Breathtaking...and incredibly real

Rating: 10/10 (12 September 2006)

First off, I had no intentions whatsoever of seeing this movie since like most people, September 11 has left a large scar on my heart. I thought it was too soon when I saw previews of the World Trade Center movie and I thought oh here we go... The thought that some director and a cast of people making money off the tragedy of thousands of Americans in New York and elsewhere was beyond me. However, one must remember, its not always about the money. Seeing this movie was not about giving money to those people who contributed in making this movie, it was about recognizing the true heroes of that one very fateful day...The firefighters, the policemen, the paramedics, even the "average Joe" people like me out there...the people on United 93.
United 93 is unlike any other film that I have ever seen, or for that matter will ever see. Only one other film has ever evoked the same amount of emotion, if not more; was The Passion Of The Christ. This movie isn't the cheesy "lovey drama" of the Titanic and certainly does not rely on fantastic special effects to keep you in suspense...but it feeds solely on human emotion.
The film starts out on a typical Monday morning in the Newark, NJ airport...everyone waiting in the waiting area to board their plane...The hijackers join and sit down just like ordinary people. Everyone boards the plane and things go quite typically until a man steps out with what looks to be a bomb strapped to himself and says the plane is being hijacked. People call relatives and friends to hear that the World Trade Center has been hit by hijacked planes...and an overwhelming sense of heartbreak consumes you as you realize that this is the very end. The people can either give up and let them carry out their plans, whatever they may be...or they can stand up and fight them.
The beginning of United 93 was a bit long, as for me anyways, you began to realize what a disconnect there was between our government and the military and etc...But towards the end of the film you actually felt like you were sitting in the plane and were one of the passengers yourself. I felt the horror hearing that the World Trade Center was attacked, I felt the heartbreak as the phone calls were made to family and friends as people realized that their end was coming ever nearer, I felt the rush as they rushed the hijackers...and I felt the loss, even a sense of myself being in that plane as it crashed into the ground...and felt the innate sadness at the end as the summation of all the previous events tied together as one...ensuing me deep into them.
What an utterly brilliant film...is all I can really say. I could not think of a appropriate movie to see in ones life...Something that touches the heart and the soul.