Why We Fight

Why We Fight (2006)

  • 80% of critics liked it
    (109 reviews)

  • 79% of users liked it
    (67,239 ratings)

In 1961, as Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his final address to the nation before leaving the office of President of the United States, he warned that America "must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence...by the military-industrial complex." Nearly 45 years later, as the United… More

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PG-13,
Directed By
Genres
Documentary, Special Interest
In Theaters
Jan 20, 2006 Limited
Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

  • Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

    A film that stands out for its passion, ambition and clarion-call sincerity, even amid the contemporary onslaught of political documentaries.

  • , Time Out

    Extremely timely and urgently relevant.

  • Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic

    The fact is, Jon Stewart on The Daily Show uncovers this same hypocrisy every night, and does it in two minutes with irony and humor, while Why We Fight attempts it with outrage and scolding.

  • Michael Booth, Denver Post

    Eugene Jarecki's Why We Fight takes on enough subjects to make five great documentaries, but as a result is so scattered that it doesn't quite make for one good one.

  • Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

    It's impossible to imagine anyone, right-leaning or left, coming away from this hugely important documentary unshaken by its representation of the United States and its military establishment.

Read all 21 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Daniel P


    A documentary-by-numbers, in a sense, and about the Iraq War mostly, but I found this to be as much about Eisenhower than anything else, which was great, because I didn't know as much about him and his meaning when he famously coined the term Military-Industrial Complex. I liked… More

  • Michael S


    Good documentary with some great moments of emotional power, but it doesn't say all that much new about the current state of the USA that hasn't already been discussed in superior films.

  • Walter M


    [font=Century Gothic]"Why We Fight" is an informative but flawed documentary, that despite providing a comprehensive history lesson through talking heads, participants and archival footage, does not make a very good case. It starts off with Dwight Eisenhower's 1961… More

  • Alec B


    Half of the documentary is about the mishandling of the Iraq war, and the other is a attempted in-depth analysis of the terrifying alliance between the Department of Defense and Private Military Contractors. I understand that the two are related, but the way its put together here is a… More

  • Kit X


    Why We Fight is described in the links section of Billhicks.com as "probably in Bill's iPod on Arcturus". I doubt that it is. Whereas Bill's comedy was loud, angry, and deliberately controversial, this documentary about the military-industrial complex is… More

Read all 7 featured audience ratings

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