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MOVIE REVIEWS
United 93
May 1, 2006
Written and Directed by Paul Greengrass (acclaimed director of 2004's The Bourne Supremacy) the film United 93 has opened to theaters across the nation, and to wide critical acclaim. Based on the 9/11 hijacked flight of the same name, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when the passengers overcame the terrorists in a daring revolt, United 93 is one of the best made and most controversial films of 2006. The film is shot in real time, depicting the events as they happen, and we know nothing of Al Quaeda, Osama Bin Laden, or President Bush. We only know what the people on screen know, and nothing more. You feel like a fly on the wall, observing with horror the events that unfold.
It seems as if Paul Greengrass has deliberately stayed away from casting the superstars of today as the passengers and crew so that the audience doesn't immediately assume who the heroes and villains are. This is good. How seriously could we have taken the movie if we saw Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, and Paul Walker running up and down the aisles of the plane? Instead, he casts unknowns, and this factor makes the characters more relatable to the audience, and they really do appear to be normal people. Even the terrorists aren't depicted as monsters and terrible villains, they appear as normal people, as normal as anyone else on the plane, and as the drama and intensity escalates, they are unsure of how to control the plane, passengers, and their own emotions.
It is useless to explain the plot. You already know what happens: On September 11, 2001, United 93 was hijacked by four terrorists, and was set on a path to destroy the State Capital. The passengers and crew of Flight 93 overpowered the terrorists, but were not able to save the plane, and it crashed outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. There were no survivors. United 93 has many scenes depicting the events as they occurred in the military bases and Air Traffic Control buildings, but the real centerpiece for the film is the events on the airplane, surrounding the passengers, terrorists, and crew.
When the lights lifted after the film ended, there was a great, deep silence. Nobody in the theater moved. The film was just that moving. Greengrass shows great respect to the memory of the passengers and crew of flight 93, and the film is very well made, but I can't call it one that I enjoyed, or will ever see again. Seeing what happened to those people, and being up close and personal within all of the action was not an experience that I took pleasure in. When the plane passengers overcome the terrorists and reach the cockpit, for a brief second you believe that they will fly to safety and everyone will be alright. But then you remember the true events of that day, and you are saddened all over again. See United 93, it is very well made, emotional, and informative, but don't expect to come out of the theater in a cheerful demeanor.
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