A respectful account to a tragic event.

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2006)

United 93 was the first Hollywood rendition of the unforgettable 911 plane crashes. Thankfully there was no Titanic love story, and no big budget re-enactment of the 911 crashes.
Tastefully, Writer/Director Paul Greengrass decided to show three of the plane crashes from the perspective of the control centers. This turned out to be a very interesting, and suspenseful way to present the tragedy. The decisions that had to be made and the actions that weren't being carried out, really revealed the hopelessness of the situation. Although this created suspenseful moments and great anticipation, the same conversations and shaky camera movements for almost an entire hour became a bit tedious.
There is no main character in this story. Instead the main character is the body of passengers that boarded United 93. The reactions of the passengers and flight attendants seemed very real. United 93 is made up of all kinds of passengers. Business people. Families. Tourists. The portrayal of those aboard United 93, down to the moments when serious decisions needed to be made concerning the terrorist attack, seemed painfully believable.
Greengrass was also successful in making it clear that the terrorists were also human. The terrorists displayed moments of hesitation and fear to commit these acts of terror. Though their actions were undeniably vicious, they were men that would do anything to serve the Lord.
My only complaints were that the control room conversations did begin to drag in the beginning, and an ending, or lack thereof could have been improved.
There is a great, great rise in the climax and the movie definitely makes an impact. But frankly, it seemed like the movie took the easy way out by using text on the screen to tell the rest of the story rather than presenting it visually. With that great rise in suspense leading to nothing, the movie almost feels incomplete.
Overall the movie is a great reminder of how significantly the event affected our lives. Thank God they didn't make it out to be a Shwarzenegger blockbuster or a Pearl Harbor romance. Instead it respectfully told the story of the individuals aboard United 93 who had no choice but to become their own heroes.