United 93 (2006) Movie Information:
| 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 |
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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) Movie Review:
We all remember that fateful day. The day our safety evaporated with one single solitary image. It was all over.
Now nearly six years later, we are still picking up the pieces, invading foreign lands, detaining innocent men, disrupting personal freedoms and watching as what we once held dear to our hearts crumble at our feet.
Housed within those horrific events there was a story of hope, heroism and sacrifice. That was the men and women of United Flight 93.
This is their story.
The film follows the passengers as they board that ill-fated airliner on September 11, 2001. The film practically shows the events in compressed real time and with a documentary feel. Basically what happened on the airliner is that 9/11 terrorists seized control of the plane and veered the plane off towards Washington. The passengers fought back and they stopped the terrorists by sacrificing their lives.
The film is horrific, terrifying, amazing, breathless and utterly emotional. It is the kind of film we need as we look back at 9/11. We lost so much that day and in some ways this story gives us a sliver back.
I liked how the film was told in an almost documentary style with rough cuts, raw feeling footage, no big name stars and character actors mixed with real-life airline and air-traffic controllers. It brought an authenticity to it, an almost feeling of stepping back in time.
It has been said that if United 93 was about a fictious plane on any given day and was hijacked by terrorists it wouldn’t have the same impact. If that fictious film was made it would starred Kurt Russell (Executive Decision) or Chuck Norris (Delta Force) or Wesley Snipes (Passenger 57). We have seen that film a dozen times. Or maybe it would be like making a fictious film, about “Pearl Harbor”, oh sorry they already did that too.
That statement is true but that it also misses the point completely of making a film like this. The film is about 9/11 and the images are still so vivid in our minds and that does touch on every emotion in our being. And that is the point. That is why this film is utterly brilliant.
So Says the Soothsayer
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United 93 (2006) review written by: Dean Kish
