I have never seen a WORSE production by National Geographic than this. I have lost respect for them after this awful DVD. They did not do their homework, nor did they connect the dots.

Very disappointing. Watch “9/11 – In Plane Sight” instead.

I purchased this video in hi hopes of getting a great product that National Geographic normally produces but I was very disappointed for several reasons that I will try to explain here. I know a lot of readers will not like this review but it is based on content and accuracy.

First of all, I did not expect any major revelation in this documentary and I understand the pressures that our government puts on mainstream productions and media but you would think that with the great reputation that N.G. has, and the fact that so much more information has come to light since 9-11, it would have been at least better and more educational then what we have seen in the `news’. It’s no surprise to me after watching this that the rave reviews come from the same media that propagated this production.

This documentary is nothing more than a carbon copy of the 9-11 Commission Report, like a three hour long commercial for the 9-11 commission, and it mimics that report almost word for word throughout the film. It’s like the 9-11 commission signed a movie deal after the hearings or something. A similar film by PBS (two stars) was made a couple of years ago titled “Why the Towers Fell” and again, that documentary was parroting the official FEMA building performance reports.

9-11 was the most documented event in history and there is hardly any picture or video evidence presented in this film on the actual events of that fateful day which leaves me to believe that much was intentionally left out. We have all already seen the images of planes flying into the towers followed by images of bin Laden’s face a million times on CNN and Fox `News’. It’s time we started asking some serious questions about the 9-11 `investigation’. If the right questions are not asked, then the truth will never be known and any educated person knows that in order to get the whole picture you should consider dissenting voices as well. This video was very one sided.

It was very disappointing to see that this is just another advertisement for the establishment’s position. I think that we have heard enough from the governments’ standpoint. If you have any doubts, just take a good look at their track record for telling the truth anyway.

There were several propaganda techniques in this film that were taken straight from Josef Goebles handbook and they included the use of repetitive images, the music technique implied in this film, and several instances of demonization of an entire race and religion. For example, every time they showed these waving pictures or video of bin Laden or any of the other Al-Qiada members that were shown, there was this dark music that was playing in the background, the type that you would expect from a horror film, and when they switched to someone in D.C. or GWB himself, you would hear this uplifting military marching band music. Very entertaining. Another example is the waving images of OBL, like a flag, that were shown with the dark music. Also, the very few people that they did interview on the first DVD were all government officials parroting the trash that we were already told by the mass media. These people were very opinionated, not rational or logical, and throughout this film certain clips were constantly repeated, as if we’re incapable of `getting it’ the first time. These are classical brainwashing techniques that you will recognize right away if you decide to watch this film. As an educated person looking for answers, I felt insulted by the use of these techniques.

The hard demonization of Islam in this film was just plain wrong as well. All sides had better start realizing that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all worship the same God. All sides have been guilty of not understanding the other. Fear begets more fear and ignorance serves as the vehicle of fear. This film tries to instill fear in Christians and Jews and I found that inappropriate as an educated born again Christian myself. Sorry for the religion, I normally don’t bring it up but I think it’s necessary in order to show where I’m coming from. In my opinion, I see no differences between organizations like Al-Qiada and the `Christian’ Coalition. They both prey on the ignorance of their followers and use fear to galvanize them.

There were also several instances that were taken out of context. The film does give you pieces of the truth like all propaganda does, like some dates and places of certain situations, but they conveniently left out about half of the story in order to turn it around to defend their position. This film would have you believe that all the blame should lie with the faulty intelligence community. Governments always blame their intelligence when things go wrong. This film says that several offices ignored the warning signs and therefore were at fault. Well, when you ignore something, it is by choice, choice being the key word here. In other words, when the gov’t claims that evidence was “ignored”, that is the same as admitting guilt by letting 9-11 happen. Same with ignorance. Ignorance is a voluntary state of mind and the word ignore comes from ignorance. Should we sacrifice the truth and divorce it from reality just in order to protect our interests or defend our position? I guess that will end up being the ultimate 9-11 question in the end. I know most people subject themselves to a ‘group think’ mentality and you may be thinking ‘conspiracy theory’ right now but I do not believe in those things. Conspiracy theory was just a word invented to discourage people from thinking for themselves anyway.

The better parts of the DVD were the actual interviews and stories from the survivors that were there. They are truely incredible individuals who deserve recognition and respect. This film did also include a lot of backgroung information on al-Qiada but again, N.G. was very selective on what they wanted to present to the viewer and fell short of the whole story.

In conclusion, I would infer that this was in fact NOT a National Geographic production but rather a propaganda piece put out there for `group-think’ consumption. N.G. should stick to giraffes and elephants and not get involved with politics because they will ultimately end up losing their credibility. This film was nothing more than good storytelling from the establishment side of the fence and I submit that the only thing that was hijacked in this film was the truth.

The DVD is ecellent. The review I refer to is written by KHEMIN on this page. It could have easily been the epilogue for this DVD. And it is not a minority view. Caesar’s (another reviewer) assertion that the CIA hung out in his town keeping an eye out wouldn’t surprise me in the least, considering the crew that hangs out there. I also have no doubt either that after September 11, 2001, there have been more CIA assigned to your neighborhood Caesar. Get used to it, pal.