User reviews

I first saw this moving documentary on the one year anniversary of 9-11, and I have decided to make it a tradition to only watch this movie every 9-11 as a way of personally reflecting on the tragedy. This documentary had me in tears a number of times, especially during interviews with the staff of Mayor Guilliani (one of whom lost her firefighter husband when one of the towers collapsed). Scenes from the funerals of the victims of 9-11 were especially gut-wrenching, but necessary. If you want a good way to remember and reflect on 9-11 without in a meaningful way, I would definitely suggest this movie.

When I first heard about this HBO documentary, I vowed to never watch it. It simply sounded very exploitive and tacky. However, it was anything but. In fact I think this doc was better than the one done by CBS earlier this year. The HBO one chose to portray the events through mainly music and imagery. There was no narration, unlike the CBS one. Mayor Guiliani provided commentary and the standard interviews were done with survivors, victim's families, etc, and also a lot of taped footage of bystanders' reactions. It was beautifully done. The music was so perfect and so perfectly timed it really added the right emotional depth. This documentary wasn't exploitive at all. Yes, they showed images and photos of people jumping to their deaths from the burning WTC towers and of a jumper's body on the ground, but their lack of sugarcoating any of the events was a good decision. I felt they had to show everything as it happened. They were careful to erase any details that might give away the jumpers' identities. This was a very tragic and very historic event, and you can't sugarcoat history. It is no different than showing all the images from Pearl Harbor. I would recommend this to anyone interested and give it a 10/10.

Can HBO do any wrong? Another stellar documentary from the network that brought us the great "Capturing the Friedmans".

"In Memoriam" is thought-provoking and brings a viewer to tears all over again. Contains some incredible footage not seen elsewhere, including two unbelievable shots of the planes striking the towers. Also contains some new coverage of Guiliani's actions on the day of the attack - love him or hate him the city couldn't have asked for a better leader that day, and the footage bears this out. There is also some disturbing content (not that most of it isn't) of bodies falling from the towers, but nothing gratuitous, just enough to provide full coverage of what happened that dreadful day. Don't think you've seen all the 9/11 coverage if you haven't seen this. Just great.

There's little doubt that September 11th was a horrifyingly tragic event of enormous significance, one wonders how modern enlightened times could see such an act. But the advantage of these modern times is that this particular event was widely photographed and recorded. What personally surprised me about it was their use of sound, as the planes hit and as the towers collapsed, one hears the reactions of the onlookers. It adds a human element. The mayor of New York offers a large amount of insight over the course of the film, and there's plenty of footage of him viewing the events unfolding before his eyes. It gives me even more respect for him seeing him at the "front lines" so to speak of the disaster. All of the most haunting elements are present: Clear shots of the giant explosions as the planes impacted, huge pillars of dust as the towers collapse, the aftermath: ghostly figures wandering an unrecognizable Manhattan when visibility is about 5 feet. It is depressing, but essential viewing. Ten Stars. It was a shocking experience witnessing history unfold, and it was also a horrifying experience. Watch it to see the greatest disaster of our time, and watch it to appreciate the disasters of the past, so we don't repeat them.

Another disturbing documentary about the World Trade Center tragedy.It's really sad-I cried when I saw poor people jumping out from both Twin Towers.The film is full of emotions-there's sadness,pain and anger.Why in our world there's need for terrorism and death?Why can't we live in peace all together?