Okay, now the question I am about to ask is in no way political whatsoever. But lately, I have been asked by my fellow filmgoers at Columbia College about the chances of a film about 9/11 ever coming to pass in the distant (or upcoming, take your pick) future. And I would like to know from all of you on this subject as well. Do you all think there should be a 9/11 movie?
What do I think? Well, it depends. If the 9/11 incident is going to be turned into a love story (i.e. PEARL HARBOR) and is going to give a false message then I say "No, their shouldn't be a 9/11 film". But if it's going to go by what happened, the reactions, and giving us a message that we can all understand then I would be all for it. But then again, this is Hollywood and the chances of the incident being portrayed right by the industry are very limited. So, it's really a mixed bag.
But what do you all think? Should their be a 9/11 movie?
Yeah, they'll be a movie, several of them I'm sure.
I bet the first one will be a TV movie or mini-series. It's only a matter of time.
Should there be a movie? Hey I wished Pearl Harbor hadn't been made and Pluto Nash definately shouldn't have been made.
I don't think there needs to be a movie. We have the actual event, caught on film, preserved for the ages. Why make a movie of something we all saw happen live? As for future generations, well, again, real footage capturing every angle exists.
No.
I don't really think anybody could make a decent movie, outside of documentaries, about September 11.
First of all, it would be impossible to make a non-politicized movie about the subject. Of course, any movie ever made is going to be political, but right now there are immediate political concerns regarding these events. Any movie made now would necessarily be propaganda for whoever made it. There are no filmmakers currently who could handle the project. Let alone anybody in the fairly immature Hollywood society.
I would say there would have to be at least a decade before any meaningful film could be made. I would say more, but things seem to happen much quicker nowadays. I would venture to say that there would have to be a whole generation between the events and a movie.
Look at it this way. What would be the point of a September 11 movie? Could any fictionalized account ever approach what everybody already knows? Making a historically based movie is a sort of way of making immediate events in the past. Who needs the events of 9/11/01 made immediate? It's all already there. The only point to make a movie now would be political. I don't see that ending well.
Has anybody talked to WWII vets about the movie PEARL HARBOR? I can only imagine that it's now, sixty years later, that anybody would think it's remotely tasteful to make a movie like that about such a terrible moment in history.
So, non-political, I would say that a movie couldn't be made, because the politics are too close and it would be pointless except as an example of Hollywood hubris.
i hope not. but if it does somehow happen, i hope all the profit made will be put to charities of 9/11
Oh, i'll happen. Its shoulden't, but it will.
I'm with Mofo on this. The documentary load fills the gaps nicely. And while doc's can be propaganda, too, i think we have anouth that arn't, to fill the gap.
The one , hosted by Deniro, is a great example of a humane doc. Lets leave it at that.
There will be a movie made, no doubt about it. Maybe the movie will use real footage and just be a straight edge movie. No inter office romance, no evil angryu boss, not willing to give raises, who gets it in the end. If only the movie werent made in Hollywood...
But I do think movies should be made. You all point to Pearl Harbor, but what about things like Black Hawk Down (not very political) Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, Titanic. All well done films that remind how s**tty wars are, and how we must stand against dictators and terrorists of huumanty.
I would hope a WTC movie would also include the Pentagon, while not as cataclysmic, it still is always forgotten
Evan3 wrote:
>
> But I do think movies should be made. You all point to Pearl
> Harbor, but what about things like Black Hawk Down (not very
> political) Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, Titanic. All well
> done films that remind how s**tty wars are, and how we must
> stand against dictators and terrorists of huumanty.
Evan3, don't forget PEARL HARBOR was not about a war at all. It was a 2 hour long love story with the Pearl Harbor incident as the backdrop only and was not the FOCAL POINT of the story. Sorry, that's not a war movie. If it's going to be titled PEARL HARBOR, then it has to be that. Now if you think PEARL HARBOR was well done, it's your opinion. But some of us have felt it was all folly; it was supposed to be about the well-known attack but no, it was all about romance. When you have a scene of Josh Hartnet uttering, "I think World War 2 just started", you just know you are wallowing in typical Hollywood crap. But what do you expect of the writing from Randall Wallace, the same who was responsible for the s**tty script of BRAVEHEART! Nothing, that's what! Now if you want a good war movie about Pearl Harbor, take a good look at TORA! TORA! TORA! and you'll get the real story.
Now SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, BLACK HAWK DOWN , and GETTYSBURG are war movies. No crappy romance and no dumb subplots. It was war; gritty and realistic. But I felt BLACK HAWK DOWN was not that good; to pretencious and doesn't live up to the hype so you won't hear me say too many good things about that movie. As for TITANIC, it's not a war movie but it's based on a real incident. But even TITANIC was too full of the usual romance and long stretch pacing that was really quite boring (however, James Cameron did do his research on the actual incident so I will give him credit).
So if they do a movie about 9/11, it better not have a love story, sterotypical characters, and a bad script. I don't think it would kill all these Hollywood honcho's to actually put some effort into it. But then, look at PEARL HARBOR and I think you will see my point as why I agree their should be no film about 9/11. We have plenty of documentaries and photos to go by at this time.
There definitely will, some day. It is going to happen as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow. Any national historic event that huge will absolutely have scores of books written about it (there already are for the September 11 attacks), and will have at least one and probably several films. The question is only how long? Will it take 18 years, like it did for D-Day? Will it take 130 years like it did for Gettysburg? I would bet that within a decade.
Now, SHOULD there be a movie made? Of course, IF. I think there should be a movie made about all major historical events IF they are well done. That's the only criteria I have. They can be of any slant they want, from any viewpoint, , whatever... So long as they are well done. I would PREFER that they get the facts right too, but I think it's possible to do a good historical movie where the facts aren't perfect.
Just please: I don't want to see two FDNY guys (one of whom was presumed dead while fighting the Hezbollah on a volunteer basis) getting asked by General Doolittle to drop into Tora Bora and paint smart-bomb targets with a laser designator. That would be too much for me.
Of course there will.
And of course it will suck.
We all lived our own 9/11 movies and to have such life-changing experiences twisted and bent into a Hollywood formula will feel like a profound violation.
BTW, I live in Brooklyn and work in midtown Manhattan and sure don't need a movie (which will probably star Ben Affleck and J-Lo as courageous office workers in a Towering Inferno-like epic) to tell me what I lived thru.
But hell, that's probably what GIs thought after WWII. Reality fades and comes back at us as pop culture. That's our society and it ain't gonna change any time soon.
It will happen in the next decade most likely and it naturally would be utter crap so rotten it's a crime against humanity (a la Pearl Harbor)
There will be one, a huge three or so hour epic filled with all kind of stars.
Version One
History will be revised (i.e. hundreds of thousands of ISLAMIC firefighters and ISLAMIC NYC citizens will be seen rushing in to save lives), the hijacking/hijackers will never been seen (i.e. don't want to offend the ISLAMIC audience members) or explained (or if it is, then it will be inferred that a conspiracy is HIDING THE FACTS because, you know, this is all our fault and we LET IT HAPPEN). George (Shrub) Bush will be seen panicking on Air Force One and desparately trying to reach Dick Cheney so he can find out what to do.
Version Two
A harder edged, more REALISTIC version. The hijackers/hijacking is seen, the brutal torture of passengers and crew recreated in loving detail so we know that these EVIL DOERS were DOING EVIL when they comitted the EVIL that they did (they will also sweat a lot, so they look even MORE slimy when DOING their EVIL). Evey ISLAMIC citizen in America will be show dancing in the streets with joy after the attacks, where angered RIGHTEOUS CITIZENS swarm over them and turn them into pavement stains shaped like people. AMERICAN FLAGS will be seen flying everywhere. Leigh Greenwood's song will play over a montage of AMERICAN FLAGS raised by children, weeping adults, and minority groups (this will be the only time you see them, all characters will be played by white performers except for the sacrificial deaths, then the coloreds are okay). Charlton Heston IS RUDY, the Mayor of Amer...er, NEW YORK!!!, although he can't remember where the Two Towers used to be and continually asks for help from a Dr. Zera.
Or the Fox MINI-Series, which had Martin Balsam instead of Charlton Heston...
which tries to play both sides at once with crappy effects, tasteless over use of stock footage and an ending that calls for increased tolerance and understanding. Many ISLAMIC Americans will be seen raising flags. Everybody has a group hug and vows to behave. Many chastised bigots and extremeists will feel small and look at their feet as this happens. There will be a disclaimer dedicating the movie to ALL heroes and victims of that sad and tragic day.
Well my cynical rant may offend some, but frankly I can't see an honest mass market depiction of the events of the day without some pandering, preaching, or political slant.
But a movie WILL be made...
What was the movie that some idependent filmmakers made about a school shooting? I remember seeing it for sale on amazon.com but I completely forgot the name of it.
Are you thinking of Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore? BTW, the current Forbes has a sidebar item showing that BfC at times takes liberties with the facts (e.g., Moore couldn't set up a bank account and get a gun, he did have to go through a background check.)
There will be many movies made about this event, because there are many stories to tell; what happened in NY, the Pentagon, Pennsylvania.
I don't mind there being movies; art (and movies are an art form, though Hollywood is usually doing the equivalent of Elvis on black velvet) helps us reflect, remember and understand the past. I can't see anything happening soon though, it is just too recent.
As far as another "Pearl Harbor" fiasco, remember that Tora! Tora! Tora! came out in 1970, a much better version of events. Just keep Ben Affleck off the project.
I think it'll probably happen. I also think it could be done well, if, as you said, it wasn't given the Pearl Harbor/Titanic treatment . I believe the films No Man's Land and Welcome to Sarjevo presented the tragic and horrible events surrounding the war in Bosnia fairly without being insulting or even having to use an Affleck. Could probably be done with 9/11.
Not only is it inevitable there will be multiple versions, some sensationalistic, some with a specific socio/political agenda and some that seek the "dramatic element"
Most typically there will be at least one version that follows the lives of various otherwise unrelated characters to cover every facet of the event. From the perspective of the widow of a NYFD officer to the guys on the flight that went down in PA and at least one office worker in the WTC that survived the impact and collapse. Someone else will be just about to get married or have a new born babe for the tearjerking angle.
Who needs a 911 movie. We captured every moment of it on video.
Just another way to profit off of tragedy.
It'll happen, and it'll be a realy bad cbs miniseries
Who needs a 911 movie. We captured every moment of it on video.
Just another way to profit off of tragedy.
***** That's not fair. By that logic, nobody can make a movie about a real life tragic event without trying to "profit off of tragedy." Was Spielberg profiting off tragedy when he made Schindler's List? How about the people who made Cry Freedom about Steven Biko in Apartheid South Africa? Were they just making a buck off a man's sacrifice? Of course not.
September 11 comemorative plates (yes - I saw them advertised) are profiting off tragedy. A film about that day MIGHT fall into that category if they did some quick job movie of the week with Powers Boothe and Tiffany Amber Thiessan... but a well made, thought provoking movie about it would be fine.