Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

torstensonjohn The script and story is a direct link to how society and government views the Muslim nation after 9 11. A captivating story of the search for a supreme leader in the terrorist organization with ties to Turkey. One of the Turkish officers is hiding a decades old secret and God sees all as is parlayed throughout the film. A direct homage to the faith true Muslims share and what we as Americans fear. The film is written by and direct by Mahsun Kirmizigul who also portrays the lead Fyrat. Good performances by Gina Gershon as the wife to Hadji and Danny Glover as Marcus. I found the fil strikingly captivating and well rounded. I give this a solid 7out of 10

Lloyd Bayer Also known as "New York'ta Bes Minare", don't be fooled by the inclusion of Hollywood stars in this movie. I was, and this is my moral obligation to warn fellow movie buffs. Danny Glover of "Lethal Weapon" fame, Robert Patrick (Terminator 2 Judgment Day) and Gina Gershon (Showgirls, Face/Off) are well cast but don't really add the extra oomph this film so desperately needs.Initially set in Istanbul, Turkey, the film starts well with a dirty bomb assassination followed by an action sequence copy-pasted straight off the final act in "The Kingdom". I wonder if Peter Berg has considered a lawsuit on copy rights infringement. Cut to the skyscrapers on New York and dogmatic FBI Special Agent David Becker (Patrick) storms into the residence of Hadji Gümüs (Haluk Bilginer) and arrests him on the suspicion of aiding terrorism. Hysterical, Hadji's wife Maria (Gershon) contacts close friend and confidant Marcus (Glover), a Muslim convert, to help them get to the bottom of what appears to be a mistaken identity through false racial profiling. Meanwhile, Turkish police officers Firat (Mahsun Kirmizigül) and Acar (Mustafa Sandal) are dispatched to New York to safely extradite Hadji to be tried back in Turkey. On the way to the airport, the police escort is ambushed and Hadji is rescued by Marcus and other members of his community. Protected by Marcus, Hadji allows Firat and Acar a fair interrogation, resulting in the Turkish officers believing in his innocence. However, when they get back Istanbul, an old agenda resurfaces, questioning Hadji's reluctance in returning to his native country.Having also directed the film and scripted the story, Kirmizigül can be credited with a noble effort in fighting back against racial profiling and unjust prosecution of Muslims in the United States and the West. No doubt, ever since the ill-fated September 11th attacks on New York, film makers have exploited the notion that Islam is associated with terrorism. In his narration, it is clear that Kirmizigül tries to dispel this perception. Bollywood films like "My Name is Khan" and "Shoot on Sight" more than drove that message home. However, somewhere in between, Kirmizigül appears to fumble around with his own ideas while embedding the script with a lot of propaganda, both for Muslims and against terrorism. At this point, Kirmizigül reaches a fork in the road and forgets his ultimate destination. During all this message heavy mess, the script takes its toll on the actors who appear to be cardboard cut-outs in an amateur play. It is almost as if they can't be bothered with what one man is trying to say to the world. As such, Danny Glover and Gina Gershon underplay their roles where they appear to be doing what they are told to do, as opposed to getting into the flesh and blood of their characters. Robert Patrick is convincing but his role is the easiest as a hardened yet stereotypical FBI agent who shoots first and asks questions later. Patrick's Becker even pronounces Gümüs as "Gomez" despite being told by Maria that it is pronounced "Gomush". Again, one of Kirmizigül's little messages to state that Americans are naïve over anything non-American. The only stand-out is Haluk Bilginer as Hadji. His experience in Hollywood films aside, Bilgner renders an excellent portrayal of injustice to Muslims and is the only actor to really carry the weight of his character.From a production front, this film boasts a US$ 12 million budget with a box-office return just short of double that amount. Impressive as it may seem for the Turkish film industry, I don't think its anything worth writing home about. In comparison to Hollywood standards (also considering Hollywood stars are involved with filming locations in New York), the overall look and feel of this movie has a B movie experience to it. My biggest disappointment is in the cinematography. Almost as if experimenting with a newly gifted camera, principal photography is a disaster. This maybe considered artistic for some, but low lit scenes are underexposed while daylight scenes are overexposed with hues of green, blue and orange in many scenes. Where do you get off with a stunt like that, especially in contemporary cinema? For Kirmizigül, including the Hollywood actors, this is surely a noble gesture in attempting to bridge the gap and heal racial wounds. What it is surely not is a film to be taken seriously.As a definitive alternative, I highly recommend the multi-Oscar nominated "House of Sand and Fog", starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly.

Claudio Carvalho In Istanbul, terrorists abduct executives, blow-up the car of a journalist and plan five great attacks to the city. The violent police officer Firat Baran (Mahsun Kirmizigül) interrogates a terrorist and informs that the responsible for the attacks is the leader code-named Dajjal that lives in New York under the identity of Hadji Gümüs (Haluk Bilginer). In New York, the bigoted FBI Special Agent David Becker (Robert Patrick) is assigned to arrest the well respected religious and family man Hadji, who has a store in Soho, in his apartment in front of his wife Maria (Gina Gershon). The police officers Firat and Acar Dogan (Mustafa Sandal) travel to New York to bring Hadji back to Turkey. While traveling to the airport under the custody of the two Turkish officers, Hadji is rescued by his friend Marcus (Danny Glover) and members of the Muslin community. Then, Firat and Acar are captured and Hadji proposes them to stay with him for a couple of days, and then he would turn himself in and travel to Istanbul with the police officers. Firat and Acar realize that Hadji is a good man, but they are forced to bring him to Turkey. Once in Turkey, Hadji is interrogated and the officers believe that he is innocent. But why Hadji was so afraid to return to Turkey? "Five Minarets in New York" is a magnificent story of intolerance, bigotry, ignorance and feud. The screenplay is very well written without flaws and there are sharp dialogues, like for example, the conversation between Becker and Acar when they are introduced to each other at Becker's office. Further, the film uses few clichés and the plot is absolutely unpredictable. The cast has good performances and the haunting music score is awesome. I decided to see this film with low expectations since the Brazilian title "Terrorismo em Nova Iorque" (meaning "Terrorism in New York") misleads the viewer. The grabber of this movie for me was Gina Gershon, an actress that I like a lot and I have not seen for a long time. She is almost fifty years old and is still a very beautiful woman. In the end I had a great surprise and I have watched a great film. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "Terrorismo em Nova Iorque" ("Terrorism in New York")Note: On 25 June 2016, I saw this wonderful film again.

mariustipa Despite a few clichés, the movie is not, first of all, a predictable one. It starts like any other Hollywood picture, with secret agents and the most fresh subject: Muslim and terrorism. But further more we find that it is about religion, about the fact that there is only one God. We find that the fundamentalist's of Islam are not tolerated by the Islam itself. We can see a dialog between a fundamentalist priest and a true one, despite the fact that they are dressed in ... white and black, suppose a lack of inspiration. We find that the destiny is inevitably. We find that there is love and forgiveness in both - in all of religions.