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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Zero: An Investigation into 9/11 (2008)

Zero: An Investigation into 9/11 (2008)

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Released 28-Sep-2009

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Documentary None
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2008
Running Time 104:18
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Ads Then Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Franco Fracassi
Francesco Tre
Francesco Trento
Studio
Distributor

Eagle Entertainment
Starring Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed
Philip Berg
Robert Bowman
Louie Cacchioli
Guilietto Chiesa
Brian Clark
Sibel Edmonds
Jurgen Elsasser
Dario Fo
Morris Ghiadoni
Dr. David Ray Griffin
Giuseppe Guardabasso
Barbara Honegger
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Zero: An Investigation Into 9/11 is a Italian documentary that derides the official version of events behind the 9/11/2001 attacks on the USA. The somewhat less catchy sub-title An Investigation into the Investigations into 9/11 would be a more accurate summation of the film's content. The titular Zero refers to the fact that there is "zero" scientifically justifiable objective evidence to support any of the official claims behind the 9/11 attacks.

    This is hardly a unique or controversial standpoint at this point in time, particularly amongst anyone with a rudimentary understanding of science or engineering or anyone willing to listen to the first-hand experiences of any tangible witnesses. Zero doesn't add anything substantial to the already widely published arguments about the events. What it does offer is a well-assembled and generally credible summary of the many arguments against the official version of events. Chiefly, what's wrong with the shonky official explanations about the collapse of the towers from an engineering perspective, the fact that examination of particles from ground zero suggest that a military grade thermite-type agent had been administered to the towers, the dubious claim that it was an airliner that hit the Pentagon, the dubious origins of "Al-Qaeda" and the list of hijacking suspects (particularly that many of them are alive and can prove they were elsewhere at the time) and the US Military connection to many of the suspects (along with the infamous "Visas for Terrorists" program).

    The film primarily relies on interview subjects to tell its tale, along with a staid British narrator. Most of the interview subjects are well chosen, particularly the eyewitnesses, engineers, pilots and bureaucrats, but the film makes some poor choices in its second half (mainly around the time of explaining the faults with the alleged suspect list) as it gets a couple of ranting Italian actors and Gore Vidal in to explain everything rather than anyone with a shred of credibility or objectivity.

    Like most conspiracy-themed documentaries, there are a lot more questions asked than answers given. As with pretty much every other 9/11 documentary around, the bulk of the film's arguments are aimed squarely at debunking the Official 9/11 myth, which, rather unfortunately, plays right into the hands of the myth-makers - keep everybody busy debunking the preposterous official fiction rather than investigating the actual events.

    Also worthy of a grumble is the silly echoing of ominous sound-bites accompanied by flashing text to reiterate certain points. Perhaps this tactic would have been effective if it had been used on occasion, but every couple of minutes the movie seems to feel obliged to add this ridiculous cheap effect.

    Zero: An Investigation Into 9/11 is a reasonable introduction into 9/11 conspiracy, but not nearly as well targeted or succinct as other fare that treads the same grounds (particularly the arguable benchmark Zeitgeist).

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The film is presented in its original broadcast 1.78:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The film looks pretty much exactly as you'd expect for a documentary shot on digital video. The image is clear and colouring bold.

    There are no noticeable video artefacts, although quality of the archival footage used is quite variable - everything from professional video to wonky security cameras and mobile-phone quality video is on offer at some point.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The film features a Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kbps) stereo audio track. Pretty basic stuff, but all that this sort of doco really needs.

    The dialogue is clearly discernable at all times and looks to be in sync to the video.

    There is no surround speaker usage. The subwoofer gets a little use from the bottom end of the score, but barely enough to warrant a mention.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    None, unless you count half a dozen trailers for other unrelated films. I don't.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 1 release appears on spec to be identical to the Region 4 release save for PAL/NTSC formatting.

Summary

    Zero: An Investigation Into 9/11 does a reasonable job of collating most of the popular conspiracy theories about 9/11 and provides a reasonable summation of International feeling towards the official 9/11 explanation. It doesn't offer anything new to any of the arguments and the later part of the documentary relies on some questionable choices of interview subject. The film is good introduction to 9/11 conspiracy theory, but pretty inessential to anyone familiar with the situation.

    Video and audio quality are fine. There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Adam Gould (Totally Biolicious!)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Review Equipment
DVDSony Playstation 3, using HDMI output
Display Samsung 116cm LA46M81BD. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL).
Audio DecoderPioneer VSX2016AVS. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX2016AVS
Speakers150W DTX front speakers, 100W centre and 4 surround/rear speakers, 12 inch PSB Image 6i powered sub

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