Taglines: An enemy they can’t see. A nation under siege. A crisis they can’t control.
The Siege movie storyline. FBI Special Agent Anthony Hubbard and his Lebanese American partner, Frank Haddad, are told of a hijacked bus, fully loaded with passengers and containing an explosive device. The bomb turns out to be a paint bomb and the terrorists escape. The FBI receives warnings to release Sheikh Ahmed bin Talal.
Hubbard eventually comes into conflict with Central Intelligence Agency agent Elise Kraft. Hubbard takes a terrorist suspect into custody and arrests Kraft. Afterwards another terrorist threat is made and a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus is bombed. When the FBI captures a man named Samir Nazhde, he admits to signing the visa application of one of the suicide bombers in the course of signing many applications for student visas in his job as a lecturer. However, Kraft insists that Samir is not a terrorist and that his continued freedom is vital to the investigation.
The terrorist incidents begin to escalate. A crowded theater is bombed and later One Federal Plaza, the location of the FBI’s New York City field office, is destroyed with over 600 casualties. In spite of objections, the President of the United States declares martial law and the United States Army’s 101st Airborne Division, under Major General William Devereaux, occupies and seals off Brooklyn in an effort to find the remaining terrorist cells.
Subsequently, all young males of Arab descent, including Haddad’s son Frank, Jr., are rounded up and detained in Downing Stadium. Haddad resigns in outrage. New Yorkers stage violent demonstrations against the army and the profiling of the Arabs and the Army fights to maintain control. There are reports of Army killings. Hubbard and Kraft, now revealed to be an agent named Sharon Bridger, continue their investigation and capture a suspect, Tariq Husseini.
Using torture, Devereaux’s men kill Husseini in the course of the interrogation. Afterward, Bridger tells Hubbard that Husseini realized nothing of value because of the principle of compartmentalized information and, sickened, she finally tells Hubbard what she understands. It is revealed that she herself provided training and support to militants opposed to Saddam Hussein’s regime, working with Samir to recruit and train the followers of the Sheikh.
After the U.S. cut their funding and left them exposed, she took pity on the few of them who had not yet been slaughtered by Hussein’s forces, and arranged for them to escape to the United States, ultimately leading to the present situation as they turn their covert and bomb making skills on the country that now holds their Sheikh. She and Hubbard compel Samir to arrange a meeting with the final terrorist cell. Hubbard convinces Haddad that he needs his help and Haddad returns to the FBI.
The Siege is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Edward Zwick. The film is about a fictional situation in which terrorist cells have made several attacks in New York City. The film stars Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Bruce Willis, Tony Shalhoub, Sami Bouajila, David Proval, Ahmed Ben Larby, Lianna Pai, Jack Gwaltney and Lance Reddick.
The Siege (1998)
Directed by: Edward Zwick
Starring: Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Bruce Willis, Tony Shalhoub, Sami Bouajila, David Proval, Ahmed Ben Larby, Lianna Pai, Jack Gwaltney, Lance Reddick
Screenplay by: Lawrence Wright, Menno Meyjes, Edward Zwick
Production Design by: Lilly Kilvert
Cinematography by: Roger Deakins
Film Editing by: Steven Rosenblum
Costume Design by: Ann Roth
Set Decoration by: Gretchen Rau
Art Direction by: Chris Shriver, John Warnke
Music by: Graeme Revell
MPAA Rating: R for violence, language and brief nudity.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: November 6, 1998
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