Sicko (Special Edition) | 
| Director: Michael Moore
Actor: Michael Moore
Studio: Weinstein Company
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  276 reviews
Sales Rank: 392
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Russian (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 123
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 80750
UPC: 796019807500
EAN: 0796019807500
ASIN: B000UNYJXQ
Theatrical Release Date: June 22, 2007
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Clean and Complete with Original Artwork Inserts and Case, Ships USPS First Class Within 24 Hours, Satisfaction or a 100% Refund.
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Product Description
Following on the heels of his Palm d'Or winning Fahrenheit 9/11 and his Oscar winning film Bowling for Columbine acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary sets out to investigate the American healthcare system. Sticking to his tried-and-true one-man approach Moore sheds light on the complicated medical affairs of individuals and local communities. System Requirements:Run Time: 123 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/POLITICS Rating: PG-13 UPC: 796019807500 Manufacturer No: 80750
Amazon.com
SiCKO is more like a controlled howl of protest than a documentary. Toning down the rhetoric of past efforts--no CEOs, congressmen, or celebrities were accosted in the making of this film--Michael Moore's latest provocation is just as heartfelt, if not more heartbreaking. As he clarifies from the outset, his subject isn't the 45 million Americans without insurance, but those whose coverage has failed to meet their needs. He starts by speaking with patients who've been denied life-saving procedures, like chemotherapy, for the most spurious of reasons. Then he travels to Canada, England, and France to see if socialized medicine is as inefficient as U.S. politicians like to claim--especially those who receive funding from pharmaceutical companies. Moore finds quality care available to all, regardless as to income. He concludes with a stunt that made headlines when he assembles a group of 9/11 rescue workers suffering from a variety of afflictions. When Moore is informed that detainees at Guantanamo Bay--technically American soil--qualify for universal coverage, he and his companions travel to Cuba to get in on that action. It's a typically grandstanding move on Moore's part. And it proves remarkably effective when these altruistic individuals, who've either been denied treatment or forced to pay outrageous costs for their medication, experience a dramatically different system. Nine years in the making, SiCKO makes a persuasive case that it's time for America to catch up with the rest of the world. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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| Customer Reviews: Read 271 more reviews...
 A must see July 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Must watch to understand...
I am an Italian, that came to live in the US in 2000. I have being living here for almost 10 years, and I think that Health care is the thing where the US is most backward compared to Europe. When I came here it didn't take me long to start appreciating what we have in Italy. People in Italy generally don't complain too much about their health care, it works, there are occasionally news on "errors" in hospitals, or long waits at ER's or stuff like that, but generally it works... People get cured no matter who they are, and they don't have to worry about bills. Seen from my Italian eyes, that aspect of the US life was amazingly conflicting to many others things where the US is more advanced: in Italy you have to spend over $500 in order to get a driver license, and you have to go through medical exam, walk to at least 3 offices before you get it, and you still have to wait weeks before you can drive... In California $12 and about 1 hour in 1 DMV office, and you walk out with a temporary DL. But when it comes to health care, it's almost scary to live in the US. My family, when they came to visit me here, they were really afraid, so they got an insurance (in Italy) for heath emergency, but they were still afraid because in case something happened they had to pay out of pocket, and then ask for a reimbursement in Italy. That's different than traveling to many other countries. If you travel to France, Germany, even Australia, you don't have to worry about paying (if you are an Italian citizen) because there is an agreement of reciprocal care... Like in the movie the Canadian couple that goes to SEARS to buy insurance. This is just one of the many issues... I could go on forever. The US must grow from this point of view, a country that is modern and advanced in many aspects (that's why I work here, for the hi-tech industry), it's almost like a 3rd world country when it comes to health care...
Wow.... Wasn't sure I'd like it July 17, 2008
I am not at all a Micheal Moore fan. I thought the 911 movie was disgusting and dishonest, so I wasn't sure what I would think of SICKO. Wow, I finally have seen a Moore film that I can appreciate and that I appreciate him for making. I was heartbroken and in shock over some of the things that I saw in that film. The scenes in Cuba broke me down and angered me. How can our health care system be so out of whack? Really.... How many millions do you need to make before you start doing the right thing for your citizens? BRAVO... Micheal Moore.
 Interesting? Yes. Propaganda? Maybe... July 16, 2008
felt that this movie was very well done. The basic premise, of course, is that while we in the United States excel in many things, we are lacking in our development of a health care system that provides service to everyone. The film focuses on universal health care systems in countries like Canada, Great Britain, France, and even Cuba. It also shows many Americans who have had horrible experiences, even deaths, with the American Insurance and Health Care systems. I found the information in this film very enlightening.
 Why do negative reviewers rate Moore and not his films? June 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I enjoy reading the negative reviews for Moore films. They will attack Moore himself and his politics and then wave the magic anti-liberal wand like it automatically absolves them from making any further logical argument. Is it because they don't have rational argument for the actual content of the film and the questions being asked in it?
One of the oft-heard arguments is the grandstanding that Moore does in his films. Is taking a bunch of sick people to Cuba a showboat tactic? Yes it is, but this is also a film and supposed to be entertaining. If Moore stuck to the staid, classroom-lecture style of documentary making that conservatives seem to love, these films would not get publicity, people would not see them, people would not discuss them, and questions (ah yes, the questions), questions that desperately need to be pondered and answered, would not be pondered and answered.
For me personally, I have seen both sides of the healthcare systems presented in the movie. I have paid premiums and been treated in both the US and Canada. The waiting room scenario from Ontario isn't as rosy as presented in the film, I did have to wait several hours, but I was checked up on constantly until the equipment to do proper tests were available. However, I did not have to fill in a single payment form and no money was required, no bill arrived later. My premiums then were 90 dollars a month.
In the US, letters were required, permission was required, a co-payment was required, a waiting time of several weeks occurred because of the permission required. Because of the concern for my symptoms, I ended up going back to Canada and getting the tests done by walking into the doctor of my choosing within the week. No permission, no money. I had paid 450 dollars in premiums for my US HMO fees and ended up feeling concerned enough by the bureaucracy and red tape that I looked elsewhere for attention before something serious happened.
Why I present this information is to say that Moore's film is not hyperbole, it is not made up, it is really happening. People with healthcare are getting screwed by a system of greed (not surprising to see the Nixon government getting the ball rolling...what do you expect from a criminal?). The mentality of a nation that continues to rail against having to pay a little extra to help out those that need it really makes me question whether people understand what being a citizen is. Are they citizens of their country or citizens of themselves? Until people realize that socialized medicine is not communism but rather helping someone in need, this country will continue with a grotesque, morally bankrupt, selfish style of 'healthcare' that cares little for the individual, and, perversely, entirely about the investor's bottom line.
Moore's film (and films in general) are important and relevant as they are mirrors held up for your consideration. What you come away with after watching them may affect you, but more importantly, your response to others regarding the film will speak volumes about your humanity.
I give the film 4 stars because there was little argument on the FOR side for HMOs. I am not behind their concept, but I would have appreciated hearing from some of their apologists and what their rationale is. I'm sure there are decent, cogent arguments that could be applied to create a better health care system all around.
 Propoganda Not Documentary June 25, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Michael Moore is a popular, if polarizing, figure with the ability to draw millions in America into a conversation with the potential to impact our lives. Health Care is a serious issue and requires serious discussion and debate if we are to fix it.
I would find it hard to believe that any who watched this film would not feel for the individuals in the film. The problem is that Mr. Moore only interviewed individuals. And only individuals that represented the viewpoint he was attempting to assert; American Health Care Bad and Socialized Health Care Good.
Had Mr. Moore taken the opportunity to provide a balanced view of the different health care systems, to compare and contrast them equally, he would have gone further in proving his point. In showing only the bad side of American Health Care and only the good side of Socialized Health Care (in England, Canada, France and Cuba) he raises obvious questions about both health care systems and about his objectivity.
If Mr. Moore truly cares about the issue, his time and effort would have been better served making an actual documentary; documenting the positive and negative aspects of various health care systems. Mr. Moore's film comes up short of a documentary, falling into the category of propaganda; asserting only those facts and accounts that support his view, and allowing no dissent or discussion.
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