Not made on scope, but on point of view

Rating: 8/10 (29 August 2006)

Based on the experiences of two New York police officers who responded to the attack on the World Trade Center and were subsequently trapped in the rubble as the Twin Towers collapsed. Chance for survival seemed slim as they could barely move, but with the help of hope and will power they somehow made it out alive.
Oliver Stone's film's been known for their epic scope. From 'Platoon' to more recently 'Alexander' Stone approached his subjects from many sides. There was certain buzz going on before this film's release that it might be similar to Stone's 'JFK' in that it approached a story that many people cannot agree on for what is true and presented a theory about what happened. Here, Oliver Stone abandons all that and focuses on purely the human aspect. The exact how and why is left for whatever you believe and want to believe and that makes for a pleasant relief. Well maybe pleasant isn't the right word as this movie details some terrifying experiences, but it is all through individual people's eyes on what they saw that day. Sure, there are some blurbs that "they did it" and "we gotta nuke 'em the bastards" but Stone keeps conspiracy theory largely out and the only instances of it are from the distress that day.
Also on an interesting note, Stone largely downplays spectacle here. Everything is shown through human eyes, and not just any human eyes, but of our four principle lead characters - McLoughlin, Jimeno, and their wives. The planes hitting the towers is only heard, the tower collapse is shown just from inside the lobby through the frantic eyes and pumping adrenaline of McLoughlin and Jimeno, and it is that and also the omission of an overly patriotic tone that makes this a good survival story. 8/10
Rated PG-13 for intense life/death situations