Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Fahrenheit 11/9 Blu-ray Movie Review

Golfing our way into oblivion...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown August 24, 2023

You can imagine the many, many reasons reviewers here have avoided covering the Blu-ray release of outspoken, controversial documentarian Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 11/9, a shot across the bow of the then-Trump administration and its fearsome leader. But with said president receiving the first-ever presidential mugshot in American history mere hours ago (at the time of this writing), I figured... why not? What could possibly go wrong? (Insert sarcastic laugh here.) I don't need to politicize or soap box. There's no benefit to declaring my politics or trying to sway anyone to go along with Moore in his attack on Trump. At this point, the lines are so deeply drawn that it seems no one is budging. You're either a MAGA-wearing right-wing militant who believes we're on the eve of civil war, a blue-bearing left-wing heart-of-gold who believes the people deserve better than a blowhard clown, the majority of Americans in the middle who wish life would just go back to being semi-normal in these divisive times, or someone from elsewhere in the world, wondering what in God's name is happening in the U.S.? I'll tell you what's going on. We've lost our collective minds. You know it. I know it. And Michael Moore certainly knows it. Does that make Fahrenheit 11/9 a good movie? Eh, if you're in camp #2 it'll prove to be a dose of common sense. Otherwise, it'll be an afront to patriotism (for camp #1), another shout in the echo chamber (to camp #3) or a documentary that doesn't offer an answer to the question non-Americans (in camp #4) are dying to ask: when will people in the U.S. chill the F out and get on with civility, progress, and mature, respectable democracy?

Official synopsis: Hailed as "Michael Moore's most powerful film yet" (Sophia A. McClennen, Salon), 'Fahrenheit 11/9' is a provocative and comedic look at the times in which we live (circa 2018, when the film first hit theaters and, that December, arrived on Blu-ray). It explores the two most important questions of the Trump Era: How the f**k did we get here, and how the f**k do we get out?

Though you'll rarely read anything about Moore without stumbling across the word "controversial", the acclaimed filmmaker is nevertheless a smart, savvy communicator, distilling complex topics and analysis into easy-to-digest, memorable man-of-the-people questions and answers. But Moore's documentaries and approach are a double-edged sword. He's controversial not just to conservatives or because of his (to some) extreme views, but because of his methodology, which involves a few too many editing tricks, trimming tweaks, leading clips, and one-sided investigative journalism that have stained his reputation. He is first and foremost an entertainer and second a provocateur, and Fahrenheit 11/9 is undeniably entertaining and provocative (unless you're a card-carrying member of camp #1, in which case you'll feel veins popping out of your neck and forehead as you watch). The results will prove delightful to members of the choir to whom Moore is preaching with such vigor. But because he's so focused on said choir, he largely fails to convince those who could truly move the needle, or at the very least, need to hear his arguments: those who adore Trump and his antics and deny that his style of politicking and global leadership is the clear and present danger Moore declares it to be.

The result? Fahrenheit 11/9 is more angry noise off to one side of a very heated American debate. How it's still a debate in 2023 is honestly baffling to me. People are swearing allegiance to a man who will most likely be in prison come the 2024 election, unable to pardon himself due to his troubles in Georgia being state charges that are exempt from federal pardon powers. Do some people in this country seriously believe we can be led by an imprisoned president? And if so, what would happen to our already damaged international reputation and relationships? The answers are 1) yuuuup and, they would say, 2) who cares? Sigh. When Fahrenheit 11/9 was released Moore's solution was simply to avoid re-electing Donald Trump. And he wasn't reelected. End of story, right? Hail the conquering... heroes? Hardly. And that makes Moore's 2018 film feel terribly dated and out of touch. It does raise some arguably welcome, thought-provoking questions, but it doesn't envision the future in which we currently find ourselves living... meaning it has little to offer the average viewer -- regardless of camp -- in these perilous and unprecedented times.

Fahrenheit 11/9 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

No surprise here. Fahrenheit 11/9 is assembled from a variety of low to moderate quality sources: 24-hour news clips, B-roll video, talking heads and roundtable discussions, man-on-the-street interview footage, and other media. And Universal's 1080p/AVC video presentation is faithful to the original film, capturing Moore's no-frills intentions without glaring anomalies that could be traced to poor encoding. There are a number of issues -- artifacting, banding, edge halos, standard definition unsightliness, etc -- but all are inherent to the aforementioned sources. Fortunately, colors are strong, skintones lifelike, contrast fairly consistent, and detail revealing (when permitted to be so). Documentary fans won't bat an eye. This is what we've come to expect from Moore and this type of release.

Fahrenheit 11/9 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The same can be said of Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. There's no problems per se, though the mix is a chatty, front-heavy affair dominated by narration, interviews and apocalyptic surges of tone-matching music. Voices are clean and clear on the whole (despite some occasional air hiss and wind noise), the rear speakers are mildly engaging when utilized, a few moments of low-end oomph add welcome weight to the proceedings, and there aren't any real distractions. Any audio issues present can presumably be attributed to the AV source, not the Blu-ray's lossless mix.

Fahrenheit 11/9 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray edition of Fahrenheit 11/9 doesn't include any special features.

Fahrenheit 11/9 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fahrenheit 11/9 has become surprisingly dated a mere five years after its release, not because it doesn't have important things to say (it does) but because so much has changed since 2018 and no one could have envisioned the current situation America finds itself in. Historic, unprecedented... at least in the U.S. Other countries have seen the things unfolding before our eyes and it... hasn't gone so well for them. Here's hoping Moore's apocalyptic predictions remain a fantasy and Fahrenheit 11/9 remains a time capsule from an era we won't have to relive. If that little conclusion proved controversial or stirred up anger in your chest, well, this is not the film for you. Regardless, Universal's Blu-ray presentation is a solid one, and its only issues originate in the film's source materials. Special features (maybe deleted scenes or additional interviews) would have been appreciated but fans of Moore's work will hardly mind.