World Trade Center: A Modern Marvel 1973-2001 (2002)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Produced by Bruce Nash

Features:

• Timeline
  

Released by: The History Channel
Rating: NR (suitable for all audiences)
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format

My Advice: Definitely Rent it

Before the World Trade Center's Twin Towers were known for their demise and the horrible act of terrorism that they now symbolize, they were a symbol of America. They reached for the skies over lower Manhattan, standing as a tribute to the hard work and dedication of all of the men and women who built it and to all who called it their place of business. Before the tragedy occurred, The History Channel was putting together a documentary on the creation and construction of the towers, but they put their production on hold after the events of September 11, 2001. Rather than taking their footage and making a documentary about the life and death of the building as well as the people who were in it, they decided to make it a celebration of everything that the building stood for during i's life.

You can't help but bring up memories of the Titanic when watching this documentary. Please understand that I don't want to take anything away from what The History Channel did in producing this documentary; they did a wonderful job with it. But, when you hear some of the interviewees talking about how the building could withstand the impact of a jumbo jet and not be damaged, you can't help but bring up thoughts of the "unsinkable" ship. First of all, this film goes all the way back to the idea for the building in 1943 and takes you all the way up through its construction and opening. The only times that 9/11 is mentioned are during the sometimes overly sentimental interludes before and after commercial breaks. They weren't as bad as they could have been, but it just felt like they tried too hard to get the sentimental point across, and there was really no need to do that. You really would have had to have been on another planet not to have seen the video clips of the planes hitting the towers and their collapse later that day. One mention of the tragedy would have gotten the point across, I think.

The DVD is quite a bit of a disappointment. With all of the material that is available on this subject--and I don't just mean the terrorist act--it would have been so easy to add something more about the Towers than was in the documentary. A photo gallery of still shots would have been excellent. Perhaps a montage of some of the various times that these Towers have appeared in movies since they've been around.

So, as it stands right now, this DVD is on the "must rent" list. The documentary alone is worth checking out, but without any added content, it's not worth adding to your collection permanently.