Snowden

"The only safe place is on the run."

2016 2h 15m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 4,806

DramaHistoryCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.

“The only safe place is on the run.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Edward Snowden
Shailene Woodley
Lindsay Mills
Melissa Leo
Laura Poitras
Zachary Quinto
Glenn Greenwald
Tom Wilkinson
Ewen MacAskill
Scott Eastwood
Trevor James
Timothy Olyphant
CIA Agent Geneva
Ben Schnetzer
Gabriel Sol

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Oliver Stone
Writers: Kieran Fitzgerald, Oliver Stone
Languages: English
Countries: France, Germany, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 93% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Oliver Stone, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Craig Armstrong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alex Márquez shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley and Melissa Leo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The only safe place is on the run.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Oliver Stone directs. Anthony Dod Mantle behind the camera. Craig Armstrong scores. Alex Márquez cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, Germany, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 93% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 10 years ago.
3International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, United States of America.
4Directed by Oliver Stone, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Craig Armstrong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Alex Márquez shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley and Melissa Leo carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The only safe place is on the run.".
9IMDB entry: tt3774114 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "biography", "idealism", "idealist", "national security agency (nsa)".

The technical file

Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
Original score: Craig Armstrong
Editing: Alex Márquez
Production design: Mark Tildesley
Costume design: Bina Daigeler
Makeup / hair: Christine Fennell-Harlan
VFX supervisor: Christina Graff
Sound: Kris Fenske
Stunt coordinator: Torsten Jerabek
Runtime: 135 min · 2h 15m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $37,357,216
Return: 93% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Snowden (2016)

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Oliver Stone

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-12-24
★ 7/10
He who became a people's hero by betraying his own nation! I had like to begin by saying I'm not an American and I haven't seen the Oscar winning documentary 'Citizenfour'. But I'm very much aware of everything about it through the all kinds of coverages. So my perspective about the film will be true and about the content will be neutral. I have known about what this film dealt since the day it all began. I did not care much, but there are things to concern about it. Like if it is necessary to tap to prevent the serious threats, there's nothing wrong it that. Because, even if they have our private contents, they are not going to publish it or make money out of it. So that makes what Ed did was unethical and betrayal for his own country. In another angle, NSA's illegal surveillance questionable in many ways, but wrong is only a tiny thing. Because eyeing every single one of us seems wrong, though without examining all, nothing confirms, differentiate between right and wrong. So coming to the film, it was decently made one. The main reason is it was too long and many parts were boring. The theme was powerful like it was a one liner, but the film contents were very weak. Except Snowden passing the security, the rest of the story like why he did, including his personal life, particularly his romance was not good enough to make a film. This is very much suitable for a documentary than a feature film. But I liked the actors. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was good, but not great. If he gets the Oscars nod, that's only because of the issue which the film inspired by, not because his phenomenal character display. The direction was decent, but not the screenplay. The film is not for everyone, but I recommend it to all as a must see. The main reason why you should watch it is to educate yourself. To learn what they are doing and how. Particularly, you will definitely come to know how to avoid being eyed by the government in a simple way. So that's a good thing than whining over what homeland security does to protect the nation. It is not an inspiring biopic, or a masterpiece, but don't miss it for any cost. P.S. Whatever the form of the governments, the nations won't stop doing what in this film they said was wrong. Because there's no Edward Snowden in every nation to expose it. In that perspective, the US was really embarrassed for their own man letting them down. The China is the number one in this kind of activity. The point is, these things happening right now or not, but should never come to public notice like that happened in here, never should leave the compound. Suppose if we come to know, we will protect, at least in the democratic countries that's what we do. But not to forget it also safeguards us. That means it is like the stars and planets on the sky that we watch and take notes, but they are untouchable. We only monitor them for threats like asteroids and fractionally thinking about the alien invasion. 7/10
David Perkins2017-01-07
★ 8/10
JGL plays a pretty convincing Snowden or at least I think he does as I've only seen the real Snowden in video and Citizenfour. I don't know exactly how correct the movie is to the actual story but as most of these things go, the movie will have been created with a slightly exaggerated storyline and version of events. An enjoyable watch and a big tick for me was that the coding and terminology used in the movie were relatively correct and true to real life!
Frode Lindeijer2017-07-21
★ 9/10
Although the movie is not perfect, it's flaws are limited, minute and easily ignored. A must-watch for anyone using a computer! This adaptation of Snowden's transformation from a talented programmer working for the United States secret service into a planetary hero really takes the viewer deeper into the true story on which this film is based. It shows the human side of the path towards revealing the truth. Relational tensions, covertly supportive colleagues and the need to stay cool are all part of this film. Best spy thriller I've ever seen. Beyond believable.