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In Memoriam

In Memoriam, New York City 9/11/01 on DVD

By Jim Bray

HBO’s documentary of that horrible day in the late summer of 2001 brings the massacre and its aftermath right into your home theater, and in the process is virtually guaranteed to both move and anger the audience.

The program is made up of footage of then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who had a camera crew with him on what was supposed to be a fairly slow day for him, relatively speaking. It’s augmented by interviews after the fact with Giuliani and his advisors, as well as with spectacular footage of the day’s events as they happened, collected from scores of amateur and professional photographers and videographers who were in the right (or is it wrong?) place at the right (or is it wrong?) time.

This is an emotional, visceral experience as we once again see the hijacked airliners-cum-missiles attack the World Trade Center - and thanks to the audio capabilities of the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack they (especially the second missile) strike with a gut-wrenching “BANG!” that, while you aren’t surprised to hear this sound in the distance, surprises you and hits you between the eyes with its power.

It’s all here, so far as the New York experience of the day is concerned (at least so far as one can imagine from thousands of miles away), and this DVD really deserves to be in every library lest we forget why the US and its allies find themselves now plunged into a war we didn’t want, but that we must fight and win.

Audio and video quality are excellent, though of course the video is presented in the 4x3 full screen aspect ratio that to date is still the most common for television and video presentations. And since the source videos vary in quality, so does the DVD's picture; ditto for the audio, though on the whole both picture and sound are first rate. There’s also some excellent musical accompaniment to the heart-rending visuals performed by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Slatkin.

Extras are limited to a plea for donations to the fund to benefit the victims’ families (profits from the DVD sales also go to the fund, which is an excellent incentive to buy the disc), as well as an interactive map of the area surround the WTC, with links to related audio/video clips. There’s also a DVD ROM component that lets you look at the 9/11 Tribute mosaic.

In Memoriam, from HBO Home Video
60 minutes, 4x3 fullscreen, Dolby Digital Surround

 

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Updated May 13, 2006