After the planes hit on 9/11, Morgan Stanley security chief Rick Rescorla put into effect plans that he had developed years before. Rick had seen the potential for an airborne suicide attack on the twin towers as part of evaluating the risk posed to his wards within their building. After the attack in 1993 Rick took it personally to prepare and avoid the chaotic scenes that came with the 93 attack. This documentary tells the story of the man who predicted the 9/11 attacks and saved thousands of lives and died in the process.
Although it was notable in the UK that the 4th anniversary of 9/11 came and went with comparatively little fuss, it did mean that this film got screened as one of several "different" documentaries about the attack. Before watching this film the only thing I knew about Rescorla was a small note in a paper shortly after the event that Hollywood was looking to make a film about a Cornish man who had saved lives during the attack. However I watched this documentary enthralled by the life of this professional man who had simply and heroically done his job and had saved thousands in the process. The film spends a little time looking back at his life but unsurprisingly the focus is 9/11. The second half surprised me because I thought I would be jaded by the footage of 9/11 by now, but I wasn't it was still as impacting and as unbelievable as it was the very first time I saw it. Within this the film talks to the staff from Morgan Stanley who all talk about what happened and share their memories of Rescorla's actions. The story they tell of that day is enthralling and it is consistently engaging it is a simple story of heroics and it is fascinating as such.
The talking heads are all pretty good and are edited together well to paint the picture while the narration is level and helps the film avoid becoming sentimental. Overall this is a great documentary that tells one story of thousands of 9/11. It tells Rescorla's story in a level and balanced way that is free of sentiment and a very good testament to the simple, unassuming heroics of one man and much better than I imagine any dramatised version could do it.
Although it was notable in the UK that the 4th anniversary of 9/11 came and went with comparatively little fuss, it did mean that this film got screened as one of several "different" documentaries about the attack. Before watching this film the only thing I knew about Rescorla was a small note in a paper shortly after the event that Hollywood was looking to make a film about a Cornish man who had saved lives during the attack. However I watched this documentary enthralled by the life of this professional man who had simply and heroically done his job and had saved thousands in the process. The film spends a little time looking back at his life but unsurprisingly the focus is 9/11. The second half surprised me because I thought I would be jaded by the footage of 9/11 by now, but I wasn't it was still as impacting and as unbelievable as it was the very first time I saw it. Within this the film talks to the staff from Morgan Stanley who all talk about what happened and share their memories of Rescorla's actions. The story they tell of that day is enthralling and it is consistently engaging it is a simple story of heroics and it is fascinating as such.
The talking heads are all pretty good and are edited together well to paint the picture while the narration is level and helps the film avoid becoming sentimental. Overall this is a great documentary that tells one story of thousands of 9/11. It tells Rescorla's story in a level and balanced way that is free of sentiment and a very good testament to the simple, unassuming heroics of one man and much better than I imagine any dramatised version could do it.