102 Minutes That Changed America Reviews

• Visceral and haunting

  
  By A36896CD27O9F8 on 2008-09-22
  The History Channel aired this program several times in the wake of the anniversary of 9-11. I was able to catch two viewings of this show.
  
  I live in San Diego, Ca. and like most people, I witnessed 9-11 through the lens of the collective (and individual) camera eyes. To say this is the "best" 9-11 documentary is, perhaps, inappropriate to say, but this particular program stands high above any of previous 9-11 shows I have seen as far as capturing what must have been a horrific event to witness first hand.
  What makes this program stand out is it's lack of a produced narrative. No Dan Rather telling me what I already know. No trite musings that have littered most of these types of programs. Instead the producers have allowed the viewer to see and hear the events as they happened. It is, for the most part, straight footage with no production elements added.If any narration IS heard it is from any given individual who happenes to be speaking within the video footage itself. As a viewer we are drawn into this presentation as we watch others watching the horror, and then watch it ourselves. There is a minimal amount of ambient soundtrack included but it is highly underscored and very consistant with much of the raw footage that fills this doucumentary.
  As for the footage included, it is safe to say it has to be some of the most compelling news-type footage I have ever seen, in regards to anything. Much of this footage was done by amateurs but it does not detract form the experience one bit.
  One particularly haunting shot that sticks out to me is a shot taken by an individual somewhere near the base of the WTC towers after both have been hit. THe camera is busy collecting visuals of a courtyard barren of any people...just papers and ashes drifting lazely with ominous whimzey. The sounds of distant panic accompanied by an outdoor speaker system playing a muzak version of Billy Joel's "she's always a woman to me". Truely erie.
  I could not recommend this program enough. I would say order it direct from the History Channel, but Amazon has it for less, but no matter where or how you get, do get it. It's not easy to watch, but it's very difficult not to as well.
  
  

• Extraordinary Documentary

  
  By A4UKBG3M5U5TI on 2008-10-12
  The aftermath of the attacks on the Twin Towers was likely the most videotaped event in human history. New Yorkers, New Jerseyites, other locals, and tourists started filming shortly after the first tower was hit and continued throughout the day, sometimes at their own peril. "102 Minutes That Changed America" documents what they saw and what they filmed. The film relies very little on video from reporters or the major networks, although at times you can hear the television or radio playing in the background as people film. Instead, the filmmakers of this documentary from the History Channel have woven together skillfully dozens of amateur videos that more accurately capture how people reacted on this historic day. The average person videotaping from her living room in a high rise apartment just blocks away the Twin Towers, and the average tourist recording reactions of people in Time Square. In addition, the filmmakers wisely opted to forgo including narration, and rely on only minimal title cards to inform the audience where the video was being filmed, the time, and so forth.
  
  Some of these amateur videographers provide running commentary for us, expressing their disbelief at what is unfolding. Some of them talk to loved ones who are nearby or record people around them, including strangers. Still others record in abject silence. The videos at the beginning of the documentary reflect the initial confusion as people saw the first tower ablaze. People speculate that it was just a small plane that got lost. Eventually, the videographers and people in the streets realize that it was a terrorist act. We hear the screams and panic as the second plane hits - these moments are among the most gut-wrenching and dramatic. One group of people near the Twin Towers decide hastily to evacuate their apartment, and we witness as they frantically put on their shoes and pile into an elevator.
  
  There is no filter here. No Katie Couric to reassuringly tell us that the President is acting to neutralize the threat. No CNN to analyze who may be responsible. No buffer from the anguish and pain, including the horrifying realization people have when they finally understand that what they thought was debris falling from the towers is actually people jumping from the buildings. The footage is raw and most people will find watching "102 Minutes" to be a draining experience. However, it is important to recall what we all experienced that day. This documentary from the History Chanel is a first-rate effort to preserve these events forever.
  
  
  

• One of the History Channels Greatest Documentaries Yet

  
  By A2Q6JDNBUIRO8J on 2008-09-19
  This is by far the best documentary of September 11th that I have ever seen. It does not use news footage, which really doesn't show how the event affected New York City. It shows the footage of the people who were there and in real time. It shows the mood of the city at the time, and how confusion was widespread among people who had no clue as to what was happening.
  This documentary also shows how rumors were rampant in the city at the time and the disinformation spread from person to person (such as the two women who said that someone else told them that the second plane was a British Airways). This account of 911 is shocking, horrifying, disturbing, and heart wrenching. It overall gives you more information about 911 than you get from the news, and it shows you only footage and sound from the people in New York City on the streets who just happened to have their cameras at the time. This is a very compelling and dark account of one of the worst days in American History. I would fully 100% recommend this to anyone interested in 911. It is great, informative, and will keep you glued to your t.v. screen.
  
  

• Reccommended

  
  By AKY5RS3Y4VHW8 on 2008-09-28
  Being from NJ, I only saw what was covered on 9-11 from TV coverage that day, and from a girl in my office whose boyfriend was across the street from the WTC-trying to get home. On that day he had a huge struggle to get home. The footage in this video is a very acccurate recounting of the horror, confusion, and mood of that day. I believe that the further one lived from NYC, the less importance this event had on the person. You know that years from now they will be teaching kids in school sugarcoated versions of what happened on that day, and it is videos like this that sets the record straight. The scariest part-was how no one knew exactly what was going on, and what to do about it. There is no overly violent scenes in the video, but the sense of doom the viewer has from knowing the sequence of events is quite horrific since unlike a typical fictional horror film-everything is real. The look on the firmen's faces as they filed into the WTC buildings in one of the most haunting images you will ever see.
  
  

• A truly amazing video on 9/11

  
  By A1IHL9Y64VO1ES on 2008-09-21
  I'm from New York. Even seven years later this is still very hard to watch from an emotional point of view. What is unique about this video is that it is shot from street level by people experiencing the disaster as it happens. As such it has a truly terrifying level of reality. It really makes you feel that you are there. I've seen a lot of videos and news specials on this. Nothing compares with this video for realism.
  
  (How can people review a video that has not been released? It has already been shown on cable TV.)
  
  
  
• A Chilling Account..
  By A1MTT2CKR92ZRD on 2008-09-12
  I just watched this program on the history channel, and will be ordering the DVD right away. This is by far, one the best, if not the best accounts of Sept. 11, 2001 I have seen. Told using video filmed by people who happened to be in the area at the time of the attacks, and shown in real time, it is by far the most chilling I have seen. The film makers obviously wanted the viewer to really feel as if they were there, instead of just making a straight forward documentary of the events. Though portions of it are VERY hard to watch, I highly recommend this program to anyone looking for an EXCELLENT first hand account of the events on that terrible day.
  
  
• Incredible documentary
  By A1SX7JX60H993A on 2009-10-30
  I watched this documentary for the first time on the History Channel this past September. It is still on my DVR for anyone to watch who cares to. I will order the DVD very soon. This is simply the best. I "forced" 2 of my sons and my wife to watch it. They didn't want to at first, but none of them left and you could have heard a pin drop while we were watching. Well deserving of any of the awards that have, or will, come its way.
  
  I also highly recommend, as a companion book, "Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11", by David Friend.
  
  
• 1 thing lacking
  By A2H0904TEACQBV on 2009-09-12
  I agree with my fellow reviewers abot what a great collection this is and offer kudos those responsible for not only putting it together but also for leaving out the narative commentaries ussually accompanied in documentaries, and allowing the footage to speak for itself. I have one minor complaint about the DVD format: I just watched this program minutes ago on History Channel in widescreen, a format that lends itself to the full scale tradgedy depicted here. Why is that format not available on the DVD?
  Other than that, I think this film aught to be replayed every 9/11, to help us never forget the emotion which accompanied that horrible day.
  
  
• Interesting
  By A144NK6UZ5WA9K on 2009-05-28
  the show was straight out of the cameras of many people who were there in NYC on the day. Some right there in the impact zone. It's more of a emotional ride with the camera people and nothing at all like the book which I thought was a gripping account of what went down. The really great thing about this program is that they didn't show any of the usual 9 11 images we've seen over and over. It's all new and different footage from my perspective anyway.
  
  
• Felt Like I Was There
  By A1LSZQYPK4B978 on 2010-03-06
  Although I've seen just about all the footage available covering the terrorist attacks of September 11th, this documentary sent shivers down my spine. Because the footage used is mostly from amateur/ personal video cameras, you get the audio (screams, panic, disbelief) which makes you feel as if you are living the horror of that infamous day.
  
  
• Excellent Service Excellent Video
  By ABBYZ12HIB5NL on 2010-01-30
  This movie does a good job of showing you the action of 9/11 and the precise timing of the events.
  
  
• Historical Reference - must see video
  By ALQS93Y76SJ8U on 2009-10-16
  The World Trade Center destruction by Al Queda in 2001 was a disaster which has changed history. The historical implications by this event are enormous. The political reverberations will be felt for many centuries to come.
  
  The world watched with held breath, while the event of the World Trade Center destruction unfolded on television sets in real time.
  Man has reaped the consequences ever since.
  
  The Great Flood, the Romans and Masada, The American Civil War, Stalin and the Gulags, Hitler and the Holocaust, Hirohito, Rooseveld and Pearl Harbor, Osama Bin Laden, George Bush and The World Trade Center - mind-numbing events which will remain in our collective memories for millenium to come.
  
  This video is not for the weak. The courage, the awesome terror of the scenes, and the mind-numbing reality of the actions - or inactions - of the people involved is overwhelming. Parental/Teacher guidance should precede and follow the viewing.
  
  
• Excellent footage
  By A2W9C0SF1T936Q on 2009-10-13
  Footage from ordinary people on the streets, using their own cameras will stop you in your tracks. Wathing their reactions to the unknown at the time, and seeing the disbelief followed by confusion and terror will have anyone who watches this film remembering what they felt, as the details began to unfold. There are no reporters asking ridiculous questions, just everyday people in real time respond to a tragedy. You will not be disappointed.
  
  
• Great Documentary!
  By A2WTIA52ZBX5O on 2009-10-03
  I bought this to show it to my government class. This is the best documentary I've seen on 911. It gives you the perspective from the people who were there and survived the worst terrorist act ever against America.
  
  
• Could not have been done better...
  By AMM01NH9QWREK on 2009-09-13
  The Producers, Directors, and Editors took film footage only from real people that were witnessing the attacks on the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001. The film goes from the minute the first plane hit the first tower...until the 2nd Tower fell. It's actually something you have to see to believe and understand and feel what the people running from the dust clouds were thinking. It just won 3 Emmy Awards tonight, and I could not be happier for the people that made this film.
  
  I remember that I was working in the Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago when all of this was going on, and after the plane hit the Pentagon, and then another went down in Pensylvania, my colleagues and I were very scared. I left work around 10 AM to watch the rest of the day on CNN. This documentary is the closest anyone could ever get to the visceral ugliness of those planes flying into the Towers.
  
  Thank you Nicole, Seth, and New Animal Productions for making this important film.
  
  Nick
  
  
• Terrifying
  By A38L3OKD058U0G on 2009-06-07
  This documentary shows you just what it was like to be in New York on the morning of 9-11-2001. Everyone should see this at least once.
  
  
• One of the best documentaries on 9/11 available
  By A2TCLWKLSQGY8I on 2009-04-18
  I saw this documentary when it originally aired on the History Channel and was fortunate to copy it. Since then, I've probably watched 3 more times. I hesitate to even call it a documentary since there are no talking heads offering any needless comentary, only the images and video of for the most part amateur photo and videographers at or near the scene. The way it was edited made it seem like the events were occuring in real time, and the majority of the footage is stuff which was never shown before. Heart wrenching but at the same time, necessary so that we never forget what happended on that day. Highly recommended.
  
  
• Extraordinary
  By A2B8DJ0CKN9FAO on 2009-03-08
  A collection of amateur videos from 9/11 which include people's reactions from Times Square as they watch the horror unfold on the Jumbotron.
  
  
• Very Powerful!!!
  By A1JX9E5W914I1O on 2008-11-26
  I will never forget this day and this DVD is among the best becuase there is no narrator.
  
  
• Good, but could be better
  By A366NKO4J5PK88 on 2010-02-22
  Shows the twin towers of the World Trade Center from many different viewpoints at various times between 8:46am, when the first plane hit WTC1, the North tower, and 10:28am, when that tower collapsed. (Actually, it shows a few minutes after that, too, as pedestrians flee the giant clouds of pulverized concrete.)
  
  Some viewpoints are labelled with distance and direction from the towers, but many more are without labels, which can be confusing when scenes shift abruptly.
  
  Some images are accompanied by audio which exactly meshes with the video, often with voices of witnesses actually at the scene, along with what can be heard from a radio or television broadcast in the background. Other segments may have been recorded as video only, to which audio from other sources has been added.
  
  Between the Introduction (1) and the Credits (28) are entry points labelled (2) thru (27) with times presented in hh:mm:ss:?? am format, where hh, mm, and ss can be recognized as hour, minute, and second, and I am guessing that the final ?? field could be frame number, since its tens digits show up only as 0, 1, or 2, and its units digits go by too fast for me to match up properly with the tens digits.
  
  The beginning of the collapse of the South tower can be viewed near the end of segment 17 (9:55:50:12 am), and the collapse of the North tower at the beginning of segment 25 (10:28:12:03 am).
  
  
  

• 9/11 - The Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition
• National Geographic - Inside 9/11 (Commemorative Edition)
• 9/11 Commemorative Set 2008 - 8 DVD Set
• World Trade Center - In Memoriam
• 7 Days in September: A Powerful Story About 9/11