Missing the spirit of 9/11

Rating: 6/10 (18 August 2006)

When I was watching the film, I was affected and touched by what is depicted on the screen. It's visually stunning, and the images felt real. However, once I had time to reflect on it, I realized the real substance is missing from the film, and my grade has dropped accordingly. What's the point the film tries to convey? We saw two people who were just walking, hadn't helped anybody to escape before getting stuck under the rubble, and they spent the next couple of hours talking to each other to keep themselves alive, and they got rescued. They are survivors, not heroes, and that shouldn't be the spirit of a 9/11 film. When I think of 9/11, I thought about heroism, chaos, and people who were killed on that day. United 93 touched on all, while World Trade Center showed very little. The story Oliver Stone told could very well be about two mine workers who got stuck and rescued after a random mining accident instead. The approach and end-result dilute the significance of the event.