A lot of documentaries have been made about the attack on the WTC, and most of them combine stock footage of the towrs before the attack, news footage of September 11, and interviews and recollections afterward. It is understandable that there isn't more, since the attack was not anticipated.

But these two films, which I have just recently watched on DVD, do have more. Each shows a squad of civil servants heroes in the weeks leading up to the attack. Neither filmmaker set out to record a disaster, but when it hit, the simpler story they thought they were showing was eclipsed by the events.

In 9/11 Jules and Gedeon Naudet were filming a "coming of age" story of a rookie firefighter's (Tony Benatatos) three months of probation. Benatatos was assigned to Ladder 7 which along with Truck 1 is nestled in the shadow of the WTC. One of the things that the Naudet brothers especially wanted to capture was Benetatos' first big fire, but he was what one of the veterans called "a white cloud rookie" -- who has an uneventful probationary period.

The film that became Twin Towers was originally a look at the NYPD's ESU (Emergency Services Unit), and in particular at a highly decorated officer (Joe Vigiano) who was its heart. We learn that Vigiano effected his first save at age 11, that he was shot in the chest on at least two occassions, and requested a transfer to ESU because that was where he could do the most good.

We also learn that his retired father was a Brooklyn firefighter, as was his older brother, John. We watch him accept a promotion a 1 Police Plaza and get a hero's ovation. He had three sons, and on September 1, he celebrated the baptism of the youngest.

Benetatos also celebrated a baptism on September 1 -- a baptism of fire, sort of. He finally attended his first fire. Or at least he finally got a chance to spray water on a flame. The firefighters made a big deal out of it for the sake of the documentary, since it was beginning to look like Benetatos was going to go through the entire three months without a "real" fire, but everyone knew that normally it wouldn't count.

On the morning of September 11, Truck 1 went out on a routine call concerning a possible gas main leak. Jules Naudet went along to film, mostly for practice. The incident was only about three blocks from the WTC, directly under the path that the first plane would take as it hit the North Tower. Thus it was that Naudet caught the only footage of the first plane hitting. He entered the lobby with the Truck 1 crew, but was ordered to stay with Chief Joseph Pfeifer at the command center, inside the lobby, rather than get in the firefighters' way.

Unlike Benetatos, Vigiano was off-duty that morning, so Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port were not able to document his decision to go to Ground Zero, or his determination to get everyone he could to safety and they had to rely more on news footage and interviews.

I think I should break off here or I may never finish. Watch the DVDs and see just how human real heroes can be.

I have the 9/11 DVD but haven't been able to bring myself to watch it yet. I saw it when it first aired on TV. Truly gripping in the midst of things.

Apparently in the televised version of 9/11, Robert DeNiro "hosted" the transitions into the commercial breaks. While he is still listed on some descriptions of the DVD, his segments are not included. As much as I enjoy DeNiro, it was, IMHO, probably a good decision to just allow the film to speak for itself.