Throughout this movie I kept thinking that I was watching people talking and emoting like, well, like actors, and not like actual people I know. Also, iIn focussing on the pitiful number of survivors of the attacks, the movie tells the least typical and most user-friendly of the stories of that day, which to me is a cop-out. If you want to get a better sense of the attrocities of 9/11, go see the far more realistic and grim "United 93".… Expand

It's a good movie, but not what I expected. Is touching sometimes, but the acting several times is not convincing. I went into and out from the screeing without a change in my mood. Did not feel sad, angered, inspired or proud.

I won't say I was impressed, nor disappointed. The movie is worth seeing, but comparing it to United 93 is unjust. This is a completely different story, and much darker. There are great acting performances but the acting as a whole is below average. Worth seeing, but don' t expect too much.

It's a near impossibility to bring tension and emotion to an event about which everyone knows (in that way this project should never have been undertaken as a narrative) and world trade center doesn't come remotely close to defying that fact. it's an unrelenting sappy yawn filled with cliches, the kind that could only have been reproduced in detail from real-life accounts from non-dramatists. the only authentic feeling comes from ones the viewer overlays from their own experience on that day. the towering inferno ends up looking like the leader of its class next to this boring piece of junk. i would have prefered stomping ants in the backyard to watching this veritible waste of time.… Expand

Sure Its Slow and Of course Predictable, but its still very powerful and very moving. The acting is great and the score is wonderful. A great movie all-around.

It's unbelievable to see how this movie managed to create this big buzz, thanks to it's PR. I was looking foward to this movie but what I got is a totally different thing. This film absolutely do not present the effects of 9/11 in us, Americans. On the contrary we have a drama, just like A Beautiful Find - Ron Howard style of movies that do not deliver an "unmissable" and "unfogettable" story. Totally disappointed, this is just techics and cinematography, nothing more. This will never be the same than United 93 that is a truly outstanding, unforgettable and excellent film. Instead of watching this normal drama that could've benn done way better, wait for the United 93 DVD, there you will feel proud, touched and moved.… Expand

This was gutwrenching to watch but truly well done and healing. I thought Maggie Gyllenhaal in particuler was amazing.

While i'll admit the move was a little slow at times. It makes up for it with the supererb plotwriting and acting. Great Movie would highly recommend it to people.

It showed the actual feeling of the captured people inside of the twin towers. Highly Recomended.

I realize there are those who think that to dislike a movie like this (that celebrates the heroes of 9/11) is almost "un-American", but those people can go away as far as I'm concerned. A poorly made movie is a poorly made movie, regardless of the subject matter. Unlike "United 93" (one of the year's best movies) which was told in a very matter-of-fact manner, "World Trade Center" is busting at the seams with reverence for what it is doing, and thus comes off as somewhat ponderous, and also somewhat full of itself. It also has some bad dialogue, and some moments that come off more corny then poignant (which considering the subject matter, was probably actually kind of hard to do) there is also something really generic about this. Much of movie focuses on Cage and the other guy trapped in the rubble. But this feels like a lot of other movies we've had about people trapped in cave-ins. Then you had the very familiar, formula scenes of their families standing by anxiously waiting for word, which could have been taken out of a lot of movies. And the flashbacks also could have been taken out of a lot of movies. Bottom line is that this film never captures the scope of the unbearable tragedy of that day, or the overwhelming poignancy.… Expand

The film is not as good as Flight 93, but these are two totally different films. Both films focus on the heroism of that day, but Stone took a different and no less admirable route here. The film was not supposed to be about the crackpot conspiracies that many of you were probably expecting and wanting it to be. The film is ultimately about the patriotism and unity that took place during that time, and then quickly vanished. I honestly believe that there are many individuals that have either forgotten about 9/11 or don't even believe it happened to the extent that it did. At the showing of Trade Center that I was at, and one that my friend was at the following day, there were teenaged members in the audience laughing throughout the movie, cheering for the terrorists. To me, the major tragedy that came from 9/11 is that all of these lives that were taken have been forgotten by so many people.… Expand

This Movie Deserves a 10 out of 10. have some common scense. R.I.P. WTC

Oliver Stone did a great job depicting the tragedy from the eyes of two Port Authority Police Officers on the ground as if we were there. This movie is definitely a cathartic experience that will make you cry. This movie shows the strength of America and how we pull together in times of crisis.

Did anyone else come away from this film with a sense that it was actually a satire of the US of A, and in particular the events of 9/11? Cause i sure did. It's the only way to explain what Stone was thinking with all the overwrought, over the top characters.The previous poster who suggested that the marine was gonna fly into space and reverse time like superman: HA! I had a similar thought, though my fiancee and i joked that he seemed as if he was just as likely to SHOOT any survivors that he found as he was to save them! And BEWARE OF MARIA BELLO'S CREEPY BLUE-ALIEN EYES! "United 93" was superior in EVERY regard, though i'll still go on believing that this was actually a satire. If it was, this film automatically jumps into my top 10 favourite movies EVER.… Expand

I'm a little disappointed in some of the reviews that I've been reading from people. Yes... WTC will never live up to the horror of the actual event, yes, it might seem a little sappy, yes we already know the ending, yes it's impossible to get the full emotional effect of the tragedy. What these people fail to realize is that in no way is it about any of those things. It�39;s about the tremendous and tireless efforts of the people who spent so much time searching for the thousands of people stranded in the wreckage of WTC, about 2 heroes who were willing to give their lives to save the others. Condescending? Not at all! It was quite the opposite, the raw emotional impact of the film, made the event far more personal for me. As a person far from NYC who knew no one injured in the tragedy, on 9/11 all I had was the news and media for what was happening, and as we are all Pavlovian, the tragedies faded from me as time would have it. Watching this film, showed/reminded me of the horror 2 men went through, and in times of tragedy, the goodness of people. Being reminded of this even for 2 hours made it well worth the 7$ to get in, and showcasing the heroes of our country in their bravery made the movie completely worth it.… Expand

I am almost ashamed to say this...but I was bored. A movie with talking heads that cannot move thier bodies would make a great one hour TV episode.

Seriously melodramatic. I was expecting more after reading several positive reviews. Aside from the special effects, (which were great) I've seen the same type of movie on the Lifetime Television Channel.

Unfortunately there is not much of a story here. It appears that Oliver Stone wants to prove his patriotism by not partaking of the conspiracies surrounding this event. He also probably imagines himself as the gung ho marine. This film is essentially inert, the characters totally uninteresting. The only achievements within it are technical, the recreation of ground zero.

WORLD TRADE CENTER is a film which dramatically needs a touch of the Oliver Stone some love and others hate. No, not some absurd "conspiracy theory" about "placed charges" or deplaning a whole plane-load of passengers at Cleveland-Hopkins, but just a few questions. Who was responsible for selling the police and firemen two separate, incompatible phone systems? Why was there officials at every level but that of the first responders so slow and incompetent in their reaction to the swiftly growing tragedy? Those questions at least might have come up in the purview of the film. As it is, WORLD TRADE CENTER is a simple story of individual heroism and growing brotherhood among the first responders, the rescuers, and the families who had to wait. It is well worth anyone's time.… Expand

great artwork and cinimatic achivement...a instant hollywood classic.

Feeble, compromise, it's Stone wanting to be liked.

How anyone could hate this movie is so far beyond me. This movie is an amazingly beautiful tribute to the heroics that were seen 9/11. This movie is so well done it is almost impossible to believe that it isn't five years earlier and we aren't watching this unfold again. It is hauntingly realistic. Michael Pena is at his finest as Will Jimeno.

This is the most boring movie I've ever seen. I am VERY upset about 9-11 but there is NO character development in this movie and I don't care that they are trapped because I don't know them.

I absolutely loved this movie! At first, I was a little unsure of this movie, given the fact that these events are still fresh in the minds of many americans. I loved the fact that, instead of focusing on the horror America faced that day, Oliver Stone chose to focus on the courage and brotherhood shared by the two cops at the center of this movie. An excellent movie with great performances, especially by Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena.… Expand

A deeply touching, slowly evolving must-see for everyone who ever thought of giving up hope. People who weren't touched by this film have a rock where others have a heart. Highly recommended.

This may not be the most tasteful analogy in the world, but just as 1965 saw a cultural division between "Beatles people" and "Rolling Stones people", and 1994 featured a similar rift between "Pulp Fiction people" and "Forrest Gump people", so will 2006 come to be known as the year in which the "United 93 people" and the "World Trade Center" people squared off. For the record, count me in the former camp: Paul Greengrass's semidocumentary, semi-fly-on-the-wall reenactment of one aspect of 9/11 was a brilliantly executed (if necessarily harrowing and somewhat depressing) one-of-a-kind masterpiece, while Oliver Stone's interpretation of another is a really, really good made-for-TV movie. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and the universe is certainly big enough to hold both approaches, but you've got to either credit or criticize Stone for pulling off the daunting task of transforming a national, history-changing tragedy into a film that's second only to Akeelah and the Bee as THE feel-good film of 2006! Stone accomplishes this by focusing on two New York cops, John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena) who were pinned under tons of brick, stone and metal awaiting either death or rescue; since falling asleep could very conceivably doom them, each had to keep the other awake, and surprisingly, their very different personalities and temperaments helped considerably: the extremely talkative Jimeno wouldn't LET McLoughlin drift off, while McLoughlin was so taciturn that Jimeno had to take special care on frequent occasions that he was still conscious. Cage is solid, Pena remarkably good, and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Secretary, Sherrybaby) and Maria Bello (Flicka, A History of Violence) are such strong actresses that they make the standard Wives Who Wait roles that you've seen hundreds of times before seem remarkably new. Much has been said about Oliver Stone's body of work, and while this is certainly atypical in many ways, it also lines up with a common thread to most of his films that isn't often discussed: from Platoon and Wall Street (with their warring good and bad father figures) to the underrated epic Alexander, they're often such effective studies in the qualities of leadership that they could be excerpted and shown in management seminars. (Even Snoop Dogg has commented that you can watch the Stone-scripted Scarface to learn what Tony Montana did both right and wrong...and who are we to argue with Snoop?) Because of Stone's (partially self-created) reputation as a controversial leftist provocateur, his announced (and almost completely successful) intention to make World Trade Center a totally apolitical film has truly earned him some strange bedfellows: left-of-center website film critic MaryAnn Johansen ("The Flick Filosopher") quite unjustly lists this as second to the latest Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie as the worst of 2006 thus far, while right-wing columnists Cal Thomas and Michael Medved have sung the film's praises to the heavens. Break out the galoshes and heavy-weather gear, folks: hell has frozen over at last!… Expand

A colossal disappointment! What has happened to Oliver Stone??? Can this movie (and "Alexander") actually be from the same man who gave us "JFK" (which I consider to be a masterpiece)?

Not being american, i cant say much about this film. But what i can say is that you have to realise that this movie isnt supposed to be just about the crash, it was ment to be about these two people and how they survived. I'll admit that its structure is sub par at best, but overall i enjoyed myself.

The movie tells the story. and does a great job telling it. the effects and set design is amazing.

Charged, emotional film. But focused mostly on 2 or 3 individuals and their families. What about the other 3,000 people. A very one-sided characterization, but nonetheless awesome visuals.

If you like the idea of a national disaster reduced to small inoffensive flecks of dramarama with some killer visuals, go see this film! Immediately! Really not very good at all.

Aside from the length and the few scenes that pushed the borders of sappiness, I really enjoyed this movie. What Lewis P. and probably many others fail to notice is that Stone isn't trying to capture every aspect of 911, he's just trying to hone in on a very small piece of the event, the true story of these two cops getting rescued.

A cathartic experience that will bring tears to your eyes about nine times, it's meant to tell just a narrow part of the 9/11 story. In that, it succeeds pretty well. I thought the film had an elegant look, actually subtle in a way, with just one really spectacular shot. It's a relief to have the human angle of 9/11 with no politicking. I would've added a point had the Irish cop been played by anyone other than Nicolas Cage, who seemed ridiculously wrong for the part.… Expand

I think this was the worst movie I have ever seen in my whole life. The acting was terrible, with some actors failing misearebly at New York accents the really took away from the believability of the film. I have seen better production in Lifetime made for TV movies.

A good film with great pacing. Keeps you interested the whole two hours. Truth is stranger than fiction and this film proves it. The whole thing is handled very tastefully through the eyes of the men who were there. Must see.

Drew... you're an idiot. if this movie was indeed a satire while being based on one of the most tragic events in U.S. history, anyone in their right mind would be disguisted. you, however, say that it would make your top ten list.... what a moron. sometimes, it's ok to get something positive and uplifting out of something so horrible. that's how we as normal human beings deal with tragedy from time to time. duh.… Expand

I’m very shocked at the some of the poor ratings being given to this movie, ok nothing can come close to the real events but this is a new look at how these terrible events happened and more importantly it shows how hard it actually was to be a hero on that day and risk your life.

I’m rather shocked at the amount of poor votes given to this movie, I will agree that nothing can compare to the real events on Sept 11th but the creators of World Trade Center have showed a new view of the events, they have shown how hard it was to be a hero on that day and how the heroes should forever be remembered

really good until the buildings have fallen, then incredibly terrible. The beginning does capture the feeling of that day and makes you remember how things might have gone in 9/11's aftermath, how many possibilities were squandered, then the movie just swirls down the toilet.

This one reminded me of The Perfect Storm. Not exactly a good thing. [***SPOILERS***] We cut back and forth between the two NYPD cops stuck beneath the rubble of the WTC (if you are claustrophobic, you might have a hard time watching these scenes) and their distraught wives. Oliver Stone also gives us some typical, sentimental flashback sequences showing the two couples together, doing cute happy things. My real problem with the film has to do with the tone. It's too self-important. In United 93 (a greatly superior 9/11 film), you get the sense that things are truly unfolding NOW. No one is ready, no one is prepared, all hell breaks loose. In WTC, on the other hand, it doesn't feel as if the characters are living in the moment. Police officers talk about "the attack" before anyone else was calling it that. Bottom line, the film felt very insincere. The steely-eyed Marine character is irritating and nauseatingly heroic and burly. He might as well have been dressed like Rambo. My wife and I were joking that he was going to fly into space and reverse time like Superman. See United 93, a much more honest, reverent, and cathartic 9/11 film.… Expand

9/11 will always be remembered as the single most frightening and horrific day in American history, but no one will remember that it was perhaps, for a brief moment, the only time in the history of civilization that the whole world came together without boundaries or borders in sympathy and support and hope and faith in the American ideal. Flight 93 dealt with the former, World Trade Center focuses on the latter. Oliver Stone has made a movie without an agenda, no theories or allegations, just a simple movie about two ordinary cops on a day that changed the world that reminds us of the good in all humankind. World Trade Center is the best movie yet from Mr. Stone, it's a devastatingly emotional masterwork that i'm proud to say, I cried all the way through it.… Expand

An excellent, honest film. Too much fuss is being made that this was directed by "controversial" Oliver Stone. See the movie for what it is, and check your baggage at the door.

Very hard to watch thinking back to that day. But I also think very important to see.

Disappointingly boring and uninvolving.

Boy was this terrible. It starts out okay but in walks Rodriguez and Pena and the movie takes a dramatic plunge. When the best part of a movie is two characters talking about Viggo Mortensen you know you're in for the worst.

This film is so absolutely stunning due to the strong bond it creates between protagonists and viewers. I have never seen a movie that is so intensive in the way it shows us some of the great heroes of our days, people that really saved lifes.

Not as cheesy as I thought it was going to be. However... it is insanely overwraught and weak in its overall structure. The plot and ideas within mediocre, and the execution is barely above average. What sinks this movie, though, is the overall weak acting and sense of self-importance, which confuses the audience when it tries to be reverant. In addition, it is my opinion that it is too soon for THIS type of 9/11 movie (not to mention how obvious it is they're trying to make the bucks of the sentimental demographic). In about twenty years we'll have the first truly classic 9/11 movie that takes on this angle. STORIES - 6 ACTING - 3 CINEMATOGRAPHY - 7 DIRECTING - 3 Rounding down for overall content, feel, and presentation...4.… Expand

Stirrs up all the emotions we all experienced that day, adding a first person view unique for so many of us watching it all at a great and safe distance.

It occurs to me that the story of the rescue of two Port Authority cops during the World Trade Center Disaster should have been one of perhaps 30 smaller scenes in a larger and grander movie. When Stone depicts the technical aspects of the disaster (such as the implosion of the Towers from within) as well as the actual rescue of the policemen, the film is quite gripping. All the stuff in the suburbs with the wives takes away from the film since there's little dramatic tension in those scenes. Stone starts his film off artistically with cinematography hinting at the approaching dread. But he drops the ball when he fails to show the horror of the day in detail. We need more agony before the relief of the rescue of the cops otherwise the film descends into sentimentality. The "agony" scenes should have included the last moments of people in Windows on the World, the frantic cries of the stewardess as she realizes the first hijacked plane is dipping too low, the young man who evacuates from Tower 2 but decides to go back upstairs and is trapped when the second plane hits, the jumpers, etc, etc. In addition to the tough stuff, Stone could have included a few of the other "survivor" stories, finally culminating in the resuce of the Port Authority cops. Because of the film's narrow focus, the audience is short-changed and one fails to experience the full impact of the World Trade Center Disaster.… Expand

The best part of this film is it's first 35 minutes. The visceral energy of the special effects combined with the emotion of the moment bring the filmgoer to his knees - being caught up in the moment, as a good film should. But the remaining hour and a half is nothing more than a sentimental journey with really nothing to say - the film boggs itself down with constant fade ins and outs, and the dialogue of the wives and family would make a great "Father Knows Best" television episode, but not great feature filmmaking or screenwriting. I find Nicholas Cage difficult to accept as the Irish cop, as I find him out of place in many of his roles - he seems to be Hollywood's hottest actor right now and I can't figure out why - the guy weighs about 120 pounds, which, you would think would limit his roles. The marine wandering around ground zero just struck me as creepy. Overall, I give the film 9.0 for the first 35 minutes, and a 3.9 for the remainder of the film.… Expand

Lame! More timid than most made-for-TV-movies these days. It was like going to see "Titanic" without seeing the ship sink. Horribly melodramatic and actually kinda boring. The parts that should have been terrifying were never given full treatment. For instance (SPOILER ALERT!!!) the movie doesn't even show exactly how difficult it was to get them cops out of their predicament... Very disappointing and unsatisfying. OK for maybe a Friday night TV movie, but if you're going to shy away from the details, don't call the movie "World Trade Center" for heaven's sakes.… Expand

Don't even know where to begin about how much I hated this movie. It felt condescending and incomplete and far closer to a cheesy TV movie than the major theatrical event it purports to be. My ultraconservative, emotionally fragile friends in Utah seemed to like it, though... But just not for me, and by the looks of it, not for a lot of other people either. I mean, I LIVED through that catastrophe and the movie didn't even BEGIN to approach the HORROR of that day. "United 93" did not attempt to cover the entire tragedy either, but it was majestically superior by virutue of its uncondescending honesty.… Expand

It was a moving film, but more because of it's subject than any work on the part of the filmmaker. Overall it wasn't bad, but wasn't great.

I think your missing the point Manny, Drew doesn't actually think it was a satire. He was just saying it was so bad it could have been.