The Siege at Ruby Ridge

A poster here said the government screwed up but it wouldn't have had happened if the Weavers weren't politically incorrect in their beliefs. That is totally BS. Have you heard of something called the bill of rights? Just because the Weavers were fanatically about some things ( some I agree with, some I don't) does not give the US government any right to murder his wife, his sons and even their dog. Maybe you should leave Ohio and go back to the Soviet Union,etc where the government welcomes your oppressive anti-free speech regime and holds the victims responsible for the evil things the government does. If it can happen to the Weavers and those at Waco, it can happen to any and all of us. Shame on you.

Rot in hell to the lowlife sniper( of Chinese, etc descent, not that matters much because he still be a murdering scumbag if he was White) that murdered Randy's wife, sons and dog.

Forgive but never Forgot when the US government became the Gestapo in 1992 Iowa and 1993 Texas. As for Randy being a "white supremacist", that is not a crime, nor does it make one a terrorist or a criminal, unless you support the ADL/SPLC Nazi-like thought crime BS.

Someone said this was "allegedly true". Scratch the allegedly. It happened.I saw the news reports. This movie recreates the events at Ruby Ridge in exacting detail. Mistakes were made on both sides,and William Degan,Sam Weaver and Vicki Weaver paid the price. The cast is excellent,particularly Laura Dern,Randy Quaid,Kirsten Dunst,GW Bailey, Diane Ladd,Gary Graham,Nicholas Pryor,Bob Gunton,Tracy Griffith and Joe Don Baker.Well directed and well written. I do not agree with the Weaver's views but this story needed to be told.

To my everlasting embarrassment as an American citizen, the stark injustice of the Ruby Ridge Incident somehow initially slipped by me. For some reason, it took the Waco Massacre to open my eyes and make me realize that our suddenly and scarily militarized police agencies--both federal and local--had but one enemy, and it was us. Although this progression has continued through the tragedy of 9/11, which just happened to give our legislators the perfect excuse to pass laws that shredded our inalienable Constitutional protections, a disappointingly small number of citizens seemed to have grasped what is going on.

That's why although the albeit imperfect "Siege of Ruby Ridge" is far from a great historical drama, it may well be an important one. If it smacks just a handful of still-clueless citizens over the head, it will be worth people's time.

I was actually surprised at how much this film got right. Certainly it was true that Vicki Weaver was the driving force behind the apocalyptic beliefs in the family. Despite his portrayal in the movie, Randy Weaver was far from a dim, subservient religious follower of Vicki, and he would not leave the major decisions regarding his family's fate to his traumatized young daughter. My main complaint would be the over-the-top portrayal of the Weaver family as obnoxious, bible-thumping, jackbooted Neo-NAZI wingnuts. Sharpening their tongues in preparation to lie about the Davidians and David Koresh, the national media did their best to simply repeat all federal agency statements that portrayed the Weavers as just the kind of neighborhood family that needs to be lined up and shot. The Weavers were far from the typical American family, but they were American citizens with the right to be left alone--a fact which the media conveniently chose to ignore.

There is a documentary film about this incident that centers on a grown-up and very appealing Rachael Weaver, along with commentary from the still irascible Randy, called "Legend of Ruby Ridge." Hearing Rachael fondly reminisce about her childhood on that mountain (which she now owns), makes the movie version seem downright ludicrous.

First, the physical setting of this movie was inaccurate. The movie was filmed hundreds of miles from the actual location (with our dense forests and tall, green trees being replaced by a few scrubby bushes).

Secondly, both the chronology and the portrayal of "actual" events were faulty. Weaver did not move directly from Iowa to "Ruby Ridge." He and his family lived in different areas of the community for quite some time prior to his moving to "Ruby Ridge" and into disfavor with the government--in which time he even ran for Sheriff. Please note that contrary to most reports he never lived on Ruby Ridge, but on the adjacent Caribou Ridge.

Finally, the fair acting could not compensate for the inaccurate script. I might have found the story quite interesting if I hadn't had any prior knowledge. Unfortunately, though, the characters in the movie had little to nothing in common with and the actual people involved in this tragic event.

I don't normally express my views or opinions about fact based movies, but the subject matter of this particular film "The Siege at Ruby Ridge" moved me. Having not paid attention to the events of Ruby Ridge at the time, to my shame, I was curious enough on a Sunday afternoon to watch the movie. At the end of the film I was convinced that either the writers and producers were overly biased towards the Weaver family and were attempting to stir up the general population with their interpretation of the siege, or, and more disturbing, the movie was a true representation. After a few hours of research I was able to conclude that the scenes accurately portrayed events with a minimal amount of poetic license. The actors were emotional and convincing and I grieved with them.

I count myself as among the conservative, (mostly) sheltered, white collar Americans, comfortable in the daily concept of living in a free democracy, protected by our constitution, and generally content with life. A highly emotional, fact based movie like this is powerful enough in it's content to shatter that illusion. And while I choose to believe that the events outlined in the movie were the sad tragic results of a huge (but hopefully unintentional) error in judgment by an imperfect government, the concern that it might not have been...lingers.....