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United 93 (2006) DVD Review
United 93 (2006) DVD Credits:
United 93 (2006) Directed by:
Paul Greengrass
United 93 (2006) Written by:
Paul Greengrass
United 93 (2006) Cast:
Khalid Abdalla, Polly Adams, Opal Alladin, David Alan Basche, Starla Benford, Lisa Colón-Zayas, Gary Commock, Trish Gates, Meghan Heffern, J. J. Johnson, Nancy McDoniel, Simon Poland, Olivia Thirlby
United 93 (2006) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
United 93 (2006) DVD Release Date:
4th September 2006
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United 93 (2006) Synopsis:

Acclaimed filmmaker Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, The Bourne Supremacy) writes and directs 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. Flight 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 who--over 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. Greengrass, known for films such as Resurrected and Bloody Sunday, brings to Flight 93 a history of compassionate filmmaking that has explored some of the most troubled incidents of recent world history--when politics turns to violence, when beliefs slip into zealotry. As there is no perfect record of the hijacking's exact details and hostage retaliation, Greengrass takes a careful hand and partially improvises the events with an ensemble cast of unknown actors who were given studies of their Flight 93 counterparts. Flight 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.

United 93 (2006) DVD Review:

Whether you believe that it is too soon for a film depicting a tragedy which so recently occurred, or not, United 93 does its best to downplay many of the elements which would usually be played up. In the preparation for a day of flights we join the air traffic control as well as the airline staff of flight 93, but their daily functions are not sensationalized. Instead we are brought into their world, which is as ordinary and routine as one day to the next. It is in these mundane details of an ordinary day that the true power of anticipation begins to build significance, making daily actions such as shutting the plane’s door or having a conversation about future vacation plans truly poignant.

Filmed in a near documentary style, United 93 appropriately never goes into details about the specific lives of any individual passenger. Instead we are allowed admittance onto the fourth plane to be hijacked on September 11, 2001. We enter the plane, the same as all of the passengers, only we have the knowledge that it will be the last trip any of these people will take. We also enter into a days work at flight control, with knowledge that it will not be an ordinary day. Perhaps the most difficult reaction to United 93 will come from the distant witnessing of the planes hitting the World Trade Center. The way the characters find out in the film may remind many people of the way that they witnessed the tragedy, through a television, from a family member or even through a window.

The distance we witness the disaster through is counter to the way we witness the events on the plane. We are allowed to hear all of the whispered conversations at the back of the plane, often all at once so that we can only pick up pieces of each conversation. Although we are allowed to witness these last private moments, the script always stays respectfully on target, never allowing a heart-warming speech into a telephone while the music swells. Instead the lives of those on the plane are kept private, and only the collective effort of the brave Americans is what stands.

The DVD has a fifty-minute documentary that has interviews with the families of those who died on the flight, which is often more difficult to view than the film itself. There are also memorial pages, which contain 40 written biographies, as written about the passengers by family and friends. A bit more traditional is the feature commentary with director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy). There is also a tw0-disc limited edition available as well, which contains “Chasing Planes: Witnesses to 9/11”, an extra 48-minute documentary.

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United 93 (2006) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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