Synopsis

On September 11, 2001, Port Authority police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno enter the World Trade Center to help evacuate civilians. When the towers collapse, both men become trapped beneath the rubble. As their families wait for news, rescuers search through the wreckage while the officers struggle to survive, sustained by determination and brief connections with those trying to reach them.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was made with the cooperation of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which supplied authentic uniforms and equipment and permitted filming at its headquarters.

• New York authorities prohibited the production from recreating the attacks or showing actors looking up at the towers from locations near Ground Zero. The collapse and rubble sequences were filmed in Los Angeles.

• Fifty real Port Authority police officers, New York City police officers, and firefighters, including some who had participated in the actual rescue effort, were brought to Los Angeles to appear in scenes showing rescuers moving through the wreckage.

• Marine Sergeant Dave Karnes, who searched for survivors at Ground Zero, was initially assumed by test audiences to be a fictional character. His story was real, and he later reenlisted in the Marine Corps and served in Iraq.

• The production became associated with a casting controversy involving Jason Thomas, a former Marine who helped rescue survivors but was not publicly identified when filming began. Because the filmmakers did not know his identity, another actor portrayed the character.

• Steve Buscemi had previously served as a New York City firefighter. After the attacks, he returned to his former firehouse and volunteered with crews searching the rubble for missing firefighters and victims.

• The movie was released in the United States on August 9, 2006, less than five years after the attacks. It was one of two major 2006 features about the September 11 attacks, alongside "United 93".