Terror in Moscow

This documentary has an eerie and surreal feel to it. Hundreds of Russians going to a theater in downtown Moscow to enjoy a musical. Certainly, none had any idea about what was about to transpire. Chechnyan terrorists would storm the stage and take the whole theater hostage. At first, the audience thought it was part of the show, but it was all too real. For several days, the audience sat in their seats, not allowed to move, as women dressed in all black with bombs strapped to them sat at the end of each row. Several men patrolled with machine guns, assuring all that they would in fact die soon. The hostages would run the gambit of emotions, fear, anger, sadness and finally apathy. There are so many sub-stories that are in this 60 minute documentary it is hard to believe. Mothers of victims who express anger and understanding for the very people that were responsible for the deaths of their loved one. Moreover, the tragic ending to this story will be the hardest thing to believe of all, although it did happen. Hundreds would die but not by gunfire or explosives. You will be locked into this real life story from start to finish. This is real drama and it is real sad.

Truly amazing. The movie tells the simple tragic story of a hostage situation in Moscow and how it went wrong. More importantly how it affected those involved.

I like how that tale was told in a very straight forward manner and the actual footage adds to the movie making it almost seem surreal.

One of the best documentaries I have ever seen.

I just want to agree with the last reviewer in saying this is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen (and I just watched it for the first time in 2012). I remember this event happening but had no idea of the full drama until I watched this brilliantly put together film. What makes this so powerful is down to the incredibly vivid accounts from selected survivors who suffered the ordeal. It is impossible not to empathise with these poor people who were unlucky enough to be in the theatre on that evening. They speak eloquently, describing how they felt at each horrific turn of event and we are left in no doubt of how this trauma will stay with them forever. Ten minutes in and I could already feel a hard knot of fear in my own stomach. For example, one survivor recalls how she could feel the entire row of seats vibrate underneath her as people realised they had been taken hostage and were physically trembling. From start to finish we get sensory descriptions like this and I found it impossible not to feel sickened and frightened. And if that wasn't enough, there is an abundance of video and photographic imagery provided that just makes it even more harrowing. It's not a subject I was even interested in and now I will never forget what these people went through. That for me is a measure of the quality of any documentary.