United 93 (2006) User Reviews

Gut and heart wrenching...

[saraemiller1 · 8/10 · 28 April 2006]

I was one of the people who said I wouldn't go see this movie because I felt they were capitalizing on a national tragedy and the trailer gave me nightmares. But, my curiosity got the best of me when I read several positive quotes by numerous critics outside the US. So, I picked up a ticket for the 2:00 show.

There truly are no words to describe the power of this film. The cinematography is excellent, albeit a little unsteady with the shaky lens thing going on. I found that the film very much followed the reports in the 9/11 Commission's book, as well as numerous others. They stuck to the facts and didn't add in any glorified scenes that weren't warranted. You saw the mass confusion as the various air traffic control centers tried to make sense of what was going on. You saw the events on the plane unfold as we think they did that morning. You saw ordinary Americans, scared and frightened, band together and try and keep that plane from hitting another target.

Do we know exactly what was said between people on the planes? No. But there are survivors who had messages from loved ones on their answering machines and people who talked to them that day. The film is a little violent for my tastes, but no more so than any 'Blockbuster' fictional hit out there right now, and this is reality as we know it. Any discrepancies are not for me or you to decide, as those secrets are buried in Pennsylvania.

When it ended, I've never seen a more still theater. You could hear people breathing as they pulled themselves together. This is something that happened to our nation, and while it shouldn't take a movie to make people remember, maybe it does. Maybe we have forgotten or chosen to ignore what happened that day, falling to politics and quick to accuse people who didn't prevent it. Maybe we are against this movie because it makes us uncomfortable, as all meaningful things should. Who knows? Not I.

But, I do know that United 93 was done in a tasteful, respectful manner, and many of the families affected on 9/11 supported its release. Who are we to say otherwise? See the movie and then make your judgment call. You may find yourself surprised, just as I did.

Understated but powerful

[Richard_Lawson · 8/10 · 28 April 2006]

This movie approaches an incredibly sensitive subject in an entirely appropriate manner: with subtlety and understatement.

The actors look like real people and talk like real people talk. There are no dramatic exclamations. Even the signature "Let's roll" line is stated almost in passing without any special significance being brought to it. The movie was utterly convincing in portraying how real people would have responded. There were no Bruce Willis or Wesley Snipe types amongst the passengers; they were ordinary folk in extraordinary situations, responding the best way they could.

Kudos to the filmmakers for not allowing this to become an overwrought melodrama. Instead, we saw a glimpse into the confusion and pain of people in the middle of the events of 9/11. Because it was understated, because it felt real, the impact was much stronger and gut-wrenching.

United We Could

[mlambertint · 9/10 · 5 July 2006]

Frozen, speechless, devastated. That's how I was at the end of the film and judging by the silence in the auditorium the whole audience felt the same. A remarkable achievement. Not a single cheap shot. Knowing, as we all know, what happened on that fatal September 11th. The time lapse between the first plane hitting the World Trade center and the second seemed interminable. The faces of the passengers, without even knowing their names, are still vivid in my mind. Extraordinary. Not to mention the terrorist's faces. So real, so human. Tears were running down my face as a chill run down my spine witnessing the terrorists as well as the passengers praying. God, seen through a different optical at different times for exactly the same reasons. The brave decision of the passengers to die trying to protect all of us is something that we in the ground we seem to have forgotten. We could all stand together as well in everybody's name for everybody's good. You see, here I am, inspired and aspiring to inspire.

A powerful, tasteful and important film...

[botner · 21 April 2006]

I saw this at a special screening. I have not stopped thinking about it since. A emotional and powerful film that I will remember forever. I can't fault anyone who doesn't want to see this film. But please put to rest any fears that this film was made purely to turn a profit and serves no purpose.

For all those who were afraid that this film would be exploitive, propaganda filled Hollywood schlock, I'm sorry to say that could not be farther from the truth.

Though for the most part I'm still at a loss for words I'll do my best to give you a short and sweet overview.

Paul Greengrass has done the seemingly impossible by making a Hollywood film about this subject everyone is afraid to touch, but made it in such a way that it's hard to find fault, despite everyone's initial misgivings. No 'rah rah' patriotism. No veiled political stances. No cartoonish villains. No making the enemy sympathetic. Just a brilliantly executed look at what did happen and what 'might' have happened on that fateful day.

What makes it more effective is that all throughout you don't recognize any of the actors. They may as well be "real people". You're never thinking to yourself, 'oh that's Nicolas Cage', conscious of the fact that it's acting. And come to find out, many of the air traffic controllers and military personnel are playing themselves! This makes it all the more real and draws you in and takes you back to that day.

And when the passengers decide to fight back? There's no swelling of violins or slow motion shots. They don't have a rallying cry or 'lets do it for Uncle Sam' type speech to motivate everyone. No, these passengers were reacting spontaneously to the situation as it played out and were acting on their survival instinct. You can't help but think how you would react in that situation and makes it all the more compelling and powerful.

I won't say this film is for everyone. It IS hard to watch at times. But I'm so glad I did see it. Very cathartic in a way. And trust me, this film couldn't have been done in a more professional, classy way. This feels genuine; of course they are going to 'profit' off it, but you get the sense that the filmmakers and everyone involved poured their hearts into this project and did this to tell a story. A more dignified and heroic story I don't think I've ever seen.

The last 15 minutes will leave you speechless

[nived84 · 10/10 · 28 April 2006]

There are two reasons why people go to the movies. They either go to be amused, entertained or distracted from the pressures of the real world; it's called escapism. The other is to learn, experience, educate, inform and face what our world is all about. Films like Schindler's List, Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, All the President's Men, and this week another film joins that list; Paul Greengrass' visceral and heartbreaking United 93. Some say it's too soon for a film about 9/11 to come out, but I disagree. I think this film is a bold and important reminder of why we're still fighting to this very day, and it puts us up close and personal with our very enemy; face to face. I don't think I've had such a profound and sober movie going experience like this since I saw The Passion of the Christ, and when the film was over how did the audience react? Applause.

United 93 is shot entirely with hand-held cameras to perfectly capture the realism of the events that happened that day. The film was written and directed by British filmmaker Paul Greengrass, who's previous films include 2004's blockbuster hit The Bourne Supremacy and the critically acclaimed 2002 docu-drama Bloody Sunday, and every frame of his vision is unflinching, intense and heart pounding from it's quiet beginning to it's nerve-wracking and stomach turning finale. The film is never exploitive of the events of 9/11 and always remains respectful to the memories of those on board that fateful plane.

Everybody knows the story, and everybody knows how it's going to end, but that never stops the film from being suspenseful. The film is pretty much void of any character development, and the film never, not even for a second feels like a movie, it looks like a documentary. And I'm sure the way Greengrass has captured the shock, confusion, chaos and panic of that morning is how it must have gone down. The cameras cover the action from all perspectives; from the National Air Traffic Control Center, airport towers, regional air traffic stations, and a military command room where soldiers try to figure out if and when they have the authority to shoot down a necessary target in order to protect Washington. One of the amazing things about United 93 is its casting. The casting of the film includes a number of real life United pilots, stewardesses, air traffic controllers and military personnel, many of them actually playing themselves. The cast of passengers are a group of largely unknowns, which lends great respectability and reality. We are seeing these people for the first time, with no previous knowledge of them as actors and it only works in their favor.

The film opens quietly with several hijackers going through their morning rituals, reading aloud from the Koran; praying to God and kneeling on the floor of their hotel room and then packing their things to head to the Newark airport. And from there we are introduced to several different air traffic controller technicians and we watch as they discover that two planes have been hi-jacked and eventually discover that they've hit the World Trade Center. These scenes are heartbreaking and feel somewhat surreal. But it's not until United flight 93 takes off that the towers are hit and the plane is up in the air when the terrorist's plans are set into motion.

The final fifteen minutes of United 93 will leave you speechless and paralyzed, as a group of passengers plan to attack and over throw the terrorists and try to take back the cockpit. It's intense, violent and overwhelmingly inspiring. The film is a well done memorial, dedicated to those who were killed on September 11th, and I truly believe that the film was done with the utmost respect to those involved and with amazing passion and sensitivity to "get it right". Director Paul Greengrass does get it right, and I honestly believe that it would have been impossible for it to have been done any better than it is here. United 93 is absolutely amazing, and to see a better or more important film this year seems very unlikely, and I think this film should be required viewing for all Americans, but when they feel that they are ready for it, because this is as real as it gets. This film is responsible film-making of the highest level and the experience is both sobering and cathartic.

Devastating, Relentless and Ultimately Cathartic Essential Viewing. Period.

[EUyeshima · 10/10 · 28 April 2006]

A most cathartic experience came over me when I viewed the much publicized "United 93". At once speculative and realistic, the 111-minute film will surely bring back the pall of fatalistic inevitability one feels about 9/11, but its more defining characteristic is revealing the untapped heroism and humanism of people caught in the most malevolent of circumstances. Masterfully written and directed by Paul Greengrass, this relentlessly intense movie covers that fateful morning when United Airlines Flight 93 departed Newark for San Francisco with 33 passengers and seven crew members on board.

As it turns out, Greengrass's heavy background in documentaries turns out to be a blessing in this treatment, as he tracks the subsequent events in real time and uses either under-the-radar actors or actual aviation personnel to play the real-life characters. Instead of focusing on the higher profile passengers to provide an emotional locus, which a more commercial filmmaker would have done, he encompasses all the passengers within the emotional purview of the film, including the four hijackers who killed the pilots and took control of the plane. The key dramatic difference is that we get to know not the people but the situation at hand. Consequently, we get a more realistic sense of the scale of the events that may have occurred on that flight. That's not to say it is any less devastating. In fact, the last half-hour is harrowing in the most personal sense as the inevitable becomes reality.

The power of the film comes from its surprisingly apolitical perspective and the inclusion of the ground personnel trying to comprehend the scope of all the redirected planes that day, in particular, Ben Sliney who effectively plays himself that day, the just-promoted supervisor of the National Air Traffic Control Center in Herndon, Va. None of the actors stand out because the film cumulatively achieves a verisimilitude that simply knocks me out. The film also does not pretend to be the definitive version of what happened on the last few moments of the flight. In an emotional sense, it is rather moot as we are talking about degrees of detail at that point. This is truly essential viewing.

Gutwreching, Powerful and Repsectful

[spgb284 · 10/10 · 28 April 2006]

Never has a movie stunned me as much as "United 93". I was literally shaking during the final minutes of the film. Even though I knew the outcome I tried to fight it. I kept yelling under my voice "come on guys, PUSH PUSH..., KEEP FIGHTING". But unfortunately none of us can escape the eventual tragedy. I didn't leave the auditorium until the final credits ended. When I walk out of the theater, I felt like I felt on that dreadful day of September 11th, 2001...Numb.

Paul Greengrass's film in no way exploits, sensationalizes or points fingers about what happened that day. There's no undertones or overtones. This the most respectful film i've ever seen. "Shindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan" come to mind when I think about impact and power. But both Spielberg's film's followed the film-making standards of; three acts, character development etc. Greengrass throws us into the events of 9/11/01 as if it were happening right now. In fact, we never even really get introduced the the people on the flight. All we know is that whatever happened on that plane was shear terror. And from that terror hero's rose and fought back.

I live in Southern California and even though the events of 9/11 happened across the country and didn't affect me directly, I still am shakken by the events. Where I live, most people have forgotten. It's a time in history I will never forget and dread every single day. I can only imagine what the families of the victims live with everyday.

"United 93" was the most challenging film I've ever watched. It's not a popcorn flick and should not be seen for entertainment. It's a personal choice to see this film, in my opinion. But whatever you do never forget September 11th, 2001; it's victims and Hero's

The Fourth Plane

[Prince-P · 7/10 · 4 July 2023]

On September 11, 2001, a group of terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners on the American East Coast. They crashed two of the planes into the World Trade Center in New York, destroying it completely. Then the third plane hit Pentagon, the US defense headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. "United 93" is a film about what happened to the fourth airplane and its passengers.

This eerie docudrama was written and directed by Paul Greengrass, a young Englishman certainly well suited for the task. For several years, Greengrass had successfully dramatized historical events for British television. His international breakthrough came with the film "Bloody Sunday" - a story of the "troubles" in Northern Ireland that won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002.

"United 93" was the first feature that directly depicted what happened during the 9/11 attacks. So, for Greengrass, it was essential to achieve the highest possible realism. The passengers were therefore played by unknown actors. But that came at a price. During the difficult shoot, some of them were injured, so the blood visible on their faces as they attacked the terrorists is authentic.

Filming took place during the fall of 2005, onboard an old Boing 757 outside London. The location was chosen to shield the people in the movie team from the public scrutiny they might have received in the United States. And as usual Paul Greengrass shot the action scenes with a hand-held camera to create a higher sense of immediacy.

"United 93" had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. To Paul Greengrass' relief, it received a positive reception from most critics. But above all, the director was happy that so many family members of the United 93's passengers attended the screening to show their support for his movie.

Horrifying to go through it, but I think that this is a very important film for generations to come

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 10/10 · 22 September 2006]

I was nervous to see any movie on September 11th due to the fact that in some ways I felt that it was too soon, seeing how we just had the 5th anniversary. Not to mention, I didn't want to go through that depression again and watch those horrifying events happen again, a girl at work had mentioned how she saw United 93 and World Trade Center, she said it was nothing like what you would expect of an action movie, it's more dedicated to those who lost their lives that tragic day.

United 93 is a truly inspiring tale about the 4th hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. I remember seeing this on the news on September 11th, we heard so many different things, that it was shot down, the passengers gained on the hijackers, and to be honest I'd rather believe that the passengers stuck together and prevented more lives from being perished that day. These people were truly incredible and the thing that I loved about the film was that it was made to show that they were not victims, they chose to not be so, they knew what they were facing and unfortunately died trying.

Another thing that I appreciated is that I think we did forget about those planes that were hijacked and the horror that the passengers must have gone through. We usually only think of the World Trade Centers when we think of September 11th. I could never imagine what thoughts were racing through those passenger's heads. It truly was devastating to just think what the families were going through when they received phone calls from their loved one's and having to say good bye. We can't forget those who were so brave to help others and those who unfortunately who crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentegon, nothing could be strong enough to say about them, my sincere condolences to the families.

I was wrong about these films, they truly are important. Even though it's fresh in most of our memories, let's not forget those who died trying to save others. God bless the souls on Flight United 93, you truly are hero's and will never be forgotten.

10/10

Nauseated by the shaky camera work...

[lochnessbubba · 6/10 · 5 June 2006]

I give this movie a 6 based on the fact that despite what was otherwise good solid work by the producers and actors involved, I found it ultimately unwatchable because of motion sickness brought on by the camera style.

The story itself seemed true to all the reports I had heard over the years concerning the incident, and the dialogue and acting seemed very solid. I was watching with interest up to about the halfway point when I got nauseated thanks to the shaky camera work.

Being a movie enthusiast, I know this style of cinematography has been popular for about 15 years. I first noticed it used on the NYPD Blue TV series. I believe that this "shaky" style has its place- it can be effective to create a frantic mood when filming action scenes such as those found in one of my favorite movie series, 'The Bourne Identity/Supremacy'. (Although a couple of scenes in 'Supremacy' left me a little queasy, they were quickly over with and that particular film settled down again where I could watch it).

However, I see no good reason to use this style when you are filming a group of people in a flight control center where nobody is getting body-slammed or shot or punched in the nose. It actually loses its effect when over-employed and creates another effect: nausea.

I never remember getting sick watching NYPD Blue, but my TV is not 60 feet wide, either. The girl I took to the movie was also made sick by this, and while she and I were out in the lobby recovering we could hear from the ladies restroom the sounds of another moviegoer losing her groceries.

I would have liked to have seen the last half of the movie but the constant shaking of the camera made it impossible. I may be one of the few that it affected so badly but I know I was not the only one.

I think the more people that watch this will understand a little more about human nature

[Movieguy_blogs_com · 10/10 · 12 May 2006]

In 'United 93' we take a look at what might have happen to United flight 93 on September 11th. Of the aircraft that were hijacked on September 11th, only United flight 93 did not reach its intended target. This is the story about the events leading up to the hijacking and about the people who tried to save United flight 93.

At first I did not want to see this film. I had no desire to see someone's interpretation of what happened. However, I am glad I did see it. This is probably one of the most riveting and intense films I have ever seen. It is a little slow at first. But, as you follow the events as they unfold, you become captivating in this movie.

Several people have pointed fingers; wanting to blame someone for what happened. I think the more people that watch this will understand a little more about human nature. I do not think anything could have prevented these tragedies; we can only hope to prevent history from repeating itself.

Not much better than the TV account of the incident

[gverduzc · 7/10 · 29 April 2006]

I heard Roger Ebert and other TV wonks go on and on about this movie and was expecting something dramatically more realistic and interesting that the TV rendition of the flight 93 story. While it is a compelling and gut wrenching account of the incident, I found it only a little better than the TV version. It emphasized (and I expect accurately) the bumbling of NORAD and to some degree the FAA..obvious that we simply weren't prepared to deal with this sort of thing. Can only hope that in the future, when the next terrorist act comes along, we'll do a better job. I also noticed that Hollywood took their usual slap at Bush/Cheney, suggesting that they were unreachable as the incident unfolded thus delaying scrambling of jets to intercept the hijacked airplanes..at the end of the movie, in the postscript, the facts in this regard were clarified.

the concrete of history is forming before our very eyes

[videohoax · 1/10 · 22 April 2006]

what scares me more than anything else is when i can see fictional accounts of supposedly historical events being formed and solidified before my very eyes.

This movie is based on pure speculation. Everybody on the plane died.. but somehow we have this extremely detailed account of what happened to make Us feel good like we "beat" the terrorists? This movie creeps me out BIG TIME. Ranks as one of the most scary movies I've seen since the Shining, but for totally different reasons.

Paul Greengrass should be ashamed for being part of such blatant propaganda. Evertyhing about this movie seems like a joke. Maybe its because i didn't buy into the Jessica Lynch or Pat Tilman stories? I don't really know, but what i do know is that many people will believe the events in this film, which deeply scares me.

Prayers

[Father-Tiresias · 28 April 2006]

When this film was over a silence hung over the theater unlike any I had ever heard. My eyes watered as I left the hall, and I said a quick prayer as I exited; simply in honor of all the people who died on September 11th.

There is a sequence in this film where the passengers are portrayed praying, as are the terrorists. The languages and prayers are spliced together through a series of short scenes that depict the emotional impact that everyone was feeling.

That is what this movie is about. It does not deal with conspiracy theories. In fact, to do so would be more untrue than any other lie that the film-makers have been accused of telling. This movie is about what the people around the country were feeling as the tragedy of that day unfolded. No one was sitting there thinking, 'I wonder if our government was in on this?' All the people on that plane were thinking of only one thing: survival. That is what this movie portrays, and it addresses several themes in doing so, such as god, faith, unity, and the will to survive. These are not 'American' themes. They are human themes. The terrorists in the film are not portrayed in a horrible, demonizing light. In fact, the audience is ushered to feel sympathy for them in certain scenes. This movie was not made as propaganda, or as a means to make money. If one simply views the film, this becomes apparent. If any 9/11 movie is an attempt to make money, I would say it is Stone's 'World Trade Center.' This film was a prayer, not propaganda, and not propagating falsities. It was something that came from the heart, and after viewing the intense performances and believably real reactions, that also becomes apparent.

I couldn't stop shaking

[SnoopyStyle · 10/10 · 18 September 2015]

The terrorists prepare themselves and on September 11, 2001, they board United Airlines Flight 93 departing from Newark to San Francisco. As they prepare to take off, planes are being hijacked. Chaos break out in air traffic control. Once in the air, the first plane crashes into the World Trade Center. Four hijackers take over United 93 as confusion spreads. The passengers calling from the plane surmise the hijackers' plan and try to retake the aircraft.

I saw it in a theater back in the day. Honestly, I couldn't stop shaking as I left. I had to take a few seconds before I start the car. It's almost ten years since then. 9/11 grows further into the distant past. Watching it again, I thought some of its power may have dissipated. I got a little blasé about it initially and then the terrorists break into the cockpit. The intensity comes flooding back. I'm shaking once again. I think the growing distance from the actual event has diminished the anxiety but it may always be there. Director Paul Greengrass is able to bring all of it out onto the surface.

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

[tenseventyone · 9/10 · 26 April 2006]

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.

Does this movie make you feel like you were on United 93? Check my review

[chubbiecubbie07 · 6/10 · 27 May 2006]

This tragic true story is one of the most horrific movies to hit the big screen. It will literally keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Even though you already know how the movie will end, you still get that sick feeling in your stomach from looking at these horrifying events. There is that little voice inside thinking how the hell you would act in a situation like this one.

Director Paul Greengrass who directed "The Bourne Supremacy" and "Bloody Sunday" says, "It tells the story of the day through a meticulous reenactment of events in the belief that by examining this single event something much larger can be found- the shape of our world today."

This story is very upsetting for people like me due to the fact that I felt sick, queasy, and on the verge of throwing up. In my opinion the whole plot seemed pretty accurate to me, but since reviews are not just based on that, the reason I gave it a low rating is due to the acting and directing skills. This whole movie is filled with a huge amateur acting cast and if it weren't for the strong true full story about 9/11 this production would be garbage.

See trailer of Flight 93 at http://www.flight93.net/index.php

United 93 is an unflinching and remarkable drama

[Super_Minister_X · 10/10 · 23 April 2006]

United 93 is an unflinching drama that tells the story of the passengers and crew, their families on the ground and the flight controllers who watched in dawning horror as United Airlines Flight 93 became the fourth hijacked plane on the day of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil: September 11, 2001.

United 93 recreates the doomed trip in actual time, from takeoff to hijacking to the realization by those onboard that their plane was part of a coordinated attack unfolding on the ground beneath them. The film attempts to understand the abject fear and courageous decisions of those whoever the course of just 90 minutes transformed from a random assembly of disconnected strangers into bonded allies who confronted an unthinkable situation.

As 2006 marks the passing of five years since the epochal events of 9/11, the time has come for contemporary cinema's leading filmmakers to dramatically investigate the events of that day, its causes and its consequences, and the everyday individuals whose fates were forever altered while simply going about their common workday rituals.

There is no perfect record of the hijacking's exact details and hostage retaliation, the film takes a careful hand and partially improvises the events with an ensemble cast of unknown actors who were given studies of their United 93 counterparts.

United 93 intends to dignify the memory of those on that flight, the men and women whose sacrifice remains one of the most heroic legacies of the incomprehensible tragedies that unfolded on that autumn morning.

When the Contemporary World Changed

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 31 March 2007]

On September, 11th 2001, four United Airlines American domestic 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 unsuccessfully decide to struggle against the four terrorist to take back the control of the airplane.

Last month I saw "Flight 93", a movie made for television that reconstitutes and dramatizes the moments of despair of the passengers of flight United 93 through the testimony of their phone calls to families and friends. "United 93" is about the same historic fact, but gives the big picture, showing how unprepared the authorities (flight controllers, military staff etc.) were for such an unexpected tragedy. The last moments in the plane are very tense and sad. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Vôo United 93" ("Flight United 93")

Americans need to face the ruthlessness of their enemies

[VIsForVictory · 10/10 · 22 April 2006]

Some people have said that this movie is "too soon". When this heart-pounding, gut-twisting picture opens April 28, four years, seven months, and 17 days will have elapsed since 9/11. Is that too soon? Islamofascists do not know the words "too soon." Just 13 months after 9/11, Al Qaeda franchisees bombed nightclubs in Bali on October 12, 2002, killing 202 people, including seven Americans.

Exactly two and a half years after 9/11, Al Qaeda attacked trains in Madrid, on March 11, 2004, killing 191 commuters.

Nearly three years and 10 months after 9/11, Al Qaeda struck yet again, on July 7, 2005, killing 52 on the London Underground and a local bus.

Almost daily, Al Qaeda in Iraq blasts Iraqis, Americans, and others through ceaseless acts of stunning viciousness.

United 93 arrives just in time. As we bicker over Donald Rumsfeld's job security by day and obsess over American Idol by night, writer-director Paul Greengrass offers a harrowing reminder of what's in play on Earth today.

In a film of devastating emotional power, Greengrass traces that morning's mounting horrors. This is no PC film crafted by moral relativists in Malibu. As soon as Universal Studios' logo fades to black, a man quietly prays in Arabic. He holds a small Koran in his palms while sitting atop a motel bed. "It's time," one hijacker announces, and their murderous journey begins.

United 93 should bury for good the absurd cliché that violent Muslim zealots are "cowards." Rather than watch their knees knock together like castanets, the four Al Qaeda agents on the doomed flight are focused and ruthless. When a cockpit screen announces, "Two aircraft hit World Trade Center," the Al Qaeda agents celebrate. "The brothers have hit the targets," says pilot Ziad Jarrah. "We're in control," replies hijacker Saeed Al Ghamdi. "Thanks be to God." Behind them, ordinary Americans who had been eating omelets, knitting, and perusing travel guides quickly discern that their plane is a missile, and they mount a plan to retake it.

Though their jet slammed upside down into a field at 580 MPH, United 93's 44 passengers surely spared many more lives than they sacrificed. They also likely saved the U.S. Capitol, whose photo Jarrah affixes like prey to the airliner's steering column.

"That final image haunts me — a physical struggle for the controls of a gasoline-fueled 21st-Century flying machine between a band of suicidal religious fanatics and a group of innocents drawn from amongst us all," Greengrass said. "It's really, in a way, the struggle for our world today." Greengrass uses little known actors and even some real-life air-traffic controllers and military tacticians who were on duty on 9/11. They make the film feel like a documentary, or perhaps a reality TV show captured on celluloid. The cast appears perfectly authentic as they grapple with a growing sense of doom and an increasingly unfathomable challenge.

One performance stands out among many fine ones. Ben Sliney ran the FAA's Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, from which it coordinated air-traffic controllers' response to the hijackings. It also quickly grounded some 4,500 aircraft across America. Sliney supervised all this on 9/11, his first day on that job. He is portrayed rivetingly on screen by none other than Ben Sliney himself.

This fine film's verisimilitude parallels recent, real-world developments.

"Shall we pull it down?" Jarrah asks another hijacker as passengers bang on the cockpit door.

"Yes, put it in it, and pull it down," the other replies. "Allah is the greatest." Those words are on tapes played at the death-penalty trial of Al Qaeda agent Zacarias Moussaoui. His Arctic demeanor mirrors the ice-cold evil that runs through the veins of those who have declared war on America and our allies.

United 93 is coming at the right time.

Typical!

[case_modder1 · 7/10 · 23 October 2006]

Over it was a good movie, but i just think it was awful that some one decided to make an entertainment piece out the whole ordeal, movies like this make me sick (pearl harbor). the acting was decent and well thought out. no necessary special effects were needed so thats a place i cant comment on. I found it honorable that they donated a percentage to the flight 93 fund, which was only for the opening weekend though. other than the fact that the making of the movie was too soon i cant say much of anything else. Who knew those heartless, shameless, money grubbing bastards in Hollywood could make such a sensitive and fabulous moving film? United 93 is a very straightforward, stripped down retailing of the events on that fateful day. How much of it is true or fabricated, I don't know, but I don't think that's as important as the love and care that went into creating this. It's almost never too soon to see such an excellent and stunning piece of film-making as this. This is clearly the first great movie of 2006.

"Come on guys, what are we waiting for? Let's roll."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 8 April 2018]

Knowing the outcome does not help ease the tension one experiences while watching this movie. I've waited a long time before seeing this film since one's senses were inundated on that infamous day, with ubiquitous follow-ups and documentaries to capture the horror of 9/11. Besides confirming the heroic actions of a handful of airline passengers who decided to take fate into their own hands, one will come away with an appreciation for the tough job air traffic controllers have in maintaining order in the skies. I don't know if it still holds, but at one time, air traffic controllers held an unenviable first place for suicide rates among all occupations. The unbelievable stress these folks must have experienced that day was palpable on the screen. I particularly appreciated the way the principal aviation officer took control and made decisions that were correctly concerned with saving lives rather than worry about the business aspect of shutting down flights as a result of the chaos resulting from the Twin Towers being struck. What's personally troubling to me is how some of the reviews on this board disparage the real heroes of that day and how so many are quick to accept a government conspiracy behind the downing of the Twin Towers by our own government. Yeah, I've heard them too and they reek of unbridled nonsense. Aside from the 12/7/1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, there's no personification of evil greater than the cowardly act of those terrorists on 9/11/2001, a day of infamy that Americans should never forget.

Tragedy

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 April 2007]

One of the most discussed things, when this movie was made, was the question, if this movie was made too early. How could someone try to capitalize on the grieve of others and so forth. But the families knew about this movie and as far as I know most of them wanted the story of their lost ones to be told. So why should we argue about this movie then?

It's quite impossible that you don't know what happened on "9/11" at this point, but in a few years there will be teenagers and then adults who weren't born when that tragedy occurred or were too young to remember/realize what was happening. This movie will give them as near a picture of that as it is possible. The aim here is to keep it as real as possible! And that's why there is no political statement that is made here (neither for or against a view) nor are characters (= real people) glorified or being made fun of. It's almost a documentary. And that's why although this movie is good, it might be too hard for some people to watch/bare ...

Shaky camera!

[Cocohoon · 2/10 · 30 April 2006]

I understand that directors today feel that a shaky hand-camera makes the viewer feel more "in the action" and it allows for action to be more frantic. Now, me, personally i like to actually see whats going on in a scene of a movie, and the frantic shaking and close-ups wildly bouncing on the screen is just too much, i left this movie with a headache, and a worse impression than i probably would've had. Others that suffered the shakiness were Batman Begins, The Bourne Supremacy, and the Fast and the Furious. I feel filmmakers are just beginning to get lazy or obsessed with this new fad. What happened to actually watching the action instead of watching a blur.

A masterpiece

[Ricky_Roma__ · 30 July 2008]

The final scenes in United 93 have to be some of the most harrowing in cinema. What you witness is a frantic desire to live conflict with an insane desire to die. People become animals – rational thought gives way to instinct and barbarism, resulting in tragedy.

One of the most despairing images in this magnificent film has to be that of the passengers desperately pushing and driving one of their number towards the cockpit. The guy they're manoeuvring is a pilot of single engine planes and represents their one small hope of making it out of this alive. Knowing full well what happened to the passengers of United 93, the desperation is gut wrenching. You know they're not going to make it and that these are the death throes of those on board.

The agony of the final moments is amplified by the way that the pilot briefly manages to get his hands on the controls. Whether this happened in real life, no one knows, but it perfectly illustrates the conflict that occurred and the conflict that is happening now. Both sides desperately want to be in the driving seat but all the time things are spiralling out of control. In the end, everyone loses and nothing is gained.

Something else I like about the final moments is the disturbing catharsis when the passengers overwhelm the hijackers. This is probably the last time in the 'war on terror' where things will be black and white. The hijackers are wrong and deserve the brutal response of their captives. After this, though, everything becomes hazy and muddy. The tragedy gets twisted and it becomes the fuel for political greed.

But in that moment where the first hijacker gets overwhelmed and killed, there's a feeling of joy and exaltation that is primal. You're put in the position of the passengers and you feel the excitement they must have felt – maybe we can get out of this; maybe we can regain control. But it's a mass delusion. There's no turning back now. Things will never be the same.

But what's also great about the film is that there's no flag waving. This film isn't a call to arms. It isn't a rallying cry. Instead it's a grimly realistic depiction of the chaos that ensues when barbarism overwhelms normality. When something this audacious and unexpected occurs, all the controls that keep the world in check go flying out the window.

Some of the loons out there who want to believe in ridiculous conspiracy theories will point out that the response to the tragedy was too patchy and that communication couldn't be that bad. They've obviously never had a job. Sometimes it's hard enough to communicate clearly with someone downstairs in the same office as you, let alone in an office hundreds of miles away. Plus communication between governmental departments and agencies is notoriously poor. Therefore I can well believe that the response would be so impotent.

But the tale that unfolds in air traffic control centres and at NORAD is just as engrossing as the one in the plane. Like the passengers in United 93, they're wrestling with the enormity of the situation. No one can quite believe that this is happening and the sheer scale of the attack is beyond their comprehension. As a consequence people continually try and come to more realistic conclusions.

A clear, fast response also isn't helped by inaccurate information. When a plane hits the first tower, it's said that a small civil aircraft hit it. And then NORAD are told that American Airlines 11 is heading for Washington when it's actually hit the World Trade Centre. Yes technology is better these days, but we still don't live in a world where we have accurate information available at our fingertips the very second it happens. And it's galling to know that even the government has to get its updates from CNN.

A chilling moment that occurs in the film is when air traffic control are trying to communicate with American Airlines 11. The plane is over New York and they're desperately trying to talk to the pilot. But then the plane disappears off the screen. But even though we know it's hit the tower you can still understand the confusion. Even though the flight has disappeared, who can imagine such a thing?

Things only start to become clear when the second plane nears Manhattan. And then it's too late. People watching the smoking tower see the second plane crash into the other building. The attack is almost over before people can understand what's going on.

And the only reason that the fourth plane didn't hit the Capitol Building is because United 93 was delayed. Sure some imbeciles can question why the passengers of that flight didn't take the plane sooner, but they didn't know what was going on. When you don't know what's going on, you're powerless. But once they hear about the other flights, they decide to act. And the one bright spot in that miserable day is that these passengers fought back and prevented further loss of life.

But I really can't overstress how great this film is. There are no attempts to demonise. There are no attempts to play for false emotion. You're just dropped in this hellish situation and expected to deal with it. It just feels real.

And very often it feels painfully real. The build-up constantly had me on edge. The tension is palpable. And then there's the heartbreak of people phoning home and the desperation of the attack on the cockpit. Paul Greengrass has fashioned a masterpiece here. He's made a film that is visceral and heartbreaking and that makes no concessions to the audience. It's one of the greatest films of the last few years.