Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, January 14, 2007
With a film like this, based on an event like this, people's emotions are tenfold. I've heard people complain that the movie spent too much time concentrating on the two men in the rubble. I've heard people say its not realistic. I can't comment on the second one, because I wasn't there. Like millions of other Americans, I was watching it all unfold on TV, and though I myself did not personally know anyone that perished that day, it still affected me greatly.
Stone's "World Trade Center" takes on a mammoth event of epic proportions and carefully tries to concentrate on an isolated event that slowly unfolded after the towers fell that day. Two port city authorities are still alive and trapped in the rubble, and are initially helped by a man who was so moved by the events that he put on his old Marine Corps uniform and descended down to ground zero to see what he could do to help.
One of my favorite actors on the screen today is Michael Pena, who plays the part of port authority policeman William J. Jimeno. As he and a crew of policeman head to the sight of the first tower, they start hearing about other happenings, such as the second plane and the pentagon getting hit. Stone's reenactment seems pretty fair, with its confused pedestrians and blood soaked wounded who are starting to fill the streets as they arrive. Jimeno's Sergeant is John McLoughlin (played by Nicolas Cage) and together they suddenly find themselves in the most awful situations they could ever realize.
Stone's portrayal of the initial shock of 9/11 is played out very subtle. The news reports, the confusion of what exactly happened, and the grim reality of the fact that some of the loved ones for so many wouldn't be coming home. The ash covered victims, the smoke and ultimately the feeling of loss is not drawn out so much, however, as the overall theme of strangers helping one another. A paramedic whose license had expired, the former Marine, and all of New York Cities Bravest and Finest are shown risking their lives to try and reach, extricate, and save the two men who they had found alive.
Much of the movie plays out with the dialogue that transpired between the two policemen, and how their combined support for one another, in different ways helped each other hold on to the hope they would keep each other alive and get out together.
9/11 is an event that for some is like yesterday, and always will be. For others, the experience maybe seems in another world, mythic and legendary forever. I wasn't sure how Stone would tackle this project, and was not sure if I even was ready to watch it. I'm glad I did. For all the ugliness that man is accountable for, this movie shows that sometimes its times like these that bring out the best in people. My heart goes out to everyone who lost someone that day, and my hat is off to all the firefighters and police officers who continue to serve the city of New York, with the memory of their fallen colleagues never far away.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Respect, Mr. Stone, April 2, 2007
I remember Sep 11 like this: I was visiting in Shanghai, came to my hotel room in the evening, not so late, turned on CNN as usual, and saw a plane fly into one of the towers. It took me quite some time to understand what I had just seen. I called my wife and asked her to turn on TV at home. She had not heard yet.
I never felt more American than on that day.
I am German, by the way.
When I heard that Oliver Stone was making a movie about this, I could not believe it. Too early, too monumental, too emotionally loaded, too ideologically simple. This could only become a bad film.
It hasn't. It is a simple story about confusion and heroism and survival. Well done.
You never see a plane fly into anything. You only hear people talk about it, but there are also some who don't believe it. It shows you the segmented vision of people who are near the center. People watching TV in Shanghai probably knew more of what actually happened right at the time than those caught in the middle of it.
Stone stays away from explicit interpretation, he leaves that to the spectator.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very well crafted., December 22, 2006
Oliver Stone has made a very compelling and respectful portrayal
of one of the most inspiring stories of survival in our time.
I've seen a lot of movies in my life and this one is one of the few
that have stayed with me for days after seeing it. I was engaged from
beginning to end. World Trade Center also feels like one of Stone's
earlier films like Salvador or Platoon.Very raw.
There are a few minor flaws. The only complaint I have is the portrayal
of Staff Sargeant Karnes. It simply stands out too much in comparison
to the natural portrayal of the rest of the characters.
This is still a good film and an important film. Anybody who snubs
Stone for not making the conspiracy film they expect from him need to
get over it and see this. If he wanted to make a conspiracy film he
would have. He wanted to spread some hope. How could anyone have a problem with that? Thank you,Oliver!
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