Rating: 
Summary: This film centers around one department of Firefighters
Review: The title of the film indicated to me that the presentation would be about the whole episode of 9/11. I anticipated seeing all of the film of the planes crashing into the buildings, the collapse of the towers (both of these were in this film but the pictures were not clear in explaining the event. They are more amateur/victim footage from up close to and inside of the building while the tragedy is taking place.)
The film is interesting. And if you want more of a personal documentary approach (centering on a department of Firefighters who were there that day - but, only one of the many departments of Firefighters involved) then this is the film for you.
I bought a copy with the thought in mind of having a record of the event that I could show to my children in ten years so that they could, with candid clarity, understand what took place. This is definitely not the film appropriate for that purpose. The feeling of the film is a record of what we all thought on that day, "what the hell is going on?" There is no follow up footage on what we discovered about the events in the years following or even what happened after the rescue operation which took place for the few weeks after the collapse. There is no theory as to how the hijackers accomplished what they did or what motivated the attack. There is only a bunch of stunned people trying to figure out what they could possibly do. This is not a "9/11 documentary".
Rating: 
Summary: Jaw Dropping...
Review: ...as if that day wasn't shocking enough! I watched this special on tv on the six month aniversary of the attacks and every emotion went through me again. This film is in the raw. 100% real emotion, real thoughts, and on the spot footage as the 1st plane crashed into tower 1. The filming continued into the lobby of tower 1 as all the fire fighters planned the next move as tower 2 was struck. No media pictures or news cameras have captured what Jules and Gedeon captured on film that terrrible day. Two brothers, each with cameras, one inside tower 1 and one in the streets of NYC, each filming history. If you want to know what American heros and families whent through that day or to see on the front lines this film is one to show you. It is difficult to watch but at the same time it is a salute to Americas bravery and the strenght of a nation. GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Rating: 
Summary: Making money with 9/11??
Review: .
If CBS/Amazon are making money with this 9/11 product, instead of using it for charity (nothing is specified about such an issue for this product), I will find it pretty offensive, like the cruel jokes that you could see via email right after 9/11 occured. It is annoying to see people selling 9/11 merchandise near ground zero. They are working, they say. Is suffering profitable? I ask. I've been a customer of Amazon but I find this to be a bad taste/cruel joke. Such a joke could be a good reason to stop being a customer for its offensive character. Many people from different internet forums are expressing concern about this and that was the way I knew about this DVD title. Are CBS/Amazon spreading a good message to do some charity, or is it about money using other people suffering? Where do we draw the line of ethics? Sorry for being harsh and annoying, but I feel annoyed as I see an attempt of making money with 9/11 suffering. I don't expect this comment to be posted in the site. I feel annoyed for what I see and it is the most sincere thing I can say.I hope either money is given to charity or product is retired from the market. Making profit with suffering is immoral.
Rating:
Summary: How did this ever get played on broadcast TV?
Review:
The sun had not even set on September 11, before the powerful Media had already begun to expunge the images and sounds of that morning's terrorist attacks. The mind cannot begin to comprehend the horror of being trapped above the raging fire, with no rescue possible, and then to be crushed by hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete, glass, steel...
But where are the images? Why don't we demand to see the carnage caused by those insane, evil haters of Western civilization? Why have we, sheeplike, been content to look at sentimental pictures of candlelight ceremonies? Do we really believe that it will all go away if we just think lovely thoughts and pretend that the rest of the world is as tolerant as we are? That kind of thinking is what allowed 9-11 to happen.
Don't get me wrong. I would never even stop to look at a wreck on the freeway. But there is no way to make the horror of 9-11 real, unless we can see the kind of damage to human beings it brought about. We need to see--if only fleetingly--those images of people who jumped to their death. We need to see the broken pieces of human beings who moments earlier had been doing their job--sitting at their desk, working a cash register, flying to a meeting, cleaning a window or serving coffee in a restaurant. We need to see those images, because only our anger will help us prevent another horrible day like that.
But the same media which gleefully shows images of Palestinian bodies blown up by Israelis (but oddly enough rarely shows Israeli children blown up by Palestinian suicide bombers), somehow believes that we are too sensitive to view the burned corpses in the WTC lobby.
This film does not show any carnage, but the sounds of falling bodies crashing through roofs is clearly audible in many scenes.
And every time the crash is heard, the firemen were hushed and respectful. No flowery words were necessary to make the point that this film so eloquently makes with raw video: Firemen are men of action who live by the words, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his fellow man."
The film could be a little shorter. But it is a moving and honest tribute to not only the firefighters but also the random strangers who handed out bottles of water to choking people, or put their arm around an old woman and helped her to safety. And most of all it is a sad testimony to those who paid with their lives for our society's failure to be vigilant.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent documentary
Review: Absolutely moving. Chronicles the WTC attacks from the point of view of FDNY on the scene, not the press. Even though I thought I'd seen and read everything there was to know about 9/11, this really shed some light on what the firefighters went through. The scenes from inside Tower 1 coupled with the madness on the surrounding streets, plus the harrowing footage of being in the rubble when the towers collapsed make this film incredible. The bravery and cameraderie of the FDNY is awe-inspiring, and the film makers did a great job of not making the documentary "exploitive". A MUST SEE!!
Rating:
Summary: Support A Good Cause Too
Review: According to Paramount Home Video: "A portion of the proceeds from the sale of '9/11 : the Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition' will be donated to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Scholarship Fund."
Rating:
Summary: Support A Good Cause Too
Review: According to Paramount Home Video: "A portion of the proceeds from the sale of '9/11 : the Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition' will be donated to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Scholarship Fund."
Rating:
Summary: god bless america!
Review: after seeing this on cbs in march, one can only hope that we as a country never forget what happen that day and to tell future generations the truth,my kids one day will watch this and i will tell them how i felt and what i saw on t.v., the police, firefighters, and ny city officals did the very best they could under extreme difficult work, i hope and pray that people should get a copy of this dvd and remember what happened and where they were when they first got the news about this terrible day in american history, god bless and remember all of our everyday heroes!
Rating:
Summary: The sights, but more importantly the sounds, of September 11
Review: Although it is known for having the only footage taken at Ground Zero on September 11th when the towers collapsed and contains rare footage of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center, it is really the dimension of sound that "9-11" adds to our collective consciousness of that day. The sounds of the first tower collapsing or bodies hitting the ground become forgettable, even without (thankfully) the accompanying images. Ultimately, the shots when the camera shows nothing because of the enveloping cloud of dust and debris become as memorable as the repeated images of the towers collapsing. Equally memorable are the shots of the firefighters in the lobby of the WTC, the windows all blown out by the initial impact, waiting for instructions to head up the stairs 80 stories to the fire, knowing that it takes a firefighter in full gear one minute to climb one flight of stairs.
"9-11" also reminds us, least we had forgotten, that even on a day like that truth is stranger than fiction. The story that is told here would be totally dismissed by Hollywood and it is hard to believe the ending of this documentary even though the evidence of what really happened to this company of NYC Firefighters is right there on camera. The only reason we can see this story is because there was someone there to film it, otherwise we never would have believed it for a single moment. Furthermore, the idea that the two Frenchmen who filmed this documentary, Gédéon and Jules Naudet, are immorally profiting from this is absurd as anyone would know if they have actually seen this documenary and paid attention at the end. Everybody should see this video tape once, because you will never forget it once you do.
Rating:
Summary: A Passion Play for our times.
Review: As a great lover of documentary film and non-fiction writing, this production touched me in a way never felt before. This did not come at the first viewing, due to it's sublity - what was not seen - it's respect for the dead and their families. There was little of the explosions, fire, flying glass, and the dead. It was a little hard for me to follow this first time. The second viewing (and many subsequent vorays into this brilliant look into a darkness of horror) brought it together in the most compelling, personal, and compassionate way.
The horror comes not from planes, flames, and falling victims; it comes from the sounds, the faces of New Yorkers, the anquish on the faces of the fire fighters who have come here, full of confidence that they can certainly put out these fires and bring those trapped to safety. And as one event follows another, again, through sound and their view through the lobby windows in the Tower 1 lobby, you can see on their faces and in their eyes the confidence turn to confusion and fear and horror and the background is filled with the horrible sound of falling bodies, the building shakes beneath their feet, and the blackness falls. And there comes a time when you tangibly feel their fear - a knot in your own stomach as the drama plays out. You watch with tenderness the big, brusky guys of Station 1, Ladder 7 reunite in tears and hugs as they return - the big, tearless macho fellow who embraces a comrade as one would a lover and then says, after using a phone, "Whew! It never felt so good talking to my mother". In the lobby, you watch Father Jude standing in the center, his eyes reaching no one, his lips moving in what must have been the most deep-felt, loving prayer for the safety of all. And then he is lost. This is a very adult piece of film making...not for the curses or the horrors. To watch this is to understand, perhaps for the first time in your life, the nature of sacrifice. I kept thinking, why did they send these fire fighters up in that tomb - why - because it was their job, their mission, and ultimately, their heroism and essential goodness. And who can question that.
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