TWA Flight 800
July. 17,2013 PG-13A thought-provoking documentary about the ill-fated Trans World Airline Flight 800 to Paris, France, which exploded on July 17, 1996 just 12 minutes after takeoff from JFK International Airport, killing all 230 people on board. The special features six former members of the official crash investigation breaking their silence to refute the officially proposed cause of the jetliner's demise and reveal how the investigation was systematically undermined.
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Reviews
Too much of everything
Redundant and unnecessary.
A brilliant film that helped define a genre
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
I wanted to take a moment to thank all you the people involved in the film. Thank you for having the courage to stand up and speak out. It does count, people do notice, and you are appreciated.
One review on here takes the approach that "opinions predominate, facts are scarce." And yet in this "review", the author states, "It is clear that evidence that disproves the conspiracy theory is edited out." Nice opinion, but what facts are you saying are left out? He does not say. Cute.He continues, "Eye witnesses are presented as completely credible when research has shown that they are almost the least reliable evidence." Again, what research? You state none. I've read the eye witness accounts, separate from this film. When hundreds of people all see the same thing happen, from various vantage points, that makes them THE reliable evidence of what transpired. Not your phantom "research".Next comes the assertion that "body language indicates they are lying". Based upon what? You just typing it on a forum board makes what you say credible? Hardly. In the interviews, some look to be uncomfortable. But is that an indication of lying, or of recalling of a singular traumatic experience that may just haunt these people still? Again, not saying what I say is 100% accurate, but I am saying your take on their body language is from their lying is 100% false.In the end, you have a film that paints a very disturbing portrait of a government investigation that is lead by the wrong agency. That agency is not qualified to investigate the crash/explosion/loss of a commercial airliner. I also found it odd that the person in charge of the agency who should of been leading the investigation, hints that eyewitnesses were not called to testify before the government because that was part of the "FBI's criminal investigation". "Criminal investigation"? If it was an "accident", what crime could there have been? No, someone wanted this investigation "handled". My only problem with this documentary is the neglect of the possibilities as to "why" things happened. If it was a missile(s) then who shot them? If it were terrorists why cover it up? We'd already had a terroristic attack on our soil, so its not like it was the first time. The question that comes to my mind, is who was on the plane, and who didn't want them to leave the country? If it had had that, then you can say it was a conspiracy theory. As it stands, this movie is nothing more than a showing of the goofs, misdeeds, lies or utter stupidity of those whose job it wasn't to investigate this incident and the way they botched it.
I am really not a fan of conspiracy theories and I generally try to avoid documentaries like this one, but The flight 800 crash did happen within a half hour of my home. For six months after the crash the local media was filled with arguments and doubt over what happened. Now, 17 years removed, I decided to watch this film, with the hope of finally learning the truth and I think I did. When a handful of people see something, it's easy to pass them over as a bunch of nuts, but what happens when 1000 people see something? The First Amendment gives people the right to say anything, but when you're going against the U.S. Government, you'd better have the evidence to back it up, the producers of this film have that and then some. In this film, the lead NTSB investigator, on the job for more the 40 years said that the FBI was on the scene in minutes, that they wouldn't let anyone in, and once he was finally allowed to do his job, evidence was removed and he was not allowed to submit his report. Medical examiners, on the job for half a century explained that their investigation was hindered as well, and that the injuries didn't fit the story. The film makers not only had this outrageous testimony, but they had experts who said the Government story was impossible. They prove this with formerly classified documents, radar evidence, and witness testimony. There is no doubt that this plane was brought down by missiles, so why did the Government cover it up? If it was an act of terrorism, there would be no reason to cover it up. Not to mention, if it was an act of terrorism, how did they get three missiles and two boats, without anyone noticing? Finally, most compelling of all, when a terrorist group does something, they want everyone to know about it, but no one ever took responsibility for doing this, which leads me to believe it was our own Government. There is a naval base in that area, who would have had the capabilities of doing this, the only question is, did the U.S. Government sacrifice 149 people to kill one person who they didn't want leaving the country? I don't know and neither does anyone else, but the truth is that the families of the victims deserve to know how and why their loved ones were killed. How can anyone expect to have closure when their is such an obviously lie being thrown at them? It really is a shameful display of Government abuse and all I can say is that I hope the real story does come out one day.
I'm a research librarian who teaches information literacy to college students. Information literacy is essentially how to find, evaluate, and use credible information. There is such an onslaught of bogus information out there that it's sometimes hard to know what's actually true. One way is to look at primary source documents such as video, photographs, interviews and original research conducted at the time of events. Those involved with this documentary went to great lengths through such means as Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, to gather together primary source documents that, when viewed together with expert testimony from those directly involved in the original investigation, create a much more plausible scenario than the official findings released by the FBI and NTSB. I would be highly suspicious of one-star reviews stating things like "Opinions predominate, facts are scarce." I'm someone trained to know the difference and I can say quite confidently that this is not a "conspiracy film" based on innuendo and the convictions of those who hate and distrust the Federal Government. This is a well-researched documentary that asks us to consider an alternative conclusion to the one presented by the FBI and NTSB...a conclusion based on the actual evidence. I for one am convinced and I hope this film will generate enough public outcry to force the NTSB and FBI to reopen the investigation or at the very least, be more forthcoming about their actual findings.