Film / DC 9/11: Time of Crisis

DC 9/11: Time of Crisis is a 2003 television movie which re-enacts the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks as seen from the point of view of the President of the United States and his staff. It was directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and starred Timothy Bottoms as President George W. Bush.

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D.C. 9/11: Time of Crisis provides the following tropes

• The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People: While the attacks weren't apocalyptic per se, it did unite Americans from all walks of life regardless of race, beliefs, and political views. This is evident when a sibling of a fireman killed on that day gives Bush his brother's badge, even stating while he didn't vote for Bush, he stands by with the President in his efforts to boost morale to a wounded nation.
• Badass Boast: President Bush gives one aboard Air Force One.
  Bush: "Whoever did this is not going to like me as president."
• Big Apple Sauce: Even though the film is merely set in D.C., New York City plays a significant role both in the background and on-screen.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: The U.S. Secret Service assigned to protect Bush since the President once served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War.
• Children Are Innocent: Bush appears to be calm while a Secret Service agent informs him of the attacks on the World Trade Center while reading a story to group of 4th Grades at the Emma E. Booker Elementary in Sarasota.
• Cool Plane: The VC-25 known Air Force One which Bush rides from Sarasota, Florida to Barksdale Air Force Base, Lousiana then to Offutt Air Base, Nebraska then finally back to Washington, D.C.
• Due to the Dead: Bush and the U.S. government give one to all those who perished in the terrorist attacks.
  • In one particular scene, Cheney informs Bush that United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pensylvannia after the passengers revolted to gain control of the plane. Bush then says "God bless those passengers" for their Heroic Sacrifice.
• Eagleland: The United States was united following 9/11, the first time Americans have placed differences aside since the attacks on Pearl Harbor 60 years prior. The crowd at Ground Zero shouts U-S-A after George W. Bush's "I Can Hear You" speech.
• Elaborate Underground Base: The Presidential Emergency Operations Center and the STRATCOM bunker beneath Offutt Air Base, Nebraska.
• Enemy Mine: Condoleezza Rice suggests to use this opportunity of anti-terror operations to improve diplomatic relations with Russia and the People's Republic of China, knowing these two countries are rivals with the United States and the West.
• Foreshadowing: Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, brings up the plan of invading Iraq in the future to dispose of Saddam.
• Historical Domain Character:
  • George W. Bush, 41st President of the United States (2001-2009)
  • Dick Cheney, 46th Vice President of the United States (2001-2009)
  • Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense (2001-2006)
  • Colin Powell, Secretary of State (2001-2006)
  • Norman Mineta^note portrayed by George Takei, Secretary of Transportation (2001-2006)
  • Paul O'Neill, Secretary of Treasury (2001-2002)
  • John Ashcroft, Attorney General (2001-2005)
  • Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor (2001-2005)
  • Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001-2005)
  • Ari Fliescher, White House Press Secretary (2001-2003)
  • Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI (2001-2013)
  • George Tenet, Director of the CIA (1996-2004)
  • Andrew Card, White House Chief of Staff (2001-2006)
  • Karl Rove, Senior Advisor to the President (2001-2007)
  • Karen Hughes, Counselor to the President (2001-2002)
  • Michael Gerson, speechwriter (2001-2006)
  • Mary Matalin, Counselor to the Vice President (2001-2002)
  • General Tommy Franks, Commander of the United States Central Command (2000-2003)
  • John McCain, Republican Senator from Arizona (1987-2018)
  • Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007)
  • Laura Bush, spouse of President Bush
  • In addition, Bush's twin daughters, Barbara Pierce and Jenna, are indirectly mentioned.
  • Bush can be seen speaking to New York Governor George Pataki and NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who appears on a stock footage news report aboard Air Force One.
• History Repeats: Rumsfeld was concerned the invading Afghanistan might result in another Vietnam not a "second" Desert Storm, knowing the Soviets suffered a costly war roughly for a decade. Fast forward to Present Day, he was correct.
• The Homeward Journey: For Secretary of State Colin Powell. He was in Peru for a working visit when the 9/11 attacks occurred. He returned back to D.C. within eight hours.
• Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: The 9/11 attacks occurred on a Tuesday.
• Prayer Is a Last Resort: George Bush can be seen praying alone aboard Air Force One.
  • Later that night, he is seen reading the Bible before going to sleep.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Cheney informs Bush that the fourth plane intended to crash at D.C. went down in rural Pennsylvania since the passengers took matters into their own hands to regain control of the plane. The passenger revolt would be dramatized in United 93 by 2006.
• Oh, Crap!: Happens several times
  • Bush can be seen appalled when a Secret Service agent informs him America is under attack.
  • Dick Cheney and the rest of the White House once they realize a plane is inbound for Washington...just as it disappears on the screen.
  • Bush's staff once they realize that Air Force One may have been compromised due to a mysterious aircraft approaching their position, though it later diverts.
  • Around 11:50 PM, Bush and the first lady are awoken and evacuated to the bunker as another aircraft was believed to be approaching the White House. It later turns out to be a false alarm though reasonably the Secret Service weren't taking their chances.
• Praetorian Guard: The United States Secret Service
• Rousing Speech: Bush gives three of them.
  • "A great people has been moved to defend a great nation". Bush's speech from the Oval Office addressing the American people and the world that terrorism will fail.
  • "I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you!". Bush appears in Ground Zero to boost the morale of the rescue workers and those who lost loved ones in the World Trade Center.
  • Bush's address to Congress on September 20, 2001.
• Scenery Gorn: Since it's a dramatization of the 9/11 attacks from the perspective of the U.S. government, we get to see the aftermath footage of the ruins of the World Trade Center, the damage of the Pentagon, and the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93.
• Shown Their Work: The film accurately depicts how the government responded to the attacks. Props that it is basically a dramatization from the The 9/11 Commission Report.
• Stock Footage: The film utilizes several stock footage from news sites and inserts them during significant transition scenes.
• Tempting Fate: During the beginning breakfast scene in The Pentagon, one of the Republican Senators wonder what threats the United States faces in the 21st century. Another one replies that threats come in the form of North Koreans with Nodongs, Persians with Pistols, Saddam Hussein, and cruise missiles. Terrorism was not mentioned despite the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the Khobar Tower attacks, the 1998 Embassy bombings, and the USS Cole bombing.
• We ARE Struggling Together: During a teleconference with George Tenet, director of the CIA, and Robert Mueller, director of the FBI from the bunker below Offutt AB, Bush is displeased to hear that the CIA and the FBI do not have information on who the culprits might be due to interagency rivalry between the two.