terrible... so disappointed.

Boring

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This movie was an original film made by HBO and was shown in 1997 and then disappeared. Why? Too many un-PC remarks is my guess. At one point Dan Hedaya (head of the CNN look-alike NetworkNews) yells that somebody needs to get the White House on the phone "unless Tokyo has foreclosed on it!". The story is brilliantly created and the cast is amazing. Look at the cast and ask yourself how this film could just disappear.The mayor of Los Angeles is giving a speech, and the newsroom is frantically looking for a translator. but NOT to translate into Spanish. No, to translate HIS speech into English. I say shame on HBO for letting this film slide into oblivion, You can still find it, used, on VHS but it never went to DVD. You cannot buy it from HBO.You gotta ask yourself why...

Loved it when it was first released, but now (2004) it seems amazing just how prophetic it was. The effects of overwhelming immigration into the U.S., and the hopeless ineptitude of the government, are themes that are more and more apparent as the years go by.Topical comedy usually has a short life, seen a few years later it often loses its comic impact, but this one hasn't lost a thing when seen today. It has the rare quality of being both comic and profoundly serious.Like most people, I only have a few that I can give a "10", but this is one of the few.

I noticed that a viewer thought this film was far better than WAG THE DOG. Might I disagree? This film is in many ways not on the same level as WTD. That film had acting, subtlety (despite its outrageousness), wit and brains. This film has neither. It's a stupid stupid (not to mention racist)thing that goes over-the-top too often. Way too often and waaaaaay over it. And it simply hasn't got the actors too for this sort of things. WAG THE DOG had De Niro and Hoffman (among others), this film's only virtues are James Coburn and Denis Leary (though the latter's part is seriously under-written, as are all parts actually). All of the others simply don't fit in. Perlman, Hedaya, Beau Bridges, Elizabeth Peña, ... none of them make sense in his/her part. And as far as the story goes... Well, if you're looking for subtlety, look somewhere else, because this one makes sure that you're not only not caring about the characters, but also that all of its attempts at black comedy or satire fall short(it had one good thing though, but I can't remember it)and that none of the events depicted seem believable. yes, it tries to give th e film a sense of reality by making the governor look like President Clinton, the president a dim-witted puppet and the head of News Net a sensationalistic b***ard, but all what it's trying to say sounds hollow and, yes, racist. See, for a film like this you need a careful handling of the subject. This film goes for cheap shots and smashes all of its messages without realizing it. A bad job for director Joe Dante, who really is more at home at the comedy-horror genre than at this political satire stuff. How to succeed in saying nothing at all. 4/10 (maximum)

I think you need to be an American to fully understand the satire at play here. This is a spoof of American politics, government and the hypocrisy of the news media. While Wag the Dog gave us a numbing account of how the media can shape public opinion, the Second Civil War only shows how inept the government and media organizations are. Isn't it frightening if the movie a portent to how political life will shape out in the future? I didn't find the movie funny in any way, nor is that any real message for us to learn.