United We Stand.

Rating: Null/10 (28 April 2006)

Four planes were hijacked on 9/11. Two hit the World Trade Center in New York. Another struck the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. "United 93" is a heart-pounding, difficult, tight, taut and chaotic account of the fourth hijacked plane which was headed to the U.S. Capitol building, but crashed instead in an open Pennsylvania field as 40 seemingly ordinary people with nothing in common except a doomed flight banded together and sacrificed themselves to save other innocents. Brutally rough film that is to 9/11 what "Battleground", "The Sands of Iwo Jima" and "12 O'Clock High" were to World War II combat in 1949 and what "The Deer Hunter" and "Coming Home" were to Vietnam when released in 1978. Writer/director Paul Greengrass (a British film-maker who is best known for the "Bourne" series sequels) goes basically real-time here as he focuses on the disorganization and total shock of that fateful day five years ago. Trish Gates, as one of the flight attendants, Cheyenne Jackson, David Alan Basche and Christian Clemenson are all standouts, but the real stars of "United 93" are the camera and the hypnotic dramatic score. Memorable, unforgettable and destined to be an important addition to the cinema, "United 93" is a strong production all the way. 5 stars out of 5.