World Trade Center (DVD, 2006, Full Screen Version/ Checkpoint)

World Trade Center

If you see one movie this year...

... Make it WORLD TRADE CENTER!

Going into it I expected WTC to be pretty good, what I didn't expect was one of the most powerful and heart-warming movies I'd ever seen. This movie tugs on every emotional string in your body, and when you think there's nothing left to tug on, it tugs some more.

The emotion, the intensity, and the cinematography are absolutely breathtaking. Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena put on an Oscar worthy performance, and the supporting cast does a superb job as well.

I can't say anything bad about this film, but I offer this warning: World Trade Center will have you in tears or close to it from beginning to end.

For as long as I remember there are certain movies that have inspired me, World Trade Center touched my heart, and I only hope that movies like this don't have to be based on true stories anymore.

Final Verdict:

5/5

Rent or Buy?: Quite possibly the movie of the year. I am going to buy this movie as soon as possible, I recommend you do the same.

IF YOU FIND THIS REVIEW HELPFUL PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE. Thank you.

Never exactly a timid sort of filmmaker, even Oliver Stone must have felt like he was walking into a no-win situation in making World Trade Center. Coming off the critical and commercial drubbing of his (underrated, as far as I'm concerned) historical epic Alexander, the cantankerous director wasn't exactly in Hollywood's good graces, and attaching his name to this particular project seemed like a move designed to upset just about everyone. The event itself still a raw, open wound in the American consciousness, putting the notoriously heavy-handed Lefty in charge of a movie about 9/11 certainly raised the hackles of the 50% of the public on the other side of the political spectrum. On the other hand, the film's trailers were off-putting for even Stone's own fans, looking distinctly like he'd sold out his values to play nice with Hollywood, churning out a feel-good "triumph of the human spirit" glorified TV Movie of the Week. However, the finished product turned out to be not quite what anyone expected of it. The movie didn't win over everyone, but that it could be released to favorable reviews and respectable box office business surprised many, and stands as a testament to the director's talent.
Recounting the true story of officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, the film stars Nicolas Cage and Michael Peña as two NYC Transit Authority cops who, on that fateful morning in 2001, walked into the World Trade Center to help evacuate the building and were almost instantly trapped under debris from the falling towers. Neither of them quite understanding the enormity of what had happened (they both assumed that only the shopping concourse had collapsed), the two men remained crushed and unable to move for a full day before rescuers eventually discovered them, two of only a small handful of survivors to be pulled from the wreckage. In the meantime, we also witness the agony of their families waiting for news and expecting the worst.

The film is a restrained, even-handed reenactment of the single most important event of most of our lifetimes. It's emotional without being maudlin, and respectful without turning sanctimonious. Although the director depicts the bravery of the rescue workers on that day, he doesn't overplay it. These men were heroes simply for having the courage to walk into the building, but never actually had the chance to save anyone. They were trapped before they could even get off the ground floor. Stone also resists the temptation to force any great political messages, focusing instead on capturing that specific moment in time when all of America awoke to the realization that their world had just instantly, starkly changed, without anyone comprehending how or why it had happened.

As a movie, World Trade Center really could have been a travesty, dishonoring the memories of those who died by exploiting their losses into a preachy diatribe for the director's political views. Fortunately, that never happens. Nor does it go the opposite route, selling out a tragedy for the sake of shallow Hollywood melodrama (witness Pearl Harbor for example). Is it a masterpiece, or the definitive telling of the 9/11 story? Probably not, but World Trade Center is a fine, worthy drama and probably the best movie that could be made at this time about that day the world will never forget.

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This movie has got to be the best representive of one of our darkest times in history, 9-11. Nicholas Cage showed a part of his acting ability that drew you into the tower with him.

This movie gets a two-thumbs down!!! The beginning sliced out the beginning events of what happened in those crucial moments & raced to the scene where they're all of a sudden, trapped in the rubble of the fallen tower. Also, the recreated sound of the victims crashing into the ground was heard & no one commented on it, as they did while at the command post in the lobby of Tower 1 on 9/11.

There were lots of firefighters & police scared because of this noise, the marble walls and floor severely damamged, the burned up elevators & victims on fire when they first entered. I'm not saying they should've showed all the graphical scenes, but they could've at least recreted the firefighters & police standing around with their radios screaming.

All of the movie was about the two Port Authority cops trapped underground & their wives sitting at home wondering & worried. It was such a bad movie, I never want to watch it again.

September 11, 2001.

A day of infamy. One of needless pain and suffering.

An act of man that not only changed the lives of millions, but also changed the world through aviation and security, as we know it today.

I’ve always respected the work of the talented Oliver Stone (Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July, The Doors, JFK, and Scarface (Screenwriter) among others).

But this movie—was one that should have never been made.

Not that it would be impossible to give a factual account of the events surrounding the WTC tragedy (according to Wikipedia.org there were a number of glaring inconsistencies in regards to the race, contributions, roles, and dangers faced by the WTC rescuers) or even truly believing in Stone’s and the film’s producers intentions to simply focus on the “heroism and sadness of the day with little-to-no political themes.”

Sadly, there are always politics involved (despite the donations)—no matter how you look at the situation.

Stone made money. The production company made money. The actors made money.

And what of the 2,749 who lost their lives?

Need I say more.

I have had the opportunity to visit Ground Zero in 2006 and 2008. The WTC occupying about 13 square blocks and the gaping hole wherein it once stood was unreal. It was a sight that no television could ever truly explain and give justice to. Imagine, it takes a good fifteen minutes (or more) to walk from the Temporary WTC PATH Station to Battery Park.

Which is around the corner.

In all honesty, Stone’s film did nothing more that attempt to give an insiders perspective of the damage caused within the concourse between the South Tower and the North Tower as they collapsed in September of 2001.

Lives were lost. Glass from a number of buildings shattering. Billowing smoke and dust. Trees that have stood the test of time—felled by this single act of terror.

Stone will get his three stars rating for the cinematography and acting.

But this is one event that should only be immortalized in memory…and not in any other capacity.

It was in excellent condition not a scratch on it. I have been wanting the movie since it came out on dvd