United 93 (2006)

Director:

Paul Greengrass

Writer (WGA):

Paul Greengrass (written by)

Release Date:

28 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | History

Tagline:

September 11, 2001. Four planes were hijacked. Three of them reached their target. This is the story of the fourth.

Plot:

A real time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.

Plot Keywords:

Passenger | Flight | Terrorist | September 11 2001 | Hijacker

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

J.J. Johnson	...	Captain Jason Dahl
Gary Commock	...	First Officer LeRoy Homer
Polly Adams	...	Deborah Welsh
Opal Alladin	...	CeeCee Lyles
Starla Benford	...	Wanda Anita Green
Trish Gates	...	Sandra Bradshaw
Nancy McDoniel	...	Lorraine G. Bay
David Alan Basche	...	Todd Beamer
Richard Bekins	...	William Joseph Cashman
Susan Blommaert	...	Jane Folger
Ray Charleson	...	Joseph DeLuca
Christian Clemenson	...	Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
Liza Colón-Zayas	...	Waleska Martinez
Lorna Dallas	...	Linda Gronlund
Denny Dillon	...	Colleen Fraser

Also Known As:

Flight 93 (USA) (working title)
United 93 (USA)
Vol 93 (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, and some intense sequences of terror and violence (appeal planned).

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

France | UK | USA

Language:

English | Arabic | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | USA:R (certificate #41676) | Germany:12 | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Italy:T | Singapore:M18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIA | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | Argentina:13 | Philippines:R-13 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Australia:M | Iceland:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Denmark:15 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The filmmakers donated a percentage of the opening weekend proceeds to the Flight 93 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The actual amount donated turned out to be $1.15 million.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In several scenes, the altitude indicator ("artificial horizon") shows the aircraft in a climb, while shots through the windscreen show the aircraft in a dive. The scene is shot at a downward angle furthering the illusion of a dive.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ahmed Al Haznawi: [subtitled Arabic] Ziad. It's time.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in United 300 (2007)

A superb drama and tribute to those that died that day.

On September 11, 2001, four commercial airplanes were successfully hijacked. Three of them hit their target. UNITED 93 is the story of the fourth plane that was successfully thwarted from achieving its goal.

Its objective, to hit the White House, was thwarted by a group of individuals that were flying home to San Francisco from Newark on that fateful flight. The plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

We know this to be true. But what Writer/Director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, Bourne Supremacy) did was take a sensitive and controversial subject and turn it into a drama that is both stunning and powerful. It brings to light the heroic actions taken by the passengers and crew to try and overtake a plane they knew was on a one-way trip to a terrorist act. We get insight of the real-time actions taken by the military, air-traffic and flight control personnel and how they tried in vain to take control of the situation (and ultimately grounding every single plane in flight that day).

However well the movie portrayed the crew and passengers, I found the portrayal of one of the hijackers (the pilot) a bit discomforting. Hopefully, Greengrass had some inside knowledge to make the viewer feel some sympathy for him and that it wasn't done just for the sheer entertainment value.

United 93 is a serious portrayal and memorial to those whose brave actions saved a Capitol but, unfortunately, was unable to save themselves. As the 5th year anniversary of 9/11 nears, take some time to remember these and the rest of those that died on that terrible day.