World Trade Center on HD-DVD is a must-own.
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Oliver Stone is a director that is known for stirring up a little controversy. He has a knack for covering historical topics that have a bit of controversy surrounding them and bringing his theories to the big screen. The best example of this is "JFK" and its magic bullet theory. The events of September 11, 2001, have found many conspiracy theorists pointing a finger at the government and spinning all types of grotesque webs that try to place the United States government behind the happenings of that horrible day when terrorists invaded our soil and brought down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. I admire Oliver Stone directed films, but with his love of conspiracy theories and my own personal feelings towards those theories surrounding 9/11, I was hesitant to travel to a Cineplex and watch "World Trade Center." After the film was released, it was common knowledge that Stone did not dive into the ill-formed conspiracy theories, but created a testament to the men and women who gave their lives to try to help that day. Unfortunately, I never did get a chance to see it on the big screen. Then, it arrived on my doorstep in both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats.
Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena assume the roles of real-life survivors John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno. These two men were the eighteenth and nineteenth men of twenty to be pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center and survived crushed underneath the crumbled towers. Much of the screen time of these two actors is in very dark lighting and mostly motionless head shots. There are some moments of flashbacks and the very early moments of the film find the two preparing to climb into the towers before the collapse trapped them. A lot of credit must be given to both Cage and Pena for putting forth great performances when only their voices and facial expressions were captured by the cameras for a large majority of their performances. Both McLoughlin and Jimeno were trapped underneath heavy pieces of concrete and steel. They spent their time communicating to each other and keeping each other awake. The real heroes of 9/11 worked with the actors that portrayed them, and Stone and his two actors strived to capture that horrendous affair. "World Trade Center" brings that claustrophic and fateful period of time to life and much credit goes to the two male leads.
Supporting Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena are Maria Bello as McLoughlin's wife Donna. Maggie Gyllenhall is Allison Jimeno, the wife of trapped Port Authority officer Will. Michael Shannon takes the role of Marine Staff Sergeant David Karnes, who traveled from Connecticut and found the two men underneath the rubble. Veteran actors Stephen Dorff, Frank Whaley, Jay Hernandez and others add their talents to portray various other real-life personalities that either gave their life during the terrorist attacks on New York City or risked their lives to save those that were in grave danger under the collapsed skyscrapers. I've always enjoyed Frank Whaley and the actor is part of "A Midnight Clear," one of my favorite films of all time, so I was very pleased to see him have a role in this particular picture. Whaley had worked with Stone a couple of times in the past and, hopefully, Stone will continue to throw work his way.
The basic story of "World Trade Center" follows the true-life story of John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno as they attempt to enter Tower 2, but find themselves pinned under the collapsed building in states of near death. Their beloved wives are uncertain if their husbands are alive and must cope with the unknowing and the prospect of possibly telling their children that their fathers will not be coming home - ever again. McLoughlin is a twenty-one-year veteran of the Port Authority and his hard nature keeps him from attaining the rank of Lieutenant. He picks a crew of his officers and they gather firefighting gear and move to Tower 2, in hopes of helping evacuate citizens from the building. Unfortunately, the tower collapses and only three men survives, McLoughlin, Jimeno and Dominick "Dom" Pezzulo (Jay Hernandez). Pezzulo is spared from the first collapse and struggles to free Jimeno. When the second tower falls to the ground, he is mortally wounded and dies from his injuries, leaving only McLoughlin and Jimeno to struggle for life.
Donna McLoughlin struggles with her children, as they want to leave and find their father, but her own distance in her marriage leaves her unknowing of how to act or what to do, and while John Jr. accuses her of not caring, she seems composed, but is crumbling apart on the inside. Will Jimeno's pregnant wife Allison is nearing a nervous breakdown as she assumes her husband has died and does not know how to tell her daughter but tries to put on a sane face. She remembers not being able to decide on a name for her unborn baby daughter and continues to think of the conversation she and Will had regarding naming the baby Alyssa or Olivia. The two find close friends and family as support as they wait to hear the fates of their husbands.
Staff Sergeant Dave Karnes is a driven man who is religious and still holds true to the honor of the Marine Corps. He discusses his intended course of action with his preacher and once again wears his Battle Dress Uniform and leaves his accounting job to return to duty to look for survivors. He eventually is the one to stumble across Will Jimeno and Michael McLouglin and helps to free them from their near certain tombs. Karns would eventually return to active duty and serve two more tours working to bring justice to those that were the evil behind the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Unfortunately, there has been much controversy about the portrayal of Karnes, who is seen as a simple and driven man in the film, and it is said his true motives and character are largely ignored by Stone and company.
It is my personal feeling that Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" is a film that should be seen by everybody. Together with the very good "United 93," I welcome these telling of the events of September 11, 2001. It sickens my soul to believe that people feel these mighty man-made structures could be brought down with man-made explosives and that the aircraft were staged. Pardon my language, but that is a complete crock of shit and I must bow in thanks to Oliver Stone for bringing us the truth of the matter and paying a wonderful tribute to the two men that survived the affair and those that perished by keeping true to what happened on that day. It was a horrible tragedy that occurred on that day, but it is a series of events that should never be forgotten by America, the lives that were lost should always be remembered, and Stone's film serves as a beautiful reminder.
This is a powerful film with powerful performances. Nicolas Cage is at his best and the work done here easily compares to that of "Leaving Las Vegas." Michael Pena was brilliant in "Crash" and his turn here shows that he is a up and coming talent who's star should shine over Hollywood for many upcoming years. Before seeing this film, I wondered how much I really wanted to see a movie where much of the time is looking at Nicolas Cage's bust while covered in dust and dirt and in very poor lighting. Well, Oliver Stone and his actors took this very difficult idea and delivered what was easily one of the best films of 2006 and presented the World Trade Center attacks in a noble manner. My hat goes off to the filmmakers and those who survived those horrible events. Please see this film.
Video:
"World Trade Center" is presented in a gorgeous 1080p 1.85:1 widescreen transfer that shows how great HD-DVD can look. Keeping in mind that much of this film takes place in lowly lit circumstances and this introduces a small amount of digital noise, this is an incredibly clean and vibrant transfer that looks absolutely stunning. From the early scenes where New York City is presented on a beautiful and sunny September morning and the colors of the busiest place on Earth are in full display to the dark and smokey moments where rescuers sift through the smoldering remains of two majestic buildings, the HD-DVD looks simply amazing. A few bits of stock footage are interjected into the film to provide historical value and add to the solemn and shocked moods of the world after this cowardly and despicable act, and they show that their lower resolution source materials do not necessarily stack up on a high definition format, but the rest of the film is as detailed as it gets.
I was surprised at the incredible amount of detail that was provided when Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena had their faces covered in dust and were nearly camouflaged by the rubble that entombed them. You could see an amazing amount of detail through the makeup and dirt and see many of the actors' fine details in their faces and get a full understanding at how caked in dust the actors were. Every once in a while, a bright orange flame would invade the dark confines of the trapped men and this bright contrast to the darkly lit main stage was perfectly handled by the HD-DVD transfer. Colors were stunning when the film allowed them to be seen. Shadow detail and black levels were absolutely essential for this film to be seen and never once faltered. Paramount continues to provide incredible-looking transfers and this HD-DVD is no different in that regard. A decision was made to make this a 2-disc release and that decision looked to be a good one considering how great the film looks. A direct comparison to the MPEG-2 encoded Blu-Ray gave a slight edge to the HD-DVD release, but the difference was very minor and was present mostly during the darkest scenes.
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[release]20170[/release]