, the bystanders and the myriad of lobbyists all come from a variety of backgrounds and have different values and motivations; be they noble, malevolent, ignorant, informed, reserved, reactive, robotic, rebellious or downright confused; they all have their backgrounds, baggage and loved ones and it's all in flux. Excellent cross section of demographics and their interactions with good acting to boot. Superb casting and utterly convincing acting all round with Andre Benjamin (aka Andre 3000 from Outkast) a revelation. Without being minutely detailed, it was informative and allows for a broad observation of a massive chain of events that demand further consideration. Highly watchable and given the historical context and the seriousness subject matter, not very sentimental or romanticised at all, nor cynical. If this movie doesn't make you want to get off your ass and do something positive in the world, you have serious problems. Loved it.