United 93 (2006)

A real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on September 11th, 2001 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.

Director:

Paul Greengrass

Writer:

Paul Greengrass

Stars:

David Alan Basche, Olivia Thirlby, Liza Colón-Zayas

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 28 wins & 54 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

On September 11, 2001, two American Airlines and two United Airlines domestic U.S. flights are hijacked by terrorists. After the collision of two planes against the World Trade Center and one against the Pentagon, the passengers and crew of United Flight 93 decide to struggle against the four terrorists to take back the control of the airplane.

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Plot Keywords:

passenger | plane | flight | terrorist | september 11 2001 | 

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Taglines:

The war on terror begins with 40 ordinary people.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA UK France

Language:

English Arabic German

Release Date:

28 April 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Flight 93

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Families of the 40 passengers and crew members killed on United Flight 93 cooperated in the production, offering director Paul Greengrass detailed background about their loved ones, down to the clothes they wore, the reading materials or music they had, and the snacks they might have brought aboard.

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Goofs

In the beginning, when the hijackers are leaving their hotel room, the one in the front is wearing a horizontally striped polo shirt. In the next shot, as they are walking down the hallway, the same man is now wearing a button-down shirt and a sport coat.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

The very last line of closing credits states that the movie was "not sponsored by, or in any way affiliated with, United Airlines."

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Connections

Referenced in Snowden (2016)

User Reviews

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.