Review of Battle in Seattle (2007) by Kyle S — 26 May 2009

This was decent, although very busy. It was an attempt to show various perspectives (which I appreciated) of actual events in the form of dramatic re-enactment.

I think there are documentaries which inform better on the issues.

The actor portraying Gov. Locke was awful, an embarrassment. The portrayal of the mayor wasn't much better. The mayor and police department WERE amazingly unprepared, but they weren't exactly villains.

I didn't know that there was a movement to actually SHUT DOWN the whole conference. I lived through that mess, and thought it was unfair of the protesters to deny entrance to the delegates... not even giving WTO a chance to decide whether or not to hear the (so called) third world countries or seat various groups. If the objective of some protesters was to close down WTO, then I learned One thing from the film.

Maybe a character from Labor could have been introduced to show that side more. They had marches that did not include looting and civil disobedience.

This film tried to show a few days of protest, with some of the consequences.

- I don't care what one thinks about big business, it's no fun to work in a place where businesses are trashed. It's also no fun to see lawless actions spin out of control. And then the over-compensation of macing and gassing people and, after shutting down the city core, moving into residential areas, was extreme. -.

There was nothing in the film regarding the differences of the three law enforcement entities. The King Co. sheriff's dept. was most effective in providing order. The national guard were a clueless force of numbers. Communication to citizens regarding access to transportation and to their jobs was poor, with frequent changes.

It was a confusing time for citizens of Seattle. No one could clearly explain the issues to me. Even now, the Mainstream Media is mostly silent about the issues that were so volatile in late 1999.