Right after the end of the Cold War, screenwriters were faced with a serious problem--what to do now that we don't have the "evil empire" to kick around anymore? It is clear that the new bad guy in films, the guy we love to hate, is the terrorist. Whether a foreigner (as in Die Hard, True Lies or Executive Decision) or homegrown (as in the Rock or Eraser) the terrorist has become the new guy we love to hate, and has provided viewers with a new spin on an old genre. The urban terrorist films are essentially westerns without the horses.As in all genre films, the problem for the director is to create a work of art out of the conventions of the genre and the inventions of the director. In The Siege, Edward Zwick (Legends of the Fall, Glory, Courage Under Fire) follows the conventions of the genre fairly closely, but manages to throw in enough creative inventions to make the ride worthwhile.Denzel Washington plays FBI agent Hubbard, a dedicated law enforcement officer committed to tracking down the terrorists who are wreaking havoc in New York City. In this task he is assisted by Frank, a Lebanese-American FBI agent (wonderfully played by Tony Salhoub). The FBI is trying to track down Arab-American terrorists in the city, and along the way gets occasional assistance, and frequent interference, from representatives of the CIA (Annette Benning plays agent Bridger) and the US army (Bruce Willis plays General Deveraux).The plot follows a standard formula but has enough innovative twists to make it engaging. Denzel Washington is playing a character we have met before. His character here is quite similar to the true-blue character he played in Crimson Tide. Bruce Willis's rendering of General Deveraux is good, but the character is pretty one-dimensional. Annette Benning's character brings some of the innovative twists to the plot, and Benning plays the part well. The real scene-stealer though is Tony Salhoub as Hubbard's right hand man, Frank. Salhoub gets all of the best lines and provides some interesting comic relief at key points. Salhoub also helps us avoid some of the caricatures common in this kind of film. It is common in films like this to depict all Arabs and Arab-Americans as militant fanatics. While this type of character is depicted here, the fact that Frank is himself an Arab-American adds some interesting irony, and helps us move beyond overly simplistic stereotypes.What separates this film from some of the rest of this type is the plot twist that has the President declaring martial law and turning the reigns over to General Deveraux (who appears to be modeled on Oliver North). Arab-Americans are rounded up by the military in a scene that reminds one of the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II. At points, viewers will find themselves somewhat unsure about who the bad guys really are.The Seige suffers at points from relying too heavily on formula. However, the performances and the more innovative plot twists make it worth a look. Perhaps more importantly, the film is worth seeing because it raises important questions about the U.S. role as police force for the world. Given our fear of terrorism, and the probable increase in terrorist activity in the world, the scenario depicted in The Seige is not all that implausible. Fear of the other can easily give way to fascism. If we get to a point where the only way to combat their terrorists is to unleash ours, God help us all.NOTE: I wrote this review when the movie first came out in 1998. Events of the past twenty years make the film eerily prescient.

I understood at first this movie bombed, it was an improbability that the United States would be attacked with all its security measures to protect the population...In this post 9/11 era, now it sounds eerie and terrifying...The FBI and the Army clashed on how to stop multiple attacks done by some terrorist cells, Muslim-related, all due to some secret black-ops by the CIA, and backed blindly by an Army General...Good acting by Denzel Washington, Tony Schaloub mostly. Annette Bening does a good job as the confused CIA agent and we would never knew Bruce Willis, in his turn as tough-as-nails General Devereaux, would be as well turn up to be a bad guy in a democracy turned into martial law and send thousands of innocent Arab citizens just to find some dangerous terrorists...Good movie to make you think... And was shot less than 4 years before the Twin Towers fell down... Of course, they're there on this movie...

Just what we all feared comes very true in this film. A series of terrorist attacks in New York leads to martial law being declared, Arab families divided as their men are placed in a stadium. Anyone remember the Japanese internment camps.Even more frightening if possible is the mistrust that exists between the army, CIA and FBI in this film.Denzel Washington is perfect as the super patriotic FBI man who seems to get his objectives, only for another incident to take place. Annette Bening is also quite good as a CIA operative who is duped by Palestinians she has tried to aid and Bruce Willis goes all out as the army general to show what martial law can really be like when it's put into practice.

After the abduction by the US military of an Islamic religious leader, New York City becomes the target of escalating terrorist attacks. Anthony Hubbard, the head of the FBI's Counter-Terrorism Task Force in New York, teams up with CIA operative Elise Kraft 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, into the streets of New York City.....Its a topical film for sure, and it was made before the tragedy in New York, and for fans of the film, its a good job, because there is no way it would me made today, it's just too close to those events.But regardless of its political message, and its patriotism, it's just too dull in some places, and even though Washington is as good as ever, and Willis plays a convincing hate filled General, it just doesn't deter you away from the blandness of the outcome.Plus the fact that after the visually stunning scene with the bus, it's as if Fox has said to the producers 'look guys, you've had your big key scene, any other incidents with the film will be cutaways, or a noise in the background', and that is just what happens.And Benning is totally miscast in this, whenever she utters anything specific to her job, or becomes authoritative, the film verges on parody.But its worth watching for its message about xenophobia, the impressive set piece, and of course, Washington.Good, but bland....