United 93 Photo

United 93

Starring: Olivia Thirlby, David Alan Basche, Liza Colon-Zayas, Denny Dillon, April Telek

Directed by: Paul Greengrass

RS: 4of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3.5of 4 Stars

2006 Universal Pictures Drama

Doesn't seem to matter that United 93, written and directed with bruising brilliance and healing compassion by Paul Greengrass, is a monumental achievement that stands above any film this year. According to the polls, audiences intend to shun it. It's too soon, we're told, for a movie to take on 9/11. It's too speculative to watch a re-enactment of what might have happened that morning on United Airlines Flight 93 -- departing Newark for San Francisco -- when thirty-three passengers and seven crew members rose up against the four knife-wielding hijackers who killed the pilots and took control of the plane. It's too hard to watch brave people lose their lives as they force the plane to miss its presumed target in D.C. and crash into a Pennsylvania field. To which I ask: Are American audiences always to be coddled by fantasy? Is harsh reality forever out of bounds at the multiplex?

If so, we're in a sorry state, doomed to commercial choices -- is it Mi3 or Poseidon? -- and a world where ambition falls victim to a risk-adverse box office. None of that for Greengrass, a British director with a background in documentaries. His Bloody Sunday, in 2002, re-created and stayed true to the 1972 massacre involving British soldiers and Irish peace marchers in Northern Ireland. In 2004's The Bourne Supremacy, he built suspense in a mainstream action film without compromising political urgency. Greengrass refused to make United 93 without the support of the families of the passengers and crew. They could not have found a better champion.

There's not an ounce of Hollywood bull in this movie's 111 minutes. To achieve authenticity, Greengrass used little-known actors and recruited aviation and military personnel to play themselves, most notably Ben Sliney, who marked September 11th as his first day on the job as chief of air traffic control at the Federal Aviation Administration's command center in Virginia. Images that repetition has burned into our consciousness -- two planes crashing into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon -- flash by as they did on that day, leaving the world in shock and the government unprepared to act.

It's then that Greengrass takes us into the fourth hijacked plane, as passengers on cells or plane phones learn of the attacks. Using hand-held cameras and shooting in real time, he captures the staggering horror of that ninety-one-minute flight and how courage emerged from chaos. Some families were worried that the film would focus on the quartet of ex-athletes -- Todd Beamer (David Alan Basche), Mark Bingham (Cheyenne Jackson), Tom Burnett (Christian Clemenson) and Jeremy Glick (Peter Hermann) -- who made calls to loved ones and reported the plan to go down fighting. But Greengrass' gaze takes in everything. Beamer's famous "Let's roll" comment is delivered off-the-cuff, not like a battle cry in a bogus action flick. We will never know whether the passengers actually breached the cockpit. What matters to Greengrass is their collective intent. At the end, he imagines a sea of arms reaching into that cockpit in a way that redefines heroism. Far from being exploitive, the effect is inspiring: This is the best of us.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Apr 27, 2006)

Your Turn

Give us your review of
United 93

Review 1 of 14

4of 4 Stars

Good movie!

Dec 2, 2006 01:01:00

Review 2 of 14

Not Rated

4 of 4 stars. The powerful intense feat of of the year! Honors the victims of 9/11 with pride and respect!

Oct 20, 2006 18:49:19

Review 3 of 14

4of 4 Stars

Petey Travs is the greatest movie critic this side of Roger Ebert. Kidding of course, Roger Ebert along side Robby Sheffield's music reviews should find a sweet way to the toilet...because they both can't write movie reviews...(actually HIV Robby Sheff can't write music reviews either....P.S. is this the same dooshy mag that gave Kid Rock's last disc Four Stars and the last Green Day American Suck Ass Cd 3 and a half stars??) just curious...HIV Rob weren't you behind one of the two?? If it wasn't for Petey Trav holding that entire business together...and the occasional guest appearance by former writer Cam Crowe....Rolly Mag would be nothing but another Blender.....But the music reviews still suck HIV Rob.

Willy Schaffan

Jun 22, 2006 01:38:06

Review 4 of 14

4of 4 Stars

I've seen this movie 9 times, and every single time i watch it, I discover something new.

It's got quite an amazingly artistic and balanced ending.
(By balanced i mean appropriate based on the strategy the producers used throughout the movie to convey the sensations created by the actual event as it happened--a realistic, effective, yet subtly dulled representation of the (pretty much covered up) confusion, panic, and lack of order behind the scenes in the military and aviation centers. ) It gives us a look at not only the patriotic, nostalgic American side of the situation, but also shows us the Faith-based mission of the extremists' side. (Note the beginning scene).

I thought it was interesting that they actually included the fact that Bushy Bush Bush (the world's hero...) had ordered the military to shoot down all of the apparently hijacked planes. This makes him seem a bit more intelligent and in control than he was. (.ever. at any time. in any situation.)
Too bad he gave the order at least 4 or 5 minutes after flight 93 hit the ground.
Also, he ordered ALL "hijacked" planes to be shot down. It's probably a good thing the military ignored the President's shoot-down order. If they hadn't, 3 other civilian planes (not hijacked) would have been shot down--for no reason.

Having read the 9-11 Commission Report cover to cover, the detail in this film is amazingly accurate.

There was one subtle mixup in the script--probably on-purpose, but i'm not so sure.
The pretty foolish big-guy-on-campus airline manager and his crew were calling AAL11 a 767, while the military referred to the model as a 757. eh..who knows.

The point is that the film creates a feeling of insecurity (stemming from the apparent ineptitude of those in control of the military response--or, lack thereof-- teams and the airlines), while simultaneously instilling a sense of relief in viewers, as they watch the final product of years of research and family accounts. The victims families' emotions and testimonies are behind the creation of this film, and that, my friends, brings a whole new meaning to the words "fictional historical documentary".

The musical score was excellent and effictive (note the final scene) and is sure to take either an actual academy award for best score, or at least a nomination. It was really great.

The praying (Arabic and english, Muslim and christian), common goals, and even the language barriers convey a sense of circumstantially divided unity between of all of the humans in the movie--extremists and victimized heros.

Think about it--all of the people were martyrs, just in different ways. The Americans went down protecting their country, and the terrorists went down feeling they had sacrificed themselves for their religion. Martyrs and martyrs.

All in all, a much needed film which brought to light all issues surrounding this infamous day.

May 29, 2006 18:58:48

Review 5 of 14

4of 4 Stars

I have given this film five stars but i have one or two
reservations. First thing is the european character aboard the
plane who is a kind of hans blix type , desperate to appease
the hijackers .I'm not sure how we can know this as no one
survived, in which case the character takes on a political role
within the film (i.e. looks what happens when we listen to
appeasers ...which then justifies things like the iraq war. )
Secondly, in spite of its underplayed, non John Wayne style
heroics, you do come out of United 93 wanting to lay waste to
the Arab world. I don't think this is entirely accidental either.
Becasue the arab characters in the film are not characters,
they are stereotypes. This allows us to hate them all the
more. No attempt is made to humanize them . If you do this
you have even more drama in my view and it makes us ask
the question 'why do these people do these things ?' ...but
United 93 is not this kind of film.It limits itself to merely
depicting the events of that day. And in that sense it is pure
action adventure, rather than drama. However the film uses
its docmentary techniques so skillfully (camera work and
casting are superb) that the film is incredibly gripping ,
moving and thought provoking making it one that stays with
you long after the plane has hit the ground.

May 10, 2006 09:41:43

Review 6 of 14

4of 4 Stars

I cried for about 3/4 of this movie. It was very emotional seeing it for the first time through the air traffic controllers eyes and what they went through that day tracking the planes. I left so mad at our government. These people knew they were going to die, saved Washington and they didn't save them.

May 8, 2006 13:29:36

Review 7 of 14

4of 4 Stars

An outstanding, thought provoking and inspirational film. Yes it is hard to watch in some ways but it is something everyone needs to see. A most impressive acting ensamble as well.

May 4, 2006 20:42:33

Review 8 of 14

2of 4 Stars

I'm sure it is a great film (haven't seen it), but to make an
extremely accurate, faithful-to-the-subject movie, using all
the actual names, places, and timelines - AND PROFIT FROM
IT - is inexcusable.

Oliver Stone has the right idea, he fictionalizes the characters,
he writes an original script, and captures the emotion of the
day without ripping-off life stories of actual people who don't
stand to see a dime of the profits.

There is a difference, and I for one will see The Stone pic, and
not the Flight 93 "cash-in" flick.

May 1, 2006 12:49:07

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