Let's be realistic.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

A somewhat "worthy" version of the September 11th attacks, told from the point of view of a group of policemen present in the foyer when the tower collapses on top of them. I didn't much like this film as much as I thought I would; in fact, it sent me to sleep, which really is a cardinal sin when the subject matter's as important as it is here. Oliver Stone was a great director back in the '80s, but his much-needed style is in short supply here, so that any old director could have done the job.One problem I had was with the casting of Nicolas Cage, who I just didn't think was sympathetic enough to hold the viewer's attention. Cage isn't my favourite actor and he does nothing to dispel that image here, while other, better characters like the one Jay Hernandez plays fall by the wayside and way too much time is taken up with unnecessary sub-plots about the 'families back home' – please! I could have done without this mawkish stuff that drags the storyline down.Another problem is that the film is very long winded. It starts off great, but halfway through the story's pretty much over and there's still another hour to go – it's as this point I fell asleep. It may have drastically improved after I did, but somehow I doubt it. For my money, the Paul Greengrass thriller UNITED 93 is everything that WORLD TRADE CENTER isn't: pacy, exciting, thrilling, urgent, and utterly, utterly heartbreaking and horrifying in equal measure.

I watched this for the first time nine years on from its year of production and nearly 14 on from the actual event. Happily, I turned to the IMDb reviews only after seeing the film, and find it surprising how much negativity there is around. The destruction of the World Trade Centre is obviously too big a story to tell in any single film, and it is also a story that should not be told in that way - in a non-documentary film - ever. But that does not mean that the event should not be dealt with at all, and here the focus is primarily on a rescue - one of the very few, and the rescuers - of which there were very, very many, including the rather incongruous bunch presented in this (true-story) film. The fact that the act of terror took most of its victims outright in a variety of more or less horrible ways does not mean that we "crow" or paint a ludicrously optimistic picture if we focus in one film on people who were actually rescued. Nor does it mean that we paint an unsubtle, gung-ho picture if we view recreations of the work of the hundreds (thousands?) who risked their lives (and very definitely their health, given the severe pollution on site) in the desperate hope that more might be extracted from the rubble. Indeed, to me this was not a particularly jingoistic presentation (and one would not particularly expect one from Oliver Stone). But it is moving and does inspire patriotism for humanity, as opposed to merely the United States. This is inevitable, natural and right, given that these are recreations of real events, and happily full of the weird, chancy, ad hoc, eclectic features that real-life events almost always present. Ultimately, then, a true story is told in a moving way (how could it be otherwise, given the circumstances?), and there is no reason I can see to dismiss this film (as so many have seemed to) as exploitative, over-emotional, over-patriotic or too inclined to focus on the few survivors, or anything else. This is a story worth telling, needing telling, and I did still feel enlightened further as regards the catastrophic and barbarous September 11 events. These cannot be bad things...

Stone is known for political button pushing, but in WORLD TRADE CENTER, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena as two NY port authority policemen who are literally buried alive beneath the wreckage of the WTC collapses, the director tells the story without any digressions. It's simply the true life story of John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, as well as the story of a horrible day that assaulted America and then brought us together.When the Twin Towers are hit by the hijacked planes, the brave men and women of the FDNY and the NYPD, along with the PA police, risk their lives to try to save thousands of innocent lives. When Trade Center 2 (the south tower) collapses, McLoughlin, Jimeno, and a fellow PA named Pezzulo (Jay Hernandez) survive, but soon they are buried by tons more debris when Tower One falls. While they struggle to stay conscious through the excruciating pain of their injuries, their loved ones back home anxiously await word from them.Jimeno was buried about 15 hours, McLoughlin about 22. Most of the movie is centered on them as they talk to each other and keep each other alive. It is quite dark on screen for a lot of the film and that kind of affects how much I enjoyed it, even though it's probably realistically presented. They were practically entombed. Luckily, you get to know the wives of these 2 men: Allison Jimeno (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is pregnant with their second child. Donna McLoughlin (Maria Bello) is wondering if she'll ever get a chance to try to be close to her husband the way they once were.The film also showcases Michael Shannon as a dedicated Marine who decides to go to New York and help in the rescue operation that saved the lives of the 2 PA policemen.I like this film because it has no political subtext. It is what it is. A story of the real heroes of 9/11.

I'm going to say it straight.The acting by EVERYONE in this film is soooo HORRENDOUS it's unbelievable.You can tell all the actors really have absolutely NO empathy at all, thus the result of their performance.EVERYONE in this film is PLASTIC and FLAT. It's really disgusting to watch.They ALL sound like they're literally reading off a script right in front of them, as if they're looking at a sign that says ACT SAD - ACT MAD.If you actually feel emotion from these plastic performances, I'm sorry but you're just as pathetic.It's like a film made by student actors. Seriously. Did they just all have only one acting rehearsal and just use the first take? I don't blame solely on all the actors. The director is mainly responsible. It's BAD directing. It's like the director just asked them to act "SAD" or scream. It's a total flat play on human emotions.It is like watching a soap drama; if you're into that then maybe you can tolerate this movie. They show Jesus in the film. Are you serious? They try to make everything so over-the-top, but it's just NONSENSE. TRASH.This is an absolute disgrace and disrespect to the innocent people that died on that day. This film comes off more of a mockery. Even if you were to take away the atrocious acting, the chalkboard-screech-screaming annoyance, it's a disgrace they make a story about *WORLD* Trade Center just about two police officers being trapped. It's like nobody else mattered. And please, I respect all the innocent people who tragically died on that day and I will NEVER forget that day. I don't understand why some people think questioning 9/11 and asking for the actual truth (there are still more questions than answers) shows disrespect, when in fact, people who just eat up lies instead are allowing them to die in vain.That being said, films like this spreading TOTAL PROPAGANDA is a greater disrespect to EVERYONE. I understand some people rather live a lie and can't handle the truth -- don't want to hear anything about 9/11 and the word 'conspiracy' going together.HOWEVER, films like this and United 93 is pure PROPAGANDA (maybe it's not so obvious to some of you like it's watching 'Triumph of the Will' but it's happening in current times). Clearly, the cheesy dialogues and scenarios are FABRICATED for more drama/impact and BRAINWASHING the public. The film United 93 is a propaganda done more in a believable way (the ending of that film is definitely intense), but it is still what it is: Propaganda. It's not the first time the US tried to create a fake heroic image (look up Jessica Lynch) and release a movie about it.You don't take FACTS from Hollywood films. It's the LAST place you learn anything. It's just purely entertainment 99% of the time.Are you going to watch Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor and actually believe THAT is what Pearl Harbor was really about? NO. But there's a lot of lazy Americans who don't take the time to really QUESTION, and just eat up information just because it's coming from our own government/TV. That is why those people are referred to as a Sheep. Of course we all take news from the TV when it first happens, I'm not saying that makes one a sheep, but even after all the years and new questions/answers have come out, and people STILL decide to ignore it, then yes, that does make them one.Ask yourself these questions: There's many surveillance cameras around the Pentagon area. They were all confiscated. Why? They cannot prove it. You'll be surprised how many people are ignorant about a third World Trade Center collapsing that day. Why? Because the media didn't want to focus too much on that. It's a major red flag. Buildings do not collapse like that. That is a FACT. ALL evidences show, United 93 and Flight 77, had hardly any pieces on the ground. Plane crashes do not disintegrate and just leave a small hole. EVERYTHING that happened that day was an unusual phenomenon. Give me a break. When was the last time a commercial plane was actually hijacked? FOUR planes successfully hijacked and allowed to be in the cockpit? Not to mention pulling off unthinkable maneuvers at low altitudes that even the most trained pilot would not be able to replicate (I'm talking about Flight 77). What do you all people think about the Bush Administration? They were very trusting weren't they? It's just a sheer coincidence that the Bush Administration's think tank, PNAC, was hoping for a "A NEW PEARL HARBOR" an year before? It should be obvious when you add everything together and it doesn't make sense that we had a war in Iraq. Look who really benefited through all this. Watch the film "Wag the Dog" instead of this garbage if you still can't understand. It isn't a first time a President lied to America. Did we all forget how strongly Clinton tried to lie to America about his affair? Nixon? Ignorance is bliss.Isn't it convenient how they allegedly kill off Bin Laden and he doesn't stand a trial or anything. The perfect scapegoat, the Boogeyman, came and went that helped both administrations (previous and current) in office. His body is also washed to the sea. Give me a break. So let's brainwash the public into believing this lie even more by having another movie an year later. We'll soon be getting another wide-release propaganda film called "Zero Dark Thirty" about Bin Laden. It's obvious from the trailers, it's just another popcorn drama propaganda flick. I wouldn't be surprised that film will brainwash more people about "finding Bin Laden". Please start waking up people. Let's at least stop supporting crappy films like this being made.