I had to watch the whole series twice, mainly to identify the "good" and "bad" players. It certainly doesn't speak well of the CIA. Amazing performances, by all players, but Jeff Daniels and Tahar Rahim were outstanding. Curious about Ali Soufan, I watched several interviews with him, and Tariq nailed his accent/speech totally. We all know how it ended, but this series adds to the human element, the frustration and ultimate sadness.
98 Reviews
Fascinating insight yet tragic for the entire world
Ed-Shullivan16 July 2019
Who could ever fathom that the main reason the terrorists of al-Qaeda lead by the independently wealthy Osama bin Laden would have cost so many lives to be lost in the air attacks that occurred on September 11th, 2001, could have been neutralized only if the American CIA and FBI intelligence agencies would have shared vital information between their respective and unfortunate independent intelligence operations.
This is a well acted ten (10) part mini-series that is based on actual events and many of the key American and foreign personnel who were actively involved in the gathering of intelligence on terrorists such as al-Qaeda.
Mrs. Shullivan and I were glad to see that much of the horrific events that occurred on September 11th, 2001, were not the focus of this mini-series, but rather how the events leading up to this tragic day in the history of mankind evolved over the preceding years and by the key players responsible for fighting the terrorists organizations such as al-Qaeda.
This is most definitely a must see. A 9 out of 10 rating
This is a well acted ten (10) part mini-series that is based on actual events and many of the key American and foreign personnel who were actively involved in the gathering of intelligence on terrorists such as al-Qaeda.
Mrs. Shullivan and I were glad to see that much of the horrific events that occurred on September 11th, 2001, were not the focus of this mini-series, but rather how the events leading up to this tragic day in the history of mankind evolved over the preceding years and by the key players responsible for fighting the terrorists organizations such as al-Qaeda.
This is most definitely a must see. A 9 out of 10 rating
A chance to feel
jshoaf21 April 2018
The last episode, which begins when the first plane hits (not a spoiler), brought me up against my own memories of 9/11. My son was in the city, and on that day I worried about him and listened to him on the phone. Aside from that, I was numb. It seemed utterly incomprehensible that this should have happened. Who? Why? How? Equally incomprehensible was the speed with which these questions were in fact answered, for reasons the Hulu series makes clear: the answers were already at the fingertips of various players who didn't know what to do with them (though the finale implies that various parties were prepared to exploit the bombing instantly). The series begins at the (or a) beginning, including the Kenyan embassy bombing, the USS Cole bombing, and interactions among the players on both sides. The questions have been answered, the lines drawn in such a way as to meet at this point, with the bombings. As I watched the last episode, I was able to feel for the people I love who were breathing that dust that day. I could finally weep for them, as well as for John O'Neill and Ali Soufan, whom I had not known about until now.
Thoughtful Take on the Rise of Jihadism
pseawrig18 March 2018
I started watching this show because Jeff Daniels always delivers. He continues to do so here.
The miniseries presents a thought provoking picture of how the CIA and the FBI had conflicting ideas about how best to oppose Al Qaeda in the late 1990s and 2000. It suggests that these agencies' inability to work together created opportunities for Jihadism to fester and grow. This part of the series is powerful and well realized.
Less interesting are its forays into the private lives of its main characters. I'm 4 episodes in and still don't get the point of these subplots. I see how these interludes show the softer and messier sides of these characters lives, but they don't seem to have anything at all to do with the larger story of Al Qaeda's rise. As a result, these parts feel like filler in what would otherwise be a very tight, well focused political drama.
That said, this show does a fine job of assessing where our country's intelligence agencies, media, and citizenry succeeded and where we failed when it came to Al Qaeda. It's a sobering and fascinating story. As I watch, I keep thinking, "How did our world manage to get so very screwed up!"
The miniseries presents a thought provoking picture of how the CIA and the FBI had conflicting ideas about how best to oppose Al Qaeda in the late 1990s and 2000. It suggests that these agencies' inability to work together created opportunities for Jihadism to fester and grow. This part of the series is powerful and well realized.
Less interesting are its forays into the private lives of its main characters. I'm 4 episodes in and still don't get the point of these subplots. I see how these interludes show the softer and messier sides of these characters lives, but they don't seem to have anything at all to do with the larger story of Al Qaeda's rise. As a result, these parts feel like filler in what would otherwise be a very tight, well focused political drama.
That said, this show does a fine job of assessing where our country's intelligence agencies, media, and citizenry succeeded and where we failed when it came to Al Qaeda. It's a sobering and fascinating story. As I watch, I keep thinking, "How did our world manage to get so very screwed up!"
Unwatchable Hollywood tropes - Can't stick to the gripping story of the topic.
Rob-O-Cop27 April 2018
This is a story that needs no embellishments, needs no gumshoe detective cliches, no bedroom scenes, no affairs, no fabricated personal dramas, yet that is all that the first 2 episodes of this show has delivered. I don't need to see Jeff Daniels character carrying on with multiple women well out of his league, sweating over women half his age, it adds nothing to the story and worse takes away from it.
Bill Camp's fictional liaison with a character who never existed in the Kenyan embassy. Why???, It just pads out an already complicated and hard to follow story with fictitious Hollywood cliche 'drama' that we get from 1000 other shows that don't have this massive real story as their theme.
I wouldn't mind it if it had some relevance to the real story, but it's done so badly that it making the show unwatchable. We want to follow the events of the real life story but are bogged down in the good cop bad cop, philandering husband, cheesy hook ups carry on, done so dumbly and aimed at an audience of stupids, that the core story, and our will to follow it is lost.
There is a massive story to tell here, but not only can't we look to the Looming tower to tell it, we can't even wade our way through it's 10 badly paced episodes to filter the fact from the fiction.
A Superb Drama with Lots of Tension
leftbanker-115 March 2018
So we all know now that the CIA screwed up royally. We knew all of the 9/11 characters way before that infamous date. Because two American agencies couldn't act like adults a team of terrorist losers were running around the USA doing whatever they wanted. This is now a historical fact.
I love how they give the moronic coverage of the Monica Lewinsky "scandal" as holding precedence over these matters vital to national security. Republicans investigated Clinton for eight solid years. Imagine if they had put even a fraction of that effort into fighting terrorism.
I don't love how they accentuate the sex side of the story, even when it really isn't part of the story. Does anyone really want to see a very old Jeff Daniels as a gigolo? We get it, the guy was a complete sociopath when it came to women, but we don't need or want to know it.
The actor playing Richard Clark is a dead ringer. I'm glad they painted him to be the hero he was.
Tahar Rahim was a brilliant choice to play Ali Soufan, a guy whose career I have followed since reading a great article in the New Yorker about him and the U.S.S. Cole bombing (Query: The Agent New Yorker).
Every single actor, at every step in the narrative is excellent, and more importantly, believable.
Very accurate portrayal of life in Yemen and the investigation of the Cole bombing.
The final interrogation with Ai Soufan and the former bodyguard for UBL was masterful and a perfect way to end the series.
I love how they give the moronic coverage of the Monica Lewinsky "scandal" as holding precedence over these matters vital to national security. Republicans investigated Clinton for eight solid years. Imagine if they had put even a fraction of that effort into fighting terrorism.
I don't love how they accentuate the sex side of the story, even when it really isn't part of the story. Does anyone really want to see a very old Jeff Daniels as a gigolo? We get it, the guy was a complete sociopath when it came to women, but we don't need or want to know it.
The actor playing Richard Clark is a dead ringer. I'm glad they painted him to be the hero he was.
Tahar Rahim was a brilliant choice to play Ali Soufan, a guy whose career I have followed since reading a great article in the New Yorker about him and the U.S.S. Cole bombing (Query: The Agent New Yorker).
Every single actor, at every step in the narrative is excellent, and more importantly, believable.
Very accurate portrayal of life in Yemen and the investigation of the Cole bombing.
The final interrogation with Ai Soufan and the former bodyguard for UBL was masterful and a perfect way to end the series.
Entertaining
mageh2 March 2018
The Lead Up to 9-11, Combined With Soap Opera Romance
silence-2622 March 2018
I'm both a Jeff Daniels fan and something of a political junkie, and so I really was looking forward to The Looming Tower. It's an engrossing story, but for the life of me I can't understand why they felt the need to muck it up with soap opera-ish romance filler.Did we really need to know about everyone's affairs, or the budding romantic relationships experienced by on-the-go government agents? How in the world did the writers conclude that such fodder would be necessary in order to keep people interested in the events that led to 9-11? The history of this great American catastrophe really needed some romantic spice to keep people's interest? I don't know what the writers were thinking, but they took magnetic subject matter, and some terrific actors, and seemed to have made a mess of it with soap opera silliness.
Amazing
sterlingmastif5 January 2020
BLOOMING CRAZY STUFF
MadamWarden10 July 2020
This is an excellent series with great acting and direction. This is not a Hollywood action series. This is a thoughtful, insightful and elegantly made depiction of the incredible incompetence of the USA intelligence services. A must see if you really want to see the consequence of bureaucracy and petty politics. Unbelievable and shocking.
Too Slow To Ever Get Anywhere
zkonedog26 April 2018
A couple of years ago, I read the novel "The Looming Tower" and considered it to be one of the best books I had ever read at synthesizing what terrorism was all about and pinpointing exactly what may have gone wrong in the prevention (or lack thereof) of what happened on 9/11/01. Understandably, I was thrilled when I saw that the book was getting the miniseries treatment.
Sadly, this miniseries just never really "worked". Despite a pretty solid first episode, and a similar finale, the episodes in between were slow and methodical (as well as focusing on all the wrong things, it seemed). I was never bored to the point of completely tuning out...but at times it got close to that point.
For a basic plot summary, the series looks at the buildup to 9/11, most specifically focusing on the lack of intel-sharing between the FBI and the CIA, and how that created glaring deficiencies for both sides that may have helped prevent the tragic attacks.
I think that the biggest problem with "The Looming Tower" is that, inexplicably, it throws away its best material in favor of subplots that are a drag. When the characters played by Jeff Daniels & Peter Sarsgaard are on screen together or brooding about each other separately, the show really does work. Similarly, Tahar Rahim often steals the show as an FBI agent working in the field, often breaking misperceptions about radical Islam. Had the show only featured these two things, I honestly think it would have been the better for it.
Instead, however, far too much time is given to exploring Daniels' relationship with multiple women, as it is a plot that doesn't really lead anywhere in the end. I also think it was a mistake to inlace so many cast members. Large casts can (and often do) work in TV series, but only when they are all given the time to provide something interesting to the mix. In only 10 episodes here, I felt like the show was bursting at the seams with characters, yet only having really compelling things for a few of those characters to do. The fact that the show's "B-plot" (Soufan in the field) ends up being ultimately more compelling than the "A-plot" (Daniels's O'Neil & the FBI) speaks volumes.
Overall, then, I have to say that "The Looming Tower" was a major disappointment for me. The concept behind it is so interesting and important that I really wanted it (and gave it every opportunity) to be better than it actually turned out. Fans of the topic will probably be able to glean at least something interesting from the proceedings, but I don't think this is one that will stand the test of time by a long shot.
Sadly, this miniseries just never really "worked". Despite a pretty solid first episode, and a similar finale, the episodes in between were slow and methodical (as well as focusing on all the wrong things, it seemed). I was never bored to the point of completely tuning out...but at times it got close to that point.
For a basic plot summary, the series looks at the buildup to 9/11, most specifically focusing on the lack of intel-sharing between the FBI and the CIA, and how that created glaring deficiencies for both sides that may have helped prevent the tragic attacks.
I think that the biggest problem with "The Looming Tower" is that, inexplicably, it throws away its best material in favor of subplots that are a drag. When the characters played by Jeff Daniels & Peter Sarsgaard are on screen together or brooding about each other separately, the show really does work. Similarly, Tahar Rahim often steals the show as an FBI agent working in the field, often breaking misperceptions about radical Islam. Had the show only featured these two things, I honestly think it would have been the better for it.
Instead, however, far too much time is given to exploring Daniels' relationship with multiple women, as it is a plot that doesn't really lead anywhere in the end. I also think it was a mistake to inlace so many cast members. Large casts can (and often do) work in TV series, but only when they are all given the time to provide something interesting to the mix. In only 10 episodes here, I felt like the show was bursting at the seams with characters, yet only having really compelling things for a few of those characters to do. The fact that the show's "B-plot" (Soufan in the field) ends up being ultimately more compelling than the "A-plot" (Daniels's O'Neil & the FBI) speaks volumes.
Overall, then, I have to say that "The Looming Tower" was a major disappointment for me. The concept behind it is so interesting and important that I really wanted it (and gave it every opportunity) to be better than it actually turned out. Fans of the topic will probably be able to glean at least something interesting from the proceedings, but I don't think this is one that will stand the test of time by a long shot.
This Is Entertainment - NOT A Documentary!
neener37077 March 2018
It boggles my mind to see people talking about authenticity and fact-checking when even in the beginning of the episodes it clearly states that some of it is fictionalized! I am enjoying it so far, because that I understand that this is not a factually correct and historic documentary, its a TV show made for entertainment purposes, and I surely found this entertaining. The characters are all unique and create an entertaining story, one that is still relevant today, how our government offices have failed us. To be fair, when one hears Alex Gibney's name, they think of documentaries of similar subject matters, but this is a dramatization, so some is inaccurate, but in my knowledge from reading the book this is based on, it is around 70% accurate.
The story is compelling, a bitter rivalry between the FBI and CIA starting in 1998 and leading up to 9/11, an event that could have been prevented if only they had shared certain information with each other. Not only do we get a story of the hunt for al-Qaidah cells and Bin Laden, we also get the story of the personal lives of the agents involved. Right off the bat, the series had my attention with a strong opening scene and kept my attention. All the actors are well respected (for the most part) and do a great job portraying their characters. I am fully interested in watching this series to the very end, I find it very interesting so far.
I would recommend it.
The story is compelling, a bitter rivalry between the FBI and CIA starting in 1998 and leading up to 9/11, an event that could have been prevented if only they had shared certain information with each other. Not only do we get a story of the hunt for al-Qaidah cells and Bin Laden, we also get the story of the personal lives of the agents involved. Right off the bat, the series had my attention with a strong opening scene and kept my attention. All the actors are well respected (for the most part) and do a great job portraying their characters. I am fully interested in watching this series to the very end, I find it very interesting so far.
I would recommend it.
I hope we are doing it different now, I fear we are not
rremmele8 April 2018
Aside from the excellent way it showed how the CIA and the FBI would not work together, they both had bad ideas of how to handle it. The CIA was mostly academic and the FBI was mostly just knock down doors. Both had the wrong prescription. I hope they are all doing it differently and together, but I fear that they are not. Bush didn't want to be "batting at flies" and I fear that Trump doesn't want to either.
Condaleesa Rice's comment after the Twin Towers that "no one would have thought that someone would do that" is particularly galling, because in fact a person on her staff who was the old Security Advisor would have told her just that if she ever took time to listen and take him seriously. History should really reconsider what it is now saying about her in light of these revelations.
The timing of the episodes seem perfectly timed to what was going on. It showed how we really didn't have much of a clue and the lack of sharing made each less knowledgeable and less able to get the needed incite.
Condaleesa Rice's comment after the Twin Towers that "no one would have thought that someone would do that" is particularly galling, because in fact a person on her staff who was the old Security Advisor would have told her just that if she ever took time to listen and take him seriously. History should really reconsider what it is now saying about her in light of these revelations.
The timing of the episodes seem perfectly timed to what was going on. It showed how we really didn't have much of a clue and the lack of sharing made each less knowledgeable and less able to get the needed incite.
Disappointing
Siddhartha149 March 2018
This could have been good but it simply is not. Every moment I watch this I feel like they are trying to wring the story dry of all the things that are actually interesting. Do we care about Jeff Daniels' marriage or his girlfriend? Answer: we do not. HULU did a very poor job of telling and casting this story, a story that actually has relevance for all of us. But not the sleazy lives of the various characters. This is not interesting and it's a huge turn off for this series. It's unfortunate because it could have been good.
Solid performances in an interesting expose
robertemerald1 October 2018
Jeff Daniels was a revelation to me in The Newsroom .... fast, exciting, punchy, intelligent .... so I came to this show with that impression as something of a bias. I wasn't disappointed. Just as with The Newsroom there are dramatic fillers with relationships that run parallel to the main story, so here as well, but such relationships are relevant for the most part, or just down right interesting if not. The show starts with an advantage given that this drama is based on fact. It doesn't disappoint, we see how law enforcement and terrorist goals evolve, we see human frailty, and we see the tragedy. To me, that is why we need such shows, perhaps as much as we need written history, and freedom to enjoy them in an open society. I can honestly say that I found it difficult not to move on to the next episode, even as the hour crept beyond my own sensible viewing time.
High quality professional drama and this year's must see.
High quality professional drama and this year's must see.
compelling history
SnoopyStyle22 November 2018
It's 1998. Martin Schmidt (Peter Sarsgaard), the head of the CIA's Alec Station, maintains a tight hold on intelligence despite directives to share with the FBI. John O'Neill (Jeff Daniels) is his counterpart in the FBI's I-49 unit in New York investigating Al-Qaeda. Ali Soufan (Tahar Rahim) is one of a few fluent Arabic speakers in the FBI who becomes O'Neill's trusted protégé. This follows the competing branches as Al-Qaeda mounts more and more attacks.
There are some eye-opening revelations. I've heard about a few of these issues but it's another thing to see them put together on the screen. There is an obvious slant to the material and some of it is too slanted. Nevertheless, these are compelling characters in a real history thriller. There is a doomed moodiness in the inevitable ending. I find myself tired of the 9/11 rehash at times especially the hijackers' side of the story which added very little in my opinion. It may be necessary but I ended up fast forwarding some of it. Ali's story is compelling. I'm less compelled by John's personal life. Martin is too much of a caricature. This is powerful at times and a needed history lesson.
There are some eye-opening revelations. I've heard about a few of these issues but it's another thing to see them put together on the screen. There is an obvious slant to the material and some of it is too slanted. Nevertheless, these are compelling characters in a real history thriller. There is a doomed moodiness in the inevitable ending. I find myself tired of the 9/11 rehash at times especially the hijackers' side of the story which added very little in my opinion. It may be necessary but I ended up fast forwarding some of it. Ali's story is compelling. I'm less compelled by John's personal life. Martin is too much of a caricature. This is powerful at times and a needed history lesson.
Outstanding & underrated
johnwiu6 December 2020
If you have not seen this please do so... now. Do not give up after 1, 2 or 3 episodes & then be that guy who gives this a 5, 6 or 7 on the scoreboard. Watch it all the way through because it gives you a much different perspective on how things went down. Of course it isn't perfect, but I don't think a better job could have been done. Especially the guy who plays Ali who kinda makes me look at Islam as a whole in a much more peaceful, wholesome way as a Christian.
Accurate, and can be applied to current fails!
rsvp3212 March 2018
I've watched the first three episodes, and found them to be very entertaining.
Highlights the political bureaucracy in the higher echelon of these organisations - that we continued to see since 2001, the most obvious being the Boston Marathon kerfuffle, and the recent Florida screw up.
Highlights the political bureaucracy in the higher echelon of these organisations - that we continued to see since 2001, the most obvious being the Boston Marathon kerfuffle, and the recent Florida screw up.
Good show, but not as great as the book
paolo-severini-11 April 2018
When I read that there was a TV adaptation of Lawrence Wright's book I had great hopes. The result is not disappointing, the show is quite good, Jeff Daniels is perfect in his role and the story of John O'Neill is perfect for a movie.
But the writers decided to focus only on the final part of the book, which details the internal wars between CIA and FBI which allowed the 9/11 plans to proceed unchallenged. The first part of the book, which describes the history of bin Laden and al Qaeda, starting from the ideology of Qutb, would have been much more interesting to understand what is going on in the world today. But I understand that story would be perhaps more suitable for a documentary than for a TV show, but it's a story that Wright wrote beautifully at that will deserve to be put on screen someday.
Superb reminder of the dangers of religious fanaticism
Vindelander13 March 2020
Outstanding piece of film making with great acting and due observance of the known facts. A poignant reminder of that dreadful day and very revealing about the internal wrangling between the FBI and CIA.
Highly recommend this.
Highly recommend this.
Arabic Dialect!
insider_ksa4 January 2020
Compelling
pking-494571 February 2022
A great insight into the self serving American bureaucracy and their buck passing.
I am stunned that the security of American citizens was in control of so many egomaniacs. Absolutely no flow of communication between anyone.
It is remarkable, considering the amount of intelligence that was harnessed, that this occurred and that the death toll wasn't greater.
I am stunned that the security of American citizens was in control of so many egomaniacs. Absolutely no flow of communication between anyone.
It is remarkable, considering the amount of intelligence that was harnessed, that this occurred and that the death toll wasn't greater.
A bit clumsy but interesting nonetheless
grantss16 September 2021
A series that tracks the events leading up to the World Trade Centre attacks of 11 September 2001. In particular, the adversarial relationship between the CIA and the FBI is examined. This relationship ultimately prevents the FBI from gaining information which could have prevented the attacks and loss of life.
A series with an intriguing premise: that the CIA and FBI could have prevented 9/11 but rivalries, egos, agendas and politics ensure a collaborative relationship did not exist and thus vital information is withheld, allowing 9/11 to take place. This dramatized series does examine that, though not in entirely convincing fashion.
While much of the series is fairly plausible, and true to history, there are a few things which detract from this. The producers make it clear that the FBI are the good guys, CIA bad. CIA staff are largely cartoonish villains, while the FBI are white knights. Martin Schmidt, the main CIA provocateur (played by Peter Sarsgaard), is off-the-charts in terms of psychopathic / sociopathic behaviour, losing the show credibility almost from the get-go. This continues with other CIA characters too.
The performance of Tahar Rahim as Ali Soufan also lets the series down. I found him unconvincing, though some of the dialogue he is given doesn't help either. He also provides for much of the padding in the series through the many scenes of his private life. Like the scenes involving John O'Neill's (Jeff Daniels) private life, these add nothing to the series. Just when the tension and intrigue click up a notch we have a few scenes of love-life stuff, ruining the momentum. The writers likely put these in to help our engagement with the characters but they largely reduce the engagement as the engagement feels forced and phoney.
There's also a clumsiness in some of the sub-plots. It's as if the producers couldn't trust us to empathise with or understand certain situations so felt they had to elaborately explain them to us. The sub-plot involving Robert Chesney and the CIA Head of Station in Nairobi is a great example of this.
One of the faults here might lie with co-creator Alex Gibney. His background is in documentaries, having given us some great ones, 'Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room' and 'Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown' being the picks of the bunch. So when it comes to drama he can't help but want to explain things like a documentary. Maybe he should have made this as a documentary.
This said, it is still fairly interesting. There are some great "What if?" moments and you can see how the rivalries and agendas contributed to the security failure. Politicians don't escape the blowtorch either...
In addition, the final episode is very powerful and pulls everything together very well.
I haven't read the book on which this is based, "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright, but apparently that largely details the build-up to 9/11 from an Al-Qaeda perspective. A series that covered that perspective, or showed both sides, would have been even more intriguing.
A series with an intriguing premise: that the CIA and FBI could have prevented 9/11 but rivalries, egos, agendas and politics ensure a collaborative relationship did not exist and thus vital information is withheld, allowing 9/11 to take place. This dramatized series does examine that, though not in entirely convincing fashion.
While much of the series is fairly plausible, and true to history, there are a few things which detract from this. The producers make it clear that the FBI are the good guys, CIA bad. CIA staff are largely cartoonish villains, while the FBI are white knights. Martin Schmidt, the main CIA provocateur (played by Peter Sarsgaard), is off-the-charts in terms of psychopathic / sociopathic behaviour, losing the show credibility almost from the get-go. This continues with other CIA characters too.
The performance of Tahar Rahim as Ali Soufan also lets the series down. I found him unconvincing, though some of the dialogue he is given doesn't help either. He also provides for much of the padding in the series through the many scenes of his private life. Like the scenes involving John O'Neill's (Jeff Daniels) private life, these add nothing to the series. Just when the tension and intrigue click up a notch we have a few scenes of love-life stuff, ruining the momentum. The writers likely put these in to help our engagement with the characters but they largely reduce the engagement as the engagement feels forced and phoney.
There's also a clumsiness in some of the sub-plots. It's as if the producers couldn't trust us to empathise with or understand certain situations so felt they had to elaborately explain them to us. The sub-plot involving Robert Chesney and the CIA Head of Station in Nairobi is a great example of this.
One of the faults here might lie with co-creator Alex Gibney. His background is in documentaries, having given us some great ones, 'Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room' and 'Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown' being the picks of the bunch. So when it comes to drama he can't help but want to explain things like a documentary. Maybe he should have made this as a documentary.
This said, it is still fairly interesting. There are some great "What if?" moments and you can see how the rivalries and agendas contributed to the security failure. Politicians don't escape the blowtorch either...
In addition, the final episode is very powerful and pulls everything together very well.
I haven't read the book on which this is based, "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright, but apparently that largely details the build-up to 9/11 from an Al-Qaeda perspective. A series that covered that perspective, or showed both sides, would have been even more intriguing.
Brilliant series
stevedudesp23 August 2019
[8.3] Those who knew, those who didn't know, those who acted
cjonesas4 April 2023
A very good fictionalized series with many touches of reality acting as a sort of 3-year prequel to 9/11. It's laced with reality, filled with emotions, heart-breaking, looming, threatening and full of sadness at the same time.
The acting is near top-notch, the feel, flow, vibe and sense of it like a pitch-black sky full of stars, the music & score up to the point, caressing and brutal to the ears and as episodes fly by, nearing the devastation, you cannot help but feel your heart and throat being clenched at the same time, your eyes becoming wet and for some, drops of tears rolling down their cheeks.
In those years, some people were concerned, some people warned and some people didn't listen...
The acting is near top-notch, the feel, flow, vibe and sense of it like a pitch-black sky full of stars, the music & score up to the point, caressing and brutal to the ears and as episodes fly by, nearing the devastation, you cannot help but feel your heart and throat being clenched at the same time, your eyes becoming wet and for some, drops of tears rolling down their cheeks.
In those years, some people were concerned, some people warned and some people didn't listen...
- Screenplay/story: 8
- Development: 8.5
- Realism: 8.5
- Entertainment: 8.5
- Acting: 8.5
- Filming/cinematography: 8.75
- VFX: 8.75
- Music/score: 8.5
- Depth: 8.5
- Logic: 6
- Flow: 8.5
- Drama / history: 8.5
- Ending: 8.
See also
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