Powerful, masterful filmmaking.

Rating: Null/10 (27 October 2011)

United 93 is rarely mentioned when great cinema of the last few years is talked about. It isn't hard to see why. Films of this nature that are based on incredibly large disasters can always be criticized for different aspects. This is a very vulnerable subject, and a film like this can very easily step into melodramatic or overwrought fare. Which is why United 93 works so well. It doesn't.
Technically, the film's cinematography captures the tension and sadness of such a day perfectly because it allows for a more realistic connection. There is where trouble could brew. If a film like this was shot in a very stylized manner, or even in a way that people would say resembles a regular film, well of course it will get complaints. It is very difficult for the audience to separate a film from the event it is based on, especially the event that is he single worst day the United States ever had. United 93 never wants to make it a regular film though. It isn't emotionally-manipulative either. It carefully captures the events and reactions to that day. Not only are the sections inside the plane gripping, but the ones outside as well. Not once did I question any shot or scene. But then again, we have to remember the tragic event it is based on, and memories come flooding by.
I am giving the only perfect score of 2006 to United 93. It definitely is hard to watch and to grasp, but it isn't a completely melodramatic affair (uhm, Titanic... although to be fair that one is merely fiction in its central plot) and it definitely is engaging and completely gripping. Also to note the music score, which is only used softly at times and for the most part the lack of it allows us to be absorbed into the reality better. As a stand-alone film it is fantastic as well, even with perhaps imagined events.