Wow

Rating: 9/10 (28 April 2006)

United 93 is very moving. Incredibly so. It plays like the docudrama it is, telling the story everyone already knows, but it literally keeps you riveted to your seat for every single painful minute. I've heard many say "we aren't ready". I used to be among them. Seeing it though leaves me feeling that it's a timely refresher on what we are up against, and a tremendous memorial to the bravery of the those who gave their lives on that day.
When I first heard Hollywood was making this film I feared a typical PC exercise showing "both sides" of the story. Some attempt to hint at the "understandable reason" behind the madness. To my surprise (and relief) we just get an accurate recital of events as we know them, including the terrorists and what we know of them. This film is history. Not history 2.0.
My only negative comment concerns the few paragraphs of text that appear at the end. They seem to indict those in authority for inappropriate or untimely reaction. For example, there is one paragraph about military commanders not giving interceptor pilots firing orders after permission to do so had been granted because the commanders were concerned about an accidental shootdown. A very wise precaution if you ask me, but the scroll seems to suggest there was something suspect about it even though the interceptors were never in a position to stop any of the planes. It's a minor gripe given the rest of the film, but it bugs me a lot. It's as if the filmmakers wanted the audience to shake their heads at something and decided "lets point a finger over here". Ditch or change the closing words and you have a near perfect film. 9 stars.