In 1972 the British and the Irish Protestants saw two enemies within the Irish Catholics, one as armed IRA "terrorists" and the other as rabble-rousing, Martin Luther King, Jr. type troublemakers. The civil rights contingent wanted to march and rally because of the mass internment, without trial, of their comrades. Although a planned, peaceful event was envisioned, by the end of the day, 13 marchers were killed and 27 were wounded.

showing a somewhat compassionate point of view for the soldiers who pulled the triggers and later covered up their actions. Soldiers are trained to kill and when placed in certain situations, violence is to be expected. Things may not have escalated beyond rock throwing by the marchers and the soldiers' use of tear gas, fire hoses and rubber bullets were it not for some marchers getting rowdy and going off the planned route. As no soldiers were wounded or killed, their position that the IRA initiated gunfire and threw bombs can only be the lie it appears.

The style of the film is unusual and quite effective in detailing the real life events of January 30, 1972. It's shot in a documentary style that has the appearance of footage done 30 years ago. Director Greengrass offers a special perspective as he moves from the civil rights marchers planning their activities and then cuts to the military officers and foot soldiers mapping their strategy to deal with the "hooligans" and to "teach these people a lesson." He moves back and forth between the two groups from the inception and response phase to the press conferences after the shootings.

Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt) gives a brilliant Oscar caliber performance as the civil rights leader while the military men and the entire supporting cast to a person are chillingly realistic. Cooper wanted "radical change" and at his press conference, after announcing the names and ages of the dead, he said, "This…is our Sharpsville. The civil rights movement is dead…." He felt that people would believe that the violent approach is the only thing that will be respected by the opposition.

None of the soldiers were ever disciplined for their recklessness in what many would say was murder. While some actions could be understood because they were placed in a bad situation, it's incredible that not only were the officers not punished…they were decorated by the Queen. Might is right and as Cooper said just before the credits rolled, "…we will not rest until justice is done…." Guns can put you in control on the front end, but peace comes only if the victim either acquiesces, becomes a "terrorist revolutionary," where eventually both sides tire of the violence, or is successful with peaceful protest. At some point, something has to give or the violence only escalates. Peace requires a notion of respect of human rights for all. It now seems that everywhere in the world, things get ugly, yet in some places circumstances improve. In other places where hate is the driving force we can only look forward to more hate and more misery.

"Bloody Sunday" may make you angry as you side with one group or the other. What's important is that it hopefully will make you think about how to make the world a better place. Some have likened this to "Black Hawk Down" because of its up close and personal battle scenes. "Bloody Sunday" is an action movie that should not have been. It should be seen so that we understand those aspects of history that need not be repeated.