Darkest Day

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2012)

For me it all started with silent discovery, I'll never forget the sick sinking feeling I had when I saw the broadcast on one of th towers that were just hit, and that sinking feeling kept going down more and more as the situation developed and got worse, at the time I knew that something terrible in human history has occurred and nothing will ever be the same again. Is it too soon to make a movie about this someone once said, my personal opinion no it's not because we must honor and ever forget it.
The film was all honest and real like were actually seeing a documentary. Everything in it takes place in real time and really gives you that feeling like your right there as everything is slowly but surely unfolding. We see the frantic pacing and struggle as controllers to get things under control which most of it turns out to be fruitless as things are falling apart. But most of all further in the movie we are totally involved with what is currently happening in United 93 as the terrorists start making their move.
It was a great idea that unknowns were used in the film some of them were experienced actors that you might have seen on TV or films. And most of there aren't even actors. Everyone looks like ordinary regular people and that helps because everyone in that flight were ordinary people like yo and me. The terrorists in the film, what makes them frightening is how human they seem, their scared and hesitant in what their about to do but know they have to do it, these people really believe in what their doing but it's a blind devotion and through their eyes their completely devoid of human soul; much like how cult members in Jonestown followed a false religion to the bitter end. Do I hate them, I won't answer that because I can only truly hate a person for trespasses committed against me or others that are innocent that I know or don't know, but what these guys did is completely unforgivable in my book.
As we see the ongoing action we feel may things as things start to happen; Fear, shock, anger, dread, and sadness which was everything I felt from the first discovery. The them in the film is not just about remembering what happened but about true heroism in the face of danger. There are two forms of heroism shown both silent and aggressive. The passengers, we don't really get to know but through their actions that most of them are putting into action with silent ingenuity opening lines of communicating by using the airline phones. We see them constantly calling their relatives or anyone else to relay news about what is going on and started to realize something must be done and now. And so we see everyone getting together, organizing a group, orient themselves in the very little time they have, and come up with a quick plan of attack. We see even more acts of silent heroism one woman passes out of the eye of one of the terrorists a phone to a fellow passenger so the passenger can call her family. another is when one passenger runs quickly toward a bathroom stall to call 911. Their doing these things because their the only things they can do for survival and know there is a possibility they might not get through it they at least have to try. Those scenes when we heard the passengers talk to their families and friends telling them good bye and that they love them, made my heart bleed.
At the end I couldn't help but cry, feeling that sense of powerlessness knowing I couldn't help them or why they couldn't survive.
Rating: 4 stars