The Path to 9/11 (2006) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

David L. Cunningham

Writers:

John Miller (based in part on the book 'The Cell') &
Michael Stone (based in part on the book 'The Cell') ...

Release Date:

10 September 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

A television mini-series on the events leading up to the US terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. |

Plot Keywords:

September 11 2001 | Vice President | White House | Condoleezza Rice | Secretary Of State

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Harvey Keitel	...	John O'Neill
Michael Benyaer	...	Khalid Sheikh Mohammed / 'KSM'
Wendy Crewson	...	Valerie James
Shirley Douglas	...	Madeline Albright
Kevin Dunn	...	Samuel 'Sandy' Berger
Nabil Elouahabi	...	Ramzi Yousef
Mido Hamada	...	Massoud
Barclay Hope	...	John Miller
Frank John Hughes	...	Bill Miller
Dan Lauria	...	George Tenet
Amy Madigan	...	Patricia Carver
Art Malik	...	Colonel Raymond Malik
Michael Murphy	...	William Cohen
Stephen Root	...	Richard Clarke
William Sadler	...	Neil Herman

Runtime:

240 min | Finland:277 min (5 parts) | 263 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Urdu | Dari | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Germany:16 (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Marc Platt Productions

Trivia:

Shaun Toub, who portrayed Emad Salem (the FBI informant in the 1993 WTC Bombing) in this miniseries, also portrayed El Sayyid Nosair (one of the men responsible for the 1993 bombing) in Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing. (1997) (TV).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the hijackers' flight training, a pan shot shows an Independence Air jet in the background. Independence Air did not exist in 2001.

Quotes:

Colonel Raymond Malik: [regarding Ramzi Yousef] What do you want to do? Point fingers, make accusations? Or do you want to protect your wife and arrest this animal?

Movie Connections:

References Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing. (1997) (TV)

It was good

Having watched this docudrama, I can safely say that it was well produced, with good moments of dramatic tension and by-and-large the acting was top-notch. However, despite the excellent production standards there appears to be a flame war going on with people complaining about anti-Clinton bias while other contend that these people were silent with Mike Moore. Let me remind both sides that this docudrama portrays both sides as failing but that because Clinton was in power over a full eight years obviously there would be a greater focus on that period.

But looking away from the political issue, what the production showed was that those who operated in defending the United States each were complex characters. Some wanted immediate action while others wanted more time, looking at the legal issues while there were other characters (Clinton, Albright) who looked at the wider issues in play. This accurately reflects, in my opinion, the different nature of people in our world and it reflects accurately the different level of priority given to terrorism but both the Clinton and Bush Administrations over the period from 1993 to September 11 2001.