Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
39 Adventures of Power
66 Afterschool
73 Amreeka
49 Antichrist
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
71 Big Fan
65 Black Dynamite
76 Bliss
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
76 Broken Embraces
70 Bronson
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
60 Collapse
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
53 Dare
50 Defamation
67 Departures
70 Earth Days
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
88 Fantastic Mr. Fox
31 Fix
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
xx From Mexico with Love
28 Gentlemen Broncos
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Horse Boy, The
74 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
26 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
43 Little Traitor, The
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
46 Love Hurts
84 Maid, The
45 Mammoth
75 Messenger, The
55 Missing Person, The
59 More Than a Game
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
48 New York, I Love You
66 No Impact Man
26 Oh My God
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
79 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73 Red Cliff
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
65 Skin
41 Splinterheads
42 Staten Island
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
58 Storm
82 Sun, The
49 Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73 That Evening Sun
61 Trucker
49 Turning Green
83 U2 3D
45 Uncertainty
67 Visual Acoustics
32 War on Kids
67 Way We Get By, The
65 Wedding Song, The
xx White on Rice
59 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74 Woman in Berlin, A
43 Women in Trouble
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

War Zone, The

EMAILPRINTLot 47 Films

War Zone, The reviews
68
8.6 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Alexander Stuart (also novel)

Directed by: Tim Roth

Release Date:
Theatrical: December 10, 1999
DVD: September 19, 2000

Running Time: 98 minutes, Color

Origin: UK

Summary

RATING: R for sexual content, some involving molestation, and for nudity, language and a scene of violence

Starring Ray Winstone, Tilda Swinton, Freddie Cunliffe, Lara Belmont, and Colin Farrell

For fifteen-year old Tom (Cunliffe), the war zone is at the heart of his seemingly happy middle-class family. Nothing can prepare him for the terrible secret that binds his father (Winstone) and his seventeen-year-old sister Jessie (Belmont). Isolated, confused and consumed by adolescent anger, Tom is determined to reveal the truth. (Lot 47 Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

A masterfully varied set of images, paces and moods.

Read Full Review >
100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Brilliant and heartbreaking, takes place in the present but is timeless.

Read Full Review >
89

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Sellbinding, distressing, and possessed of a dark and terrible beauty.

Read Full Review >
88

Boston Globe Jay Carr

In all respects, from choice of material to fullness of execution on every level, The War Zone is an extraordinary piece of work.

Read Full Review >
88

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Showing as much courage and talent behind the camera as he has while acting in front of it, Roth has crafted for his first film one of the most bluntly graphic and disturbing movies ever done on the subject.

Read Full Review >
80

TV Guide Ken Fox

Actor Tim Roth's austere directing debut is one of the most difficult, emotionally wrenching experiences you're likely to have in a movie theater any time soon.

Read Full Review >
75

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Roth, there's no denying, creates considerable suspense out of our desire to confront the forbidden.

Read Full Review >
75

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

One of the most impressive actor-to-filmmaker transitions in recent years.

Read Full Review >
75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

Sticks in the mind and simply won't go away.

Read Full Review >
75

Miami Herald Curtis Morgan

Grim, tight and well acted.

Read Full Review >
70

Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer

A bleak, beautiful film.

Read Full Review >
70

Village Voice Amy Taubin

We may not want another film about incest, but there's a necessity about this one that won't be denied.

Read Full Review >
68

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

A brooding, stunningly realistic portrait of familial self-destruction that raises far more questions than it can possibly answer.

Read Full Review >
63

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

A relentlessly grim, rather heavy-handed drama of family dysfunction.

Read Full Review >
63

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Roth, though, is like a sociopathic arsonist, one enthralled with his ability to start little blazes and one who would even call the fire department, but wouldn't stick around to see whether anyone put them out.

Read Full Review >
60

The New York Times Janet Maslin

The actor Tim Roth makes a fierce, disturbing directorial debut with a film that treats incest as something worse than a terrible secret.

Read Full Review >
50

Film.com Moira Macdonald

Its grimness is so unrelenting that I can only recommend it to filmgoers who need a movie to tell them that incest is bad.

Read Full Review >
50

LA Weekly John Patterson

Roth can obviously direct actors sympathetically, and he paces the movie adroitly.

Read Full Review >
50

Los Angeles Times Eric Harrison

Much of its strength resides in the way it eschews narrative contrivance. The movie observes behavior without explaining or judging it.

Read Full Review >
40

Film.com Ernest Hardy

Wrought with pretension -- and a blind eye to its own exploitation.

Read Full Review >
40

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

The ultimately uncomplicated view of sexual and emotional violence in a family is only tragic, not insightful.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

A B gave it an8:
Just came back from watching the movie and I was definitely pleased. I was a bit worried that I would be let down after reading some of the early reviews, my suspicious about the reviewers not understanding the character were confirmed though. Stevenson is a brilliant Frank Castle, the guy is a tank in this movie, shredding through his opposition just like a on screen manifestation of the character should. The critics complaining about the gore prove them unfit in being tasked with stepping anywhere near the film with a pencil and paper, doling out stars or thumbs. While Im afraid the film will not get the critical recognition it deservers, with the majority of critics not understanding the character, I as a fan of Castle say I'm thoroughly pleased by the work the entire cast and crew have put forth. While I agree that the movie was loyal to the source material and worth my dollars, there was one main area I think should have been retooled. Jigsaw and Jim's accent is over the top, and in the end took away from the character, especially in the case of Jim. At a glance Pros: Unapologetically Punisher Level Brutality Stevenson is a compelling Frank Castle Movie pacing is great Cons: Cliche accents Could have used some more dialogue from Frank Overall: 8/10 Bottom Line: If you are a punisher fan, you're in for a blast

Jay H. gave it a7:
A sensitive subject is ably handled by Tim Roth, very well directed. The writing is excellent as well. Good cinematography. It is a bit bleak at times. Fine performances all around.

Jonathan F. gave it a9:
This movie is excellent. The topic of this film is a hard one: sexual abuse in the family. I believe that more films on this topic should be made as it is an interesting aspect of society. Be prepared for hard visual acts of sexual abuse. If you come to this movie prepared you may be able to stand the horrible acts you are seeing. However, even if you come prepared, you might go out of this movie, feeling that weird feeling in your stomach. Tim Roth in his debut, is fine director, I would really like to see making more films. 9 of 10.

Kerrie W. gave it a 10:
Extremely powerful.I was rivetted!THIS is what it's REALLY like to experience incest (although mine was an uncle, not father, and I was much younger.) I felt SOMEONE has actually shown how it really is.Wish someone had stabbed my abuser for me-except I wouldn't wish that guilt on aqnyone. Well done Tim!!!

JOHN O S. gave it a 9:
Hard to seperate this and "Nil by mouth" truly great film making Tim lets be having you with another behind camera.

Greg gave it a 10:
Took a firend to see this film when it was released, just for support as i have been there in this situation. I wanted to say to tim and all the cast how much i respected them for the wonderful job they did with such a difficult and disturbing subject. I was hoping to email this personnaly to tim, if any one knows if he has some public email address i would be greatful for the info. I found the ending particularly relevent in that there is usually no happy ending to something like this, or at least on in the immediate term. at 37, i find the meaning in the ownership of the experience, as that is what it is. an experience. if any one would like to email me, my address is nicolson_greg@hotmail.com

Dirk G. gave it a 10:
Incredible movie, just see this one!!

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use