September 11 DVDs -- Which Are Good? Which Are Not So Good? (1 Viewer)

[David Von Pein]

In browsing Amazon.com for future releases, I came across this DVD (due out 6/25).........

Has anybody here by chance previewed the above disc? Any good?
Also, can anyone provide any insight into these Sep. 11-related titles? (And are there any others you can think of currently on the market?) ...........

The recently-aired HBO 9/11 Special would be great on DVD. Anybody know if HBO will be putting it on DVD? ......

 

[Bill Balcziak]

I'm not entirely sure I want to relive Sept. 11. The first time was hard enough.

 

[Eric Walsh]

I like Bill do not have a desire to own a title such as these. I just hope that the money made from selling them is going to a good cause and not the film makers pockets.

-Eric

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I have the "America 9/11" disc (the 3rd one in the row of pictures.) It was done by a group of amatuer videographers and gives a good idea of what it might have like to have been there. The most memorable moment is a cameraperson ducking into a coffee shop and seconds later seeing debris flying by outside through the window. I would like to see more unedited candid footage; while it may seem morbid I do feel these pictures should be preserved for the future. The money made from these is going towards relief funds; it doesn't look like they're trying to "cash in" on the tragedy; I had cable TV on 9/11 and can say what I saw there was done much more "expoitatively" than this disc.
Note that I'm in California and haven't been to New York; obviously people more familiar with the area might not want to see this.

 

[Jack Briggs]

The Moyers/PBS disc and The History Channel disc (featuring a documentary already made, prior to the attacks) are not exploitative, so you should feel safe purchasing them. Avoid any of the quickie titles--and that's my impression of the Remember 9/11 disc, based on the descriptive blurb used at DVD Empire.

I look forward to a truly good documentary about these events. The CBS special from a couple of months ago rather angered me; the original footage was compelling, but the preachy narrative it was wedded to was offputting and propogandistic. This event deserves a much more dignified, non-politicized treatment than CBS gave it.

 

[Blu]

While there are unscrupulous people out there that want to exploit for their own means 9-11 there are others out there with a genuine concern that want to document the tragedy. Buying a documentary is on par with saving a newspaper from the JFK assissnation or Pearl Harbor. It was a tragedy but needs to be documented. It was the biggest tragedy (next to the OKC bombing) in my life. The heros who perished on that day deserve to be remembered, not for the action of the attacks but for the bravery that was the positive side that brought out the best in America and Americans. The greatest tragedy brought out the best in us and I never want to forget that.

 

[David Von Pein]

Thanks, Jack.
Yeah....I hear what you're saying re. the "quickie" discs.
I checked that "Remembering Sept. 11" disc....and decided not to purchase it, mainly because it's less than 25 minutes long.

 

[Eric Paddon]

"World Trade Center: A Modern Marvel" is a documentary about the life of the building and was finished before 9/11. There is no footage of 9/11 but post-9/11 inserts by Harry Smith are included as are indicators of who among those interviewed were killed in the disaster.

Those who do not want to revisit 9/11 itself should at the very least see this film as a reminder that the story of the WTC did not begin and end on 9/11 and its worth noting what this landmark was like during its lifetime. In preserving a record of that, including a trip to its subasement where we see its air conditioning plant, this documentary has performed a valuable service.

 

[Jason Borchers]

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[Brad M]

I'm looking for a documentary where the focus is on the military response on 9/11. Maybe something that has the pilots point of view that were scrambled to intercept the airliners. I remember seeing an interview with an F-16 pilot about being ordered to drop his extra gas tank and get to Washington D.C. Anyone have any recommendations?

 

[Holadem]

What I would love to see is a recording of the first 6 hours or so of a news channel as the events unfolded.

--
H

 

[Joshua Clinard]

What would you expect from CBS?

I saw Remembering 9/11, the first one in the picture. It was very graphic, and made me sick to my stomach, but I'm glad I saw it. I didn't have cable news on 9/11, and saw very little footage that week or the next. What I did see was a few seconds of the planes crashing. Didn't see any of the aftermath or the cleaning of ground zero. It was a good documentary, and I reccomend it to anyone who did not pay attention to cable news when the event happened. Also, the disc put out by the Govt was really good.

 

[Casey C.]

This doesn't address Brad M's question, but Ric Burns' "New York: Center of the World" is quite good. It focuses on the story of the WTC and was produced after 9/11 as an added-on eighth episode for Burns' seven-part "New York" series.

It's available separately as well as part of the series boxed set.

 

[Brad M]

Also, the disc put out by the Govt was really good.

Any idea what the title is?

 

[Adam_WM]

I liked "9/11", the documentary by the two french brothers who were in NY documenting firefighters at the time.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I liked "9/11", the documentary by the two french brothers who were in NY documenting firefighters at the time.

Me too - I've seen about four or five 9/11 documentaries, and it's easily the best of the bunch...

 

[LaurenceGarvey]

I agree about the French film.

I lived in NYC for a long time, visited the WTC many times, and worked a couple of blocks away for four years. It's too painful for me to rewatch, though.

Through the pain, though, I got a big laugh out of this:

"What would you expect from CBS.... the disc put out by the Govt was really good."

 

[Bill Williams]

I've got to agree with the earlier comments about the DVD release of 9/11 from Paramount Home Video. It's by far the most intense because of the entire first-person narrative the Naudets constructed. I'm not one for spartan bare-bones DVD releases, I'd much rather prefer one with all the bells and whistles added on, but given the sensitive subject matter presented, Paramount did an excellent job with just the documentary and the added interview segments on the disc. It's very understated and well done.

The CBS disc, "What We Saw", which accompanied the book, is a good recount of what happened.

 

[Ernest Rister]

The French doc "9/11" takes us as close as we are ever going to get. How much closer can you get than being in the 1st tower when the 2nd tower came down? The noise of the collapse is beyond imagination, beyond even the ability of the small microphone to capture. It hints at the power, and the suggestion is enough.

The thundering impacts heard prior to the 2nd Tower's collapse is also something I won't soon forget...the sound of people jumping to their death, and slamming into the 1st floor awnings.

I journeyed from Texas to ground zero in the Fall of 2002, and the memorials were still up, the tarp was still up on that black building just south of the WTC. Some Japanese production company was shooting a music video there - doing multiple takes of a model laying down roses at the site. Some people were crying. Some, like me, simply gaped at the massive hole in the Earth, trying to make sense of history.

Most people were quietly talking, whispering personal, respective comments to their companions, like we all do inside a graveyard -- because that's what ground zero is -- a graveyard. There are no headstones, just a lot of gray dust and rock.

The French doc "9/11" will take you to this place and show you that day the WTC became a graveyard. It is not easy viewing. If you're an American who has done his or her best to put the whole thing behind you, you may be surprised to find out how raw your wounds still are.

 

[David Von Pein]

HTF member Eric Paddon has all that material in his vast news collection.
I, too, have multiple hours of "as-it-is-happening" 9/11 coverage (toggling between multiple networks). Unfortunately, I didn't start taping the 9/11 coverage until a few minutes after the second WTC Tower collapsed, so I'm missing the initial bulletins. Still, it's riveting stuff (although still hard to watch for very long, given the tragic events being recorded).
MY 9/11 LIST.