World Trade Center (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
by Oliver Stone
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DVD details
Actor: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Michael Peña, Nicolas CageDirector: Oliver Stone
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 128 minutes
Published: 2006-12-01
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-12
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of World Trade Center (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
DVD Review: 4.5; effective film that just falls a couple ways from greatness
Summary: 4 Stars
Oliver Stone, known for his wild conspiracy-laden film JFK, the ultra-violent Natural Born Killers or Vietnam centered Platoon, directs this film and unless you took off the credits and everything, you probably couldn't tell he did this. No shift from color to black and white, no hyper camera or politics. So don't think this film is meant to be a big rant against terrorists, or even America for its politics or, I must admit they show sometimes, their arrogance. Instead what we get is just simply a first-hand account of 2 caught in the rubble, as well as the families that were on pins and needles waiting by a phone.
September 11, 2001, a day like any other like the opening scenes show us. 2 cops, John McCoughlin and Will Jimenez go to work only to hear of a plane hitting one of the towers at the World Trade Center. In they go, as well as other officers, to rescue those trapped in the buildings until both towers collapse. Miraculously they survive but are trapped and severely injured. We follow both men struggling to live out of sight and unable to move. We also switch to their wives, John's wife Donna and Will's wife Allison as they wait impatiently for news on their husbands.
One commonly asked question at the time, and even a song title by Alan Jackson, was "where were you?" Me, I was in Math class until I had a spare at 10:30 that took me right to lunch. As I was walking to the stairway to go downstairs and out the door, I heard one student say they "bombed the Pentagon" but I thought crazy kids always talking about movie plots or just being weird. It wasn't until I looked on a website at home that it was the top story. Turned on the TV and there it was. One thing I hated was the TV coverage. Seeing each plane slam into one of the towers every 7 seconds from different angles was a bit much: over 100 lives on each plane not to mention those in the vicinity of where they hit gone in a few seconds. Then of course we have the collapse which they replayed again. Thankfully this film doesn't show them from a filmmaking perspective, putting them on news report or sounds. Oddly the highlight even though it sounds morbid is when they towers collapse with the officers inside: it's incredibly harrowing and powerful really even if it doesn't last as long as I would like. The film suffers from a Catch-22 though: switching back and forth from the families to the 2 officers is a bit jarring even though both would work fine on their own. Seeing 2 cops who can't move talk to each other for an hour and a half would've been kind of boring but when they switch, it's like "hey put it back!"
One thing that happened a lot before the film came out was people asking whether it was too soon to make this. Oddly, this is the 4th film I can recall about 9/11 specifically: Flight 93, United 93, the Great New Wonderful and this film. It doesn't really feel early for me. Instead it feels like a film that was doomed by the public before it even premiered(didn't help that star Maggie Gylennhaal made a comment about America and 9/11 that America was in a way responsible. This of course was highly offensive to them, especially New Yorkers but it does feel like what the film's reaction was too: mention 9/11 and a shield is set up, preventing anyone from talking about it in any way. Stone manages to for once be non-political and presents a simple straight-forward story.
Recently I bought the extended edition of King Kong, the third release to feature extensive background info on the making of the film, the other 2 being the original 2-disc as well as the Production Diaries set. While the film was rather lackluster, the amount of attention paid to the making-of suggests that they obviously loved making the film, just to bad the finished product wasn't as well as it should've been. Same thing with the Some Kind of Monster documentary, chronicling Metallica's recording of the much-maligned St. Anger album. It's not that World Trade Center is bad, far from it, but what this film could've been and seeing the special features makes it clear this film could've been incredibly moving.
It's a film that I admire but I find it hard to love. That said, this is not a cinema blemish and it's at times a very effective film.
Description of World Trade Center (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
From three-time Academy Award® winner Oliver Stone comes this inspiring true story about courage, family and our nation's unyielding spirit. Oscar® winner Nicolas Cage and Michael Peña (Crash) star as John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, two New York City Port Authority policemen who were trapped in the rubble of September 11, 2001. As McLoughlin and Jimeno bond together in a fight for survival, the events of an unimaginable day unfold through the eyes of the two policemen, their loving wives (Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal), survivors and rescuers throughout the city. COMMEMORATIVE EXCLUSIVES
Exclusive commentary by and in-depth Q & A with director Oliver Stone
Insightful commentary by real-life survivor Will Jimeno and rescuers Scott Strauss, John Busching and Paddy McGee
Deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary by Oliver Stone
The Making of World Trade Center: A behind-the-scenes look at the three phases of production from the earliest stages of writing, to filming and beyond
Common Sacrifice: An extensive documentary about survivors Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin that goes beyond 9/11 and traces their lives through present day
Building Ground Zero: An in-depth look at the set design and re-creation of Ground Zero
Oliver Stone's New York: A conversation with Oliver Stone about growing up in New York, his days in Vietnam and NYU Film School
Regardless of whether it was "too early" in 2006 to dramatize the events of September 11th, 2001, World Trade Center succeeds as a tribute to the courage and sacrifice of those who served at "ground zero" in the wake of terrorist attacks on the WTC's twin towers in New York City. Removed from the politics of war and terrorism (yet still, like all films, inherently political in expressing its point of view), Oliver Stone's potent drama focuses on the nightmarish ordeal, and subsequent rescue, of Port Authority policemen John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Peña), who were buried deeply within the rubble of the WTC after the twin towers collapsed. Granted, it's only the film's historical context that distinguishes it from any other dramatic rescue story, but in focusing on the goodness of humanity in response to the evil of terrorists who remain unnamed and off-screen, Stone and first-time screenwriter Andrea Berloff create an emotional context as powerful as anything Stone has directed since Platoon. Even as he resorts to some questionable tactics typically lacking in subtlety, Stone refrains from much of the blunt-force filmmaking that has made him a critical punching bag, rising to this challenging occasion with a heartfelt and deeply American portrait of unity ? personal, familial, and national. Flaws and all, World Trade Center serves an honorable purpose, reminding us all that for those fleeting days in September 2001, America showed its best face to a sympathetic world. --Jeff Shannon
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