Product Description

The widow of a murdered bank president and a maverick financier must prevent a crisis when Arab nations threaten to pull their funds from U.S. banks, thereby causing a worldwide financial collapse.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30985 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 116 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Cautionary Tale
While I can certainly argue about the cast, the plotline (given its Hollywood source) is plausible and frightening. It isn't about the Saudi's out to destroy the world or greedy bankers. It is a story about what might happen if the U.S. owed a large part of their debt to overseas investors and those investors panicked.

Swap Asians for Arabs and cheap goods for oil and you are all set. Almost half of all U.S. debt is owned by foreign investors now, including many that are not friendly to us. It is in their interest not to dump this debt on the market at the moment but what if bonds or the dollar (or both) started to seriously slide? What if they decided it was "them or us" and weren't going to see their investments implode. Watch the movie and see how an innocent action might trigger such a response.

It is true that only folks with a good understanding of international economics will "get it" and I am surprised such a movie was even released. If you have the background and can put up with the actors, this is quite a fascinating tale.

Worth a look
Much like the film Kristofferson made previously, "Heaven's Gate", this film is not as bad as it's reputation makes it out to be. I will not try to summarize the plot; that has already been done. What I do want to point out is that this movie is filled with solid performances from Kris Kristofferson (as usual) and Jane Fonda. Also appearing is a fine set of supporting players, from Josef Sommer to Hume Cronyn. The technology is dated, but the idea is somewhat timely. What if the Arabs decided to pull their money out of circulation and put it "under the mattress"? There are some tense moments and some 70's era paranoia. (Much like "All the President's Men" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", mistrust of the government is a common thread) This is a movie with flaws, but if you are a Kristofferson fan, you will enjoy yet another intriguing performance. If you are tired of the teen movies that plague the multiplexes weekly, try this out and enjoy an adult drama.

daring
This is, to my knowledge, the only major Hollywood movie ever made to attempt to expose the power of the Arab oil tycoons and what they might do with that power. No such movie would be allowed to be made now, which is a further testiment to that power and to the fact that this power is now being wielded inside the United States and not just from the outside.

So, enjoy the movie. There will never be another one like it. And if you want the facts, read Sleeping with the Devil. Also, Blood and Oil.