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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Disappointingly boring and uninvolving.

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.

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.

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)?