Disturbing

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2007)

The movie brings to life the story of the ill-fated United 93 flight with few side-tracked embellishments. Unlike the tradition of movies like Titanic or Peal Harbor, where true historical incidents were woven through fictional love stories to make them more marketable to a wider audience, United 93 uses its literary license to flesh out the characters and events using cockpit black-box transcripts and interviews with family, friends and officials on duty during 9/11. The movie is as close to a true depiction of the actual events as could ever be possible.
The documentary style and use of actual aviation personnel to represent themselves lends to the sense of cold hard reality. The hijackers are presented as regular people, afraid and anxious of death and the failure of the mission, but still compelled to follow their beliefs, driving on sheer adrenaline.
The movie was disturbing to say the least. The sense of panic and fear is conveyed very effectively. The average American viewer could have been a passenger on any of those flights and that suggestion that lingers just under the surface is the most unsettling of all.
I definitely recommend this movie, but would caution the family and friends of those lost on any of the four flights that some scenes may be extremely emotional and distressing to them.