From Strangelove to Vendetta: The journey from Lincoln/Douglas to Sharpton/Kucinic.

Rating: 1/10 (21 March 2006)

If you haven't advanced beyond the second grade, and therefore require that your vilification of the Bush administration be bereft of the slightest modicum of subtlety, then "Vendetta" is your cup of tea. Its message hits you over the head like a billy club, and no surprise, the message is pure Hollywood propaganda.
John Hurt (the protagonist from Orwell's movie version of "1984", no coincidence) is the head of a police state that ruthlessly exploits public safety fears to implement totalitarian measures. We learn Hurt's character started out as a "religious conservative" who rose to power in the wake of public safety concerns over supposed terrorist attacks (no, I am not making this up).
Big brother is evidenced in force as government trucks roam through the city randomly eavesdropping on citizens' conversations (gee, no intended Bush administration parallel there).
Citizens are constantly assured that heightened security / diminished civil liberties are for their own protection, as they are surrounded by peril at every turn around the globe. But have no fear, "England Prevails" is the mantra people are taught to repeat. Gee, Bush has never said anything like that either.
The "regime" has eerie parallels to what else, Nazi Germany. We know from the beginning that people whom the state deems "undesirable" have been imprisoned, and the movie's own Joseph Mengela has performed unspeakable experiments on the prisoners - all for the supposed greater good of the state, of course. Homosexuals (who else?) are prime targets of the state. Soldiers/stormtroopers goose-step down a main street as their leader/Fuhrer pounds on a rostrum in the background. There is even a Swastika substitute.
Enemies of the state are imprisoned, re-educated, or in the case of a subversive element found with a Koran, shot dead (Nope, not making that up either).
So in case you didn't get it (as I will concede it is never written in boldface across the screen), the Bush Administration is exploiting your fears (and perhaps even manufacturing events to put you in fear), and is taking your beloved country down a road towards becoming a ruthless, police state where dissent equals death.
This movie isn't a poor man's Dr. Strangelove. This move is a 1st grade imbecil's Dr. Strangelove. This Cinematic polemic is the equivalent of a political cartoon with all the subtlety of a picture of Adolph Hitler superimposed on George Bush. The far left can, and HAS, done a HECK of a lot better than this. It is a woeful sign of the times that more than 40 years after the release of a great movie like Dr. Strangelove THIS is what ranks as compelling political cinema. Cinematic social commentary has made a sad reverse evolution - from Lincoln/Douglas 160 years ago to Sharpton/Kucinic today.