The Siege at Ruby Ridge (1996)

On August 22, 1992, 400 Federal agents armed with rifles, choppers and tanks, surrounded the Ruby Ridge, Idaho, cabin of White Supremacist Randy Weaver (Randy Quaid, Independence Day). When Weaver resists a Federal arrest warrant, the U.S. Government declared war on the separatist and his family. Following an 11-day standoff that left his wife (Laura Dern, Wild at Heart) and son (Bradley Pierce, Jumanji) dead, Weaver surrendered and inexplicably was brought to trial on trumped-up murder and conspiracy charges, in this Emmy© nominated docudrama based on the real-life events that shocked a nation. Co-starring Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man) and Diane Ladd (TV's Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital).

Interesting take on what the goverment does to its own people.

It is absolutely amazing how the Clinton administration killed so many innocent people and got away with it. (Including Waco and the Republic of Texans) If you watch Harry's War, a movie that is classified as comedy that was made a few years before Ruby Ridge, it is scary that Ruby Ridge and Waco Massacre were exactly carried out like this comedy. People complain about Iraq and the killing of innocent people and we do it right here in the good old USA! If they want to go after true cults how about the Children of God, The Mormons, The Jehovah's Witness and especially the Muslims. June 8, 2007

a great movie

a great movie, it could have shown more about mr.weaver being a green and not a hate monger that he wasnt.he was not a member of the aryan nations, he thought they were ok people but it was not for him. but all in all being a production they want it to be more exciting and add there own ideas so i thought it was great just dont buy into all of it talk to randy weaver or write him hes easy to find if you have the net and make your own ideas, May 24, 2007

No heroes, no villains, no political correctness. Outstanding.

Despite my revulsion at using such a phrase, the best summation I can give to this work is "Fair And Balanced." Director Rodger Young somehow manages to present a view of the escalating situation in Idaho that is not tainted, slanted, or driven by a politically correct agenda. There are no Bad Guys and no Good Guys in this docudrama. (Although I might stretch a point to name as a "bad guy" Deputy Director Stagg, the supervisory US Marshal who, upon seeing Weaver's name on the front page of the newspaper, demands that the stakes be raised and armed tactical units be brought in. This particular character gets all of 30 seconds' screen time, but I think it's far to say that, if Stagg's ego hadn't been so badly bruised by the thought of Weaver not being arrested for 18 months, that the situation could have stayed under control.)

Working with a script by Lionel Chetwind, which was developed from the book "Every Knee Shall Bow" by Jess Walter, Young does a frankly amazing job of portraying the Weavers' early life together, dropping hints of racism, separatism, and some decidedly unorthodox religious viewpoints along the way --but none of it in a condemning manner. Yes, Vicki and Randy were almost certainly not the sort of folks you'd want to associate with much, but for all the character flaws, NOTHING justifies what their situation came to. In truth, the triumphant scene in which the family finally "discovers" the spot of land that will become their home SHOULD have been the end of the story.

I've always been something of a Laura Dern fan, but my admiration for this actress's talent and professionalism is definitely raised a couple of notches by her portrayal of Vicki. You see in her eyes the fervent belief and complete assurances that, while perhaps misguided, are certainly NOT out to cause trouble or violence --indeed, in the end it is Vicki who asks Randy to stop associating with the skinheads, and he is more than happy to do so, clearly not having been very comfortable with the association all along. The disintegrating lines of communication between Vicki and the rest of her family is especially well performed and is particularly hard to watch. As for Quaid, he manages to deliver the soul of a truly conflicted man, even from behind the exhausted eyes of someone who finds himself the number-one subject of discussion across America when all he truly ever wanted was to be left alone to raise his family. Bradley Pierce puts across an absorbing combination of childhood innocence and hard-hearted bigotry into the role of 14 year-old Sammy Weaver, who, together with Jacob Davis as the younger version of Sammy, turn the character into an audience favorite by the time the Marshals open fire.

It is when the family starts associating with area Neo-Nazis and Aryan Nations members that Kirsten Dunst really starts to shine in the story, absorbing the hateful propaganda and neatly tying it into the religious views in which her mother has diligently raised her. The end result is both compelling and disturbing. Darren Burrows also delivers a first-rate performance as Weaver family friend Kevin Harris, who manages to anchor Weaver to reality even as he lies bleeding and delirious.Another particularly compelling performance is brought to life by Bruce Locke, who plays FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi, who killed Vicki even as she held her baby. Locke injects a sense of anger and naked revenge into the eyes of the sniper --this is a man who has chosen to interpret the already badly-explained Revised Rules of Engagement for himself, and all he can think about is getting even with the evil bastards who killed US Marshal William Degan. Also worth a look is Joe Don Baker as legal living legend Gerry Spence of "Silkwood" notoriety, who manages to switch on some desperately-welcomed humorous moments in the movie's coda. A few points of trivia: the works of Hal Lindsey ("Late Great Planet Earth") are referenced early on in the story as being a catalyst to the shaping of Vicki Weaver's beliefs. Longtime independent journalist J. Orlin Grabbe, one of the first to publicly denounce the FBI as domestic terrorists, appears as an extra in several scenes.

In short, the movie does not flinch: Weaver was a loving dad and devoted husband, but was also a bigot and a petty thief. The Feds framed him, botched the case, and overstepped their authority. There are no excuses. Nobody comes out of this story completely innocent and not a single tenet of Hollywood-style political correctness is observed. No single scene truly emerges as the pivotal "here's where it all went wrong" moment. Gary Graham's performance as a reluctant US Marshal is particularly convincing --here is a law enforcement figure that obviously doesn't want to follow up on this case and would happily let him be, but for the orders he is getting from above. The movie takes us from one sequence of bad decisions to the next, ultimately revealing the real "villain" of the piece to be miscommunication. The Marshals aren't listening to the local residents, Weaver's not listening to his neighbors, Vicki isn't listening to her parents (nor are they listening to her), the press isn't listening to the Marshals, the US Attorney isn't listening to the ATF case agent, and of course the FBI isn't listening to ANYONE. It is only at the end of the action when Bo Gritz (excellently played by Bob Gunton) delivers the horrifying news to an agitated crowd that the "villain" reveals itself --and in one deft move, Gritz defuses the miscommunication, states the simple truth, and even calms down an unruly ready-for-blood mob.

Did the Federal government learn its lesson from the tragedy at Ruby Ridge? Well, of course. You can just imagine the internal memos flying around: "Next time, punch holes in the walls with tanks, flood the place with flammable gas, and then shoot anyone who tries to escape the fire."

Hats off to Hollywood for this effort, particularly to Quaid, Dern, and Young for delivering a product that tells the story without apology and never slants audience sympathies too far to one side or the other. A clear warning trumpet that is very much worth renting or owning, regardless of your religious views, or where you think you fall on the political spectrum. December 31, 2006

A total hatchet job on an innocent man attacked by the Feds!

Leave it to Hollyweird and the Zionist-
NAZIs to distort all that happens out
there to 'We the People'! This made
for TV garbage is as bad as the 'Man-
hunt in the Dakotas', which smears a
man murdered for his beliefs,e.g., the
Gordon Kahl story. A better video to
see would 'Tragety at Ruby Creek,
which is the correct name of the town
in which Randy Weaver and his late
bride had their cabin in, starring
Lt. Col. James 'Bo' Gritz, until now
unavavilable on amazon.com. November 7, 2006

Not all is the truth

I live a few miles away from the cabin where this took place by Ruby Creek. I haven't seen this movie yet, suprisingly, but I frequent all of the stores where the Weaver's used to buy their supplies in Elmira and Sandpoint. I know many people who were good friends with these people, and Randy was tricked...hook, line, and sinker. He was pestered by a man who was posing as a white supremecist to convince Randy to sell him a sawed off shot gun. The man who bought the guns was offered clemency to set up Randy. Randy and many others claim that the barrels of the guns were of legal length when he sold them. Also, from all of the people I have spoken to that knew the family, they weren't "white supremecists". They attended 1 meeting. I drive by the "church" where this meeting supposedly happened every day. I don't believe it. There are more federal agents and cops lurking around in this county then you could imagine. I have had several FBI agents come to my business and ask me questions about other people that I have served food to. They have also asked questions about my husband, and we are only ski bums who own a small deli. We don't do ANYTHING illegal. We had a guy try to "set up" a drug deal with my husband, and we have never used an illegal drug once in our lives! I think the government needs to back off a little, and arrest people that are truly dangerous, not people who they are afraid of. The minute the government comes to your home to "disarm you", is the minute you may think you need to start shooting. We are afforded the right to own guns to protect ourselves "from our government". It's in our own constitution. I'm a 29 year old mother of two, and I am certaintly not a racist or fundamentalist. I'm really excited to finally see this movie, and I'll let you all know what I think. April 10, 2006

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