United 93

All the glowing reviews of this make me question if I saw the same film as the rest of you. What I saw was chockablock full of disaster movie clichés and terribly annoying quick camera movements, obviously there to maximise drama and forcefully grasp at heart strings. This is attempted to such a degree that it becomes literally slapstick. How many of these passengers and crew narrowly miss missing the flight? Whether it be by being late, being transfered or almost choosing not to go? How many of these passengers and crew have small children, if not brand new babies? It seemed as though all of them did. I do grant that the terribly unsatisfying drama above connects events, newscasts, phone messages and conversations which are accurately replicated from the information seen on the many documentaries made about the horrific events of that day, but these alone do not suffice for a film. There is nothing to gain from this film (aside money for it's producers and some national pride). There is no moral to this story, No entertainment value, It's not informative. This event is an important one to be remembered as it has shaped the world in which we live today. This cheap drama, only belittles this event, and turns it into a bad cartoon.

I feel the movie should have focused more time on the missing wreckage in that field in Shanksville. Since this was a documentary style movie, a "real-time" account of what happened aboard F93, then I think it should have showed how the plane crashed. Surely, the flight data recorder could specify exactly at what altitude the plane "flipped" upside down and started its descent, nose first. Show the non-existence of wreckage, show the footage aired worldwide within an hour of the crash, showing nothing, no remnants of thousands of gallons of jet fuel. Show the crash scene up close. Show all the fire trucks arriving, with no fire to put out. This movie only suits to solidify the lie that a plane crashed where the gov't said it did, making it some kind of blasphemy to questions these people's apparent deaths.

I recently rented this movie, because there was nothing else I felt like watching. Now, i'm fully aware of the controversy of this film. I'm also aware of the gravity of the events on 9/11. I get it. But this film was just not any good. It's a film, it's entertainment - And this is NOT entertaining. It's a film that attempts to put the watcher on the same level as the people involved, expect the only thing it succeeds in doing is annoying the hell out of anyone watching. I mean, the first 80% of the film can be summed up with two things: The first "There's a hijacking?" "Yes, there's a hijacking." "Oh my god, is there a hijacking?" "What's this about a hijacking?" "What can to be done to end this hijacking?" "There's no way there could possibly be a hijacking." etc. It's frustrating, especially when you get to the part when the action actually takes place, you don't see any of it. The second part goes something like this. "Yeah, back home I have a family... A Dog, a wife, 2 kids, and a nice luxury sedan" from every damn person on the flight. No disrespect intended to those who had family involved, but they could tone down this aspect of the story because when they attempt to get it involved, it comes across being bland and corny. I could continue to speak on how unrealistic is is that a 10 year old with a stanley knife doesn't get his ass kicked immediately be the what, 6 or 7 big guys on the flight? But it would be redundant, because it's what happened. Basically, 9/11 could spawn a great movie. I feel for anyone whose family was lost in the senseless tragedy, but this movie is terribly acted and there is little to no reason not to doze off until about the 90 minute mark.

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.

The makers of this film know about as much about what happened on that day as I do, which is next to nothing. We really don't even know for certain if anyone on that plane brought it down. If you really think about it, how incompetent would the military have to be to let this plane even approach Washington. Two planes had already crashed in New York. They had plenty of time to intercept this plane. A jumbo jet travels substantially slower than the speed of sound. Fighter jets can travel at Mach 2. Even if they didn't shoot it down, I would think it would have been shot down before it ever reached Washington. But if you think about it for a second, what better PR stunt for Washington is there than a "heroic" crew taking down a plane to save Washington. People, you're watching a PR stunt gone totally out of control. Some people have too much patriotism and too little common sense. As I see it there are 3 possible reasons the plane went down. Either the hijackers brought it down, the passengers took control and couldn't handle it, or it was shot down. Any way you slice it, I don't think the passengers did anything heroic per se. They tried to save their own lives but were unable to succeed. Brave, maybe. Heroic, no. The passengers took action to save their lives only when they knew it would be hopeless otherwise. Their actions were rational in their attempts at self-preservation. But it would be incredibly naive or incredibly patriotic (same thing) to view their actions as any attempt to "save Washington." People who think that need to get a grip. For the above reasons, this movie is simply a plane hijacking flick. Nothing more, nothing less. It certainly was not a good action flick. If you want to see a movie overflowing with fear and human emotion, this is the one for you. Just don't let that emotion get the better of you. This is a work of fiction, very loosely based on the events of that day.

nb

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits A re-enactment of the terrifying events abroad United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11 2001, as several suicide bombers took control of the plane and attempted to crash it into The Pentagon. Due to the courage and determination of a group of passengers, the plane never reached it's target but unfortunately all the passengers on board were killed. Juxtaposed with this story is that of those working in the control tower and their desperate struggle to maintain order and their sanity as the terrifying events unravel. The five years since the biggest act of terrorism America (and indeed the world) has ever witnessed have flown by. And film-makers (and potential film-makers) have actually shown an admirable deal of restraint in waiting so long before inevitably a film detailing these events was made. It's a controversial project that Paul Greengrass has taken on but from this, you get the impression no-one could have done it better if they'd tried. United 93 is such a brilliant film because I struggle to think of a film that has succeeded so well in what it was setting out to do before. Because of the subject matter, it could never be described as an 'enjoyable' film, but it re-creates what must have happened on board that flight so meticulously it is genuinely almost as if you were actually on board the flight yourself at the time. There's no Hollywood style sensationalism or sentimentality, those trapped on board and those scurrying around on the ground all behave as humanly and realistically as though they were re-enacting a story on Crimewatch, their disbelief and horror captured magically. Even the terrorists themselves are given a wonderfully human edge, as we see their fear and apprehension, without ever being made to pity them the way we pity the other passengers. Their brilliantly human behaviour makes the tension on board the plane absolutely palpable and, as I said, feeling as though you could just as easily have been on board the plane with them. It's a lot of little things that roll United 93 along. The opening featuring an overhead of the New York skyline at night as we hear Muslim prayers being sung by the terrorists in their rented hotel rooms gives a creepy and quietly foreboding sense that the big, bustling city where so many people are walking about minding their business and no one suspects a thing is under threat, the use of a digital camera, adding immeasurably to the 'real' feel the film has and the sudden ending which doesn't delve into the aftermath and make the film become sappy in any way. The film-makers set out to achieve a desired result and they got it spot on with this. If it's not still on my top ten list by the end of the year, something really brilliant will have to come along to knock it off. Never an easy or enjoyable film, but a brilliantly real one that genuinely plays as though someone recorded the events on board that plane for real and played them back to a shocked audience (though such a thing wouldn't be empirically possible, of course!) An absolute must-see. *****

So I am required to put 10 lines for this. Let me begin with the statement that I truly regret for the lives of the innocent victims who died on 9/11, both on the two Towers and in the planes involved. I'd be human without soul if I haven't. Still I have firm opinion that this movie is shameless piece of sh*t and should have never been made. The reasons - it is completely fiction, based on no facts whatsoever, the plot is imaginary and sucked out of the fingers. Actually there unfortunately are no any clear evidence of what had happened on the board so the speculations may begin. Here we have evil Arab terrorists kidnapping plane with plastic knives (no, this is not "Is there a pilot on the plane" 2). For me the circumstances - that not a single body was found (they simply vaporized), as well as explosives of any kind but still the plane exploded (I remember the CNN news that day and have recorded it on tape) are enough to not trust the original version. The real problem is so many American people believes blindly to what The Government says. So blessed the fools are. Also, I noticed that despite the dullness of a movie, there will always be a bunch of vivid fans shouting "Oh my God, this is the best movie ever!" I am telling you this before some user feels offended of truth and report this for being abusing.

Having had this movie recommended from various sources describing it as objective and touching, I decided to check it out for myself. Well, all I can say is that this is one of the most flawlessly executed pure propaganda movies I have ever seen. The subtle shifts in mood via music, pacing and harsher language makes the manipulation you're subjected to almost impossible to catch on to if you're not used to analyzing films. But it's there. It's actually a good idea to pause the movie during the most intense moments, sit and relax and then press play again. You wont necessarily have noticed the shifts and manipulations before but once you press play they'll hit you like a sledgehammer with that patented Hollywood-finesse (You know it. It's the one ranging somewhere between a rabid dog and a rapist). However some flaws were left in. While it was an ingenious (well...) move to use unknown actors with the audience as passive onlookers, it did leave one majer problem for me. Well over half the time, the actors looked as if they were concentrating all their skill and knowhow on not looking into the camera (and, therefore, looking every other possible way and ending up looking kinda desperate). It's the same way with cheap made-for-TV recontructions (...) but if that's your thing... Anyways, the princible question regarding U93 is "why"? Why even make this movie? We know what happened and "we"'ve got a pretty good idea why it did. In any case the movie doesn't offer any new twist on it. It seems it's only objective is to fan a flame that the American media have already turned into a roaring inferno with their trademark skills of communication. So why would they make this film? Anyone? Ya'll know what these little fellas mean?: $$$ If you don't, look it up. They're pretty big in Hollywood. I should add to anyone that agrees with me: Relax, it's just a movie and it can't harm you. And to anyone that disagrees: Relax, it's just a review and it can't harm you. Btw. most shrinks would argue that the best way to cope with a trauma isn't to relive it via a moviescreen. But what do they know, right?

This films gives us an insight at the lesser known aspect of September 11th, Flight 93's mysterious crash. The story is told excellently, with strong performances from unknown actors. This makes it all more believable, and leaves a bigger impact on us. Can you picture a famous figure such as Brad Pitt standing up against terrorists in such a serious drama? The problem with this type of film is that Americans, for the most, are not ready for this, and thus the film will be the target of much criticism trashing this movie, because it is too 'soon'. Didn't Apocalypse Now come out not a few years after the Vietnam war? The politics behind this movie will kill its reputation, and an excellent movie will be forgotten, much like last year's Jarhead. Overall an excellent movie, I'm really looking forward to more of these such as the upcoming World Trade Center. 8/10