44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out (2003)

I saw the real news footage at the time this all happened and i can tell you that this movie in my opinion is a waste of time. A complete senseless drama with over dramatized acting. One word about this movie that keeps coming to mind is STUPID. To sum up this version of the story as it is portrayed in this movie: think of Days of our lives on steroids, and that's it. That's what this is. What i still can not believe is that 100 LA cops and not a single one can or even thought of shooting at the head or legs till the very end. Even then our swat team hero who was late ("I'm 10 min out"-"There in 2 min"-"I'm on the scene") and went on about being a hero and how he came to be a hero and what it's like to be a hero didn't really do much to the last single bank robber who was down to his handgun because his AK-47 got jammed. Another word just come to mind: PATHETIC. I hate this movie.

You know you've got a well-directed film when Michael Madsen turns in a well-done low-key performance, relatively speaking.Also fine performances from all others, especially Andrew Bryniarski as the tall bank robber. Very nice lead-in to the actual robbery to give us some of the character of the main subjects involved, and the lack of the LAPD to handle such a dangerous situation.It's still amazing that nobody but the bank robbers died in this 44 minute shoot-out. I recall seeing the live news reports and thinking that several cops and bystanders must have been killed.You will not be disappointed.

This is one of the most awesome movies I have ever seen. I loved it. My only problem with it was that it was way too biased in the favor of the police, painting the criminals as stupid robots, which they weren't. The movie makers really should have given the robbers, who are in essence the real stars of the movie, more detailed personalities. Other than that, it was an awesome action flick. Although the interviews were a bit annoying, and I'd rather they'd at least been interviews with those actually present at the gunfight, instead of the actors.All in all, I'd recommend it to anyone, pro-cop or anti-cop. 44 Minutes is a great movie, and I feel that it's second only to the movie "Heat".

This film hit home in all ways. From the faithful Henry Jones, to the testament of true police nature by Madsen and Livingston, "44 Minutes" presented us with a display of the true meaning of the duty of the American Police Officer. This film brings out the definition of the real-life hero, the real-life villain, and the real-life story that binds them. The actors are true to their characters, and can undoubtedly bring great honor and respect to the real men and women who experienced the crisis. As for the villains, well, they deserve the shame they get from the people who see this film, because, in my belief, Taktarov and Bryniarski portrayed the true criminals accurately down to the finest detail. Even though I feel that the respects to the true men and women shown in the end were no less than morally mandatory, I am duly impressed by the fact that such respect was shown in full, and it is exactly what the true people deserve. This film deserves an 11, but since it can't get one, a 10 will do it justice.