The Siege at Ruby Ridge

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.

A faithful adaptation of the excellent book, "Every Knee Shall Bow", which documented the tragedy of the Ruby Ridge incident. The first half of the movie introduces the Weaver family and friends and sets the scene for the dramatic, heartbreaking confrontation in the second half. Halfway through, one is made to feel glad the Weavers are not your neighbor. But by the end one is overwhelmed by the murderous injustice the Weavers suffer at the hands of the Federal Government. Excellent acting helps portray the Weavers as real human beings with faults and virtues instead of as devil or martyr cardboard cutouts.

The Ruby Ridge incident went largely unnoticed by the American Public until the exact same team of FBI agents were involved in the burndown of Waco a mere eight months later. This film does an excellent job of introducing the complex situation at Ruby Ridge to anyone who is still unaware of what happened there.

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.....

Lionel Chetwynd's creative writing about this supposedly "True Story" is rivaled only by Stephen King. Of course the American public knows only what the mainstream news spouts and what is portrayed in this "Van Gogh" of TV Docu-Dramas. Therefore, they don't know the difference between the facts about Randy Weaver and the Ruby Ridge incident, and what some establishment based writer, director and producer want us to believe. Of course the network that "Seige At Ruby Ridge" aired on, wanted the public to see ONLY what they're newscasts portrayed. Not necessarily the actual TRUE events that really happened. I would suggest reading Randy Weaver's own account of what he and his family were put through at the hands of over zealous Government Agents in his book. According to people who were actually at Ruby Ridge, the only similarities between the TV movie and what really happened was that the names of the characters were spelled correctly. Of course the main story line was somewhat factual. However, any more than Randy Quaid having the same first name as Randy Weaver leaves it very loose on the facts. Therein, all of the actors and actress' should have done their own research about the character they were to play. I've met and talked personally with Randy Weaver and found him to be NOTHING like he was portrayed by Mr. Quaid. I wouldn't mind having THE REAL Randy Weaver as my neighbor anywhere, anytime. They can keep the racist nutball they tried to make him out to be.

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.