History YMMV / TheSiege

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Notice how after the bus explodes, and emergency crews break cover, pretty much everyone rushes towards the burning remains of the bus to extinguish the blaze and look for survivors, except for Frank, who immediately rushes to Hubbard's side to check on him.

** General Devereaux is arrested for first-degree premeditated homicide in regards to the torture and murder of a single suspect. After the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse Abu Ghraib]] scandals, absolutely ''zero'' enlisted personnel were tried for '''any crimes whatsoever.'''[[note]]Several were released from duty, but not tried for any crimes.[[/note]] Ultimately, it's as if Devereaux got off, but ''all his men'' were blamed for '''his''' crimes!

** General Devereaux having a HeelRealization about his actions becomes [[IgnoredEpiphany metatextually hypocritical]], considering that Bruce Willis has endorsed Donald Trump.

** General Devereaux having a HeelRealization about his actions becomes metatextually hypocritical, considering that Bruce Willis has endorsed Donald Trump.

** General Devereaux having a HeelRealization about his actions becomes metatextually hypocrtical, considering that Bruce Willis has endorsed Donald Trump.

** Come 2017 and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protecting_the_Nation_from_Foreign_Terrorist_Entry_into_the_United_States Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States]] act has resulted in Iraqi refugees being detained in airports.

* {{Anvilicious}}/SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:

** From a rather specific point of view, they're all right: Hubbard's steadfast belief in the law is what you'd expect from an FBI agent, but it's utterly useless against the dedicated terrorists he's up against. Elise's attempts to sway and use people have their uses, as she's able to help identify several cells and gather needed intelligence to take them down, but the blowback from her operations years before the main plot were what set everything off. And Devereaux specifically argued against martial law, and specifically stated that he didn't want to do it, but he was ordered to and therefore he was doing it. He's not wrong to follow orders, and he has the best intentions in mind, but he does take it too far without realizing it.

** This trope is also inverted of sort in that the tipping point is a bombing of an FBI building that kills over 600 people. The movie treats it as the most horrific terrorist act that could ever happen in the US. As it turns out, the planners behind 9/11 had a scarier idea. Though in the movie, part of the reason the attack on One Federal Plaza was so devastating was that with the FBI counterterrorism office destroyed, their capability to respond to additional attacks was severely weakened.

* HilariousInHindsight: [[Creator/BruceWillis General Devereaux]] says, when explaining how martial law on Brooklyn might look, "[[Film/TheExpendables We will hunt down the enemy, we will find the enemy and we will kill the enemy.]]"

** The initial response to the various terrorist attacks. This is especially most noticeable when Hubbard, Frank and Elise respond to the theater bombing. When they arrive, the fire department has set up an active triage center to treat people who have been injured by shrapnel (dead bodies are being covered up), and at one point, Hubbard's eyes fall on a woman staggering down a staircase with her left arm missing below the elbow.

** Denzel Washington plays a cop that unflinchingly upholds the Constitution. Annette Benning plays a CIA Agent that compromises the law and makes mistakes, eventually [[spoiler: getting killed for it]]. Bruce Willis plays a general that ignores the law to protect his country and its people. Guess who is portrayed as being in the right?
** From a rather specific point of view, they're all right: Hubbard's steadfast belief in the law is what you'd expect from an FBI agent, but it utterly fails to work against the dedicated terrorists he's up against. Elise's attempts to sway and use people have their uses, as she's able to help identify several cells and gather needed intelligence to take them down, but the blowback from her operations years before the main plot were what set everything off. And Devereaux specifically argued against martial law, and specifically stated that he didn't want to do it, but he was ordered to and therefore he was doing it. He's not wrong to follow orders, and he has the best intentions in mind, but he does take it too far without realizing it.

** Brooklyn under martial law, especially the army's arrival. If Devereaux's response when explaining how it would happen at the committee hearing means nothing ("It will be noisy, it will be scary, and it will ''not'' be mistaken for a VFW parade"), what will?

** From a rather specific point of view, they're all right: Hub's steadfast belief in the law is what you'd expect from an FBI agent, but it utterly fails to work against the dedicated terrorists he's up against. Elise's attempts to sway and use people have their uses, as she's able to help identify several cells and gather needed intelligence, but the blowback from her offscreen operations set everything off. And Devereaux specifically argued against martial law, and specifically stated that he didn't want to do it, but he was ordered to and therefore he was doing it. He's not wrong to follow orders, and he has the best intentions in mind, but he does take it too far without realizing it.
* HarsherInHindsight: Much of this has to do with the fact that this movie came out three years before 9/11.

** Brooklyn under martial law, especially the army's arrival. If the General's response when explaining how it would happen at the committee hearing means nothing ("It will be noisy, it will be scary, and it will ''not'' be mistaken for a VFW parade"), what will?

** This trope is also inverted of sort in that the tipping point is a bombing of an FBI building that kills over 600 people. The movie treats it as the most horrific terrorist act that could ever happen in the US. As it turns out, the planners behind 9/11 had a scarier idea...
*** Though part of why that attack was so devastating was that with the FBI counterterrorism office destroyed, their capability to respond to additional attacks was severely weakened.

* HilariousInHindsight: [[Creator/BruceWillis General Devereaux]] says, at one point, "[[Film/TheExpendables We will hunt down the enemy, we will find the enemy and we will kill the enemy.]]"

** The initial response to the various terrorist attacks. This is especially most noticeable when Hubbard, Frank and Elise respond to the theater bombing. When they arrive, there are enough casualties that the fire department has an active triage center, numerous people are seen with an assortment of physical injuries (or dead bodies are being covered up), or a woman staggering down a staircase with part of her left arm missing.
** Brooklyn under martial law, especially if you are an Arab

** Terrorist incidents in the United States that happened after this movie, like 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings, may not have led to martial law, mass detention, torture by military personnel and use of helicopter gunships in urban areas, but the subsequent counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq used exactly these tactics.

** This trope is also inverted of sort in that the tipping point is a bombing of an FBI building that leaves 500 officers dead. The movie treats it as the most horrific terrorist act that could ever happen in the US. As it turns out, the planners behind 9/11 had a scarier idea...

** Post 9-11, FOX itself lampshades this by marketing the movie as "Eerily prescient of the 9/11 attack and their aftermath" on the backcopy of the blu-ray DVD edition.
* HilariousInHindsight: "[[Film/TheExpendables We will hunt down the enemy, we will find the enemy and we will kill the enemy.]]"

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Terrorism on U.S. soil may not have led to martial law, mass detention, torture by military personnel and use of helicopter gunships in urban areas, but the subsequent counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq used exactly these tactics.
** Not as unusual as one thinks. Mass detention certainly did not happen (even the large numbers of Saddam's military captured were more or less released after Baghdad), helicopter gunships were used in urban areas as far back as Korea (and also in Indochina, Grenada, Panama, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan) and indeed were expected to be utilized in the WWII invasion of Japan. So this is nowhere near as unprecedented as it seems at first... [[FridgeHorror which says something VERY unpleasant about the military]]. WarIsHell indeed.
** This trope is also inverted of sort in that the tipping point is a bombing of an FBI building that leaves 500 officers dead. The movie treats it as the most horrific terrorist act that could ever happen in the US. As it turns out, real life had a scarier idea...
*** Though part of why that attack was so devastating was that with the FBI office destroyed, their capability to respond to additional attacks was severely weakened.

* {{Anvilicious}}:

* {{Anvilicious}}: Denzel Washington plays a cop that unflinchingly upholds the Constitution. Annette Benning plays a CIA Agent that compromises the law and makes mistakes, eventually [[spoiler: getting killed for it]]. Bruce Willis plays a general that ignores the law to protect his country and its people. Guess who is portrayed as being in the right?

* HarsherInHindsight: Terrorism on U.S. soil may not have led to martial law, mass detention, torture by military personnel and use of helicopter gunships in urban areas, but the subsequent counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq used exactly these tactics.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Denzel Washington plays a cop that unflinchingly upholds the Constitution. Annette Benning plays a CIA Agent
that compromises the law and makes mistakes, eventually [[spoiler: getting killed for it]]. Bruce Willis plays a general that ignores the law to protect his country and its people. Guess who is portrayed as being in the right?

* {{Anvilicious}}: Denzel Washington plays a cop that unflinchingly upholds the Constitution. Annette Benning plays a CIA Agent that compromises the law and makes mistakes, eventually [[spoiler: getting killed for it]]. Bruce Willis plays a general that ignores the law to protect his country and its people. Guess who is portrayed as being in the right?

* HilariousInHindsight: "[[Film/TheExpendables We will hunt down the enemy, we will find the enemy and we will kill the enemy.]]"

** Post 9-11, FOX itself lampshades this by marketing the movie as "Eerily prescient of the 9/11 attack and their aftermath" on the backcopy of the blu-ray DVD edition.

* {{Anvilicious}} - Denzel Washington plays a cop that unflinchingly upholds the Constitution. Annette Benning plays a CIA Agent that compromises the law and makes mistakes, eventually [[spoiler: getting killed for it]]. Bruce Willis plays a general that ignores the law to protect his country and its people. Guess who is portrayed as being in the right?

* HarsherInHindsight - Terrorism on U.S. soil may not have led to martial law, mass detention, torture by military personnel and use of helicopter gunships in urban areas, but the subsequent counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq used exactly these tactics.

* {{Anvilicious}} - Denzel Washington plays a cop that unflinchingly upholds the Constitution. Annette Benning plays a CIA Agent that compromises the law and makes mistakes, eventually [[spoiler: getting killed for it]]. Bruce Willis plays a general that ignores the law. Guess who is portrayed as being in the right?

*** It's also possible that if continuous terrorist attacks occurred, martial law and the detention without charge of "suspicious" people would have been utilized. All of the film's elements were done, just not in New York City, but overseas.

*** It's also possible that if continuous terrorist attacks occurred, martial law and the detention without charge of "suspicious" people would have been utilized.