"A Film That Is Honest And From The Heart"

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2007)

United 93 tells the events of September 11th, 2001. It was the only hijacked plane that did not make it's final destination because of it's passengers who decided to take control of the plane. I sat and watch United 93 and Stone's "World Trade Center" in the same session. While both films did tug at the emotional scales, United 93 seemed to be a more heartfelt film.
Greengrass, who's other films include the just as serious "Bloody Sunday" and spy flick "Bourne Surpremacy", takes on the difficult task of retelling the horrific events of that day. With no mainstream actors, a relatively small budget and the controversial topic, it would seem that the film was doomed a failure before it was even finished. Alas, it got the approval from the families and people who said that it was "too soon" actually went to see it. There are many words one may use to describe the film: respectful, powerful, humanistic, but you can't really describe it to anyone, they must see it for themselves.
Why does the film work so well? It chooses to show us the story and not shove it down our throats. We know what happened, but not how it happened. We will never know how it happened, but United 93 gives us a suggestion. Greengrass chose to use a relatively unknown cast and it works. There are no big name distractions here, these people are not being paid big bucks to star in films, which is the sense I got in "World Trade Center". Although, you might recognize a face or two, at one moment I was saying to myself, "Hey, it's that guy from The Mummy". There were only a few moments in the film where the acting was pretty bad, mainly in the military scenes. That one blonde woman was horrible, but this did not ruin the film.
It was interesting to see the intensity of the military personal and flight control centers doing what they do. I can only imagine it was ten times more intense that day then what was depicted. You get the sense of urgency in these scenes, a sense of realism. Everything was pulled off nicely. Seeing the mentions of the other planes was a good way to broaden the drama. I was pleased the film wasn't solely concentrating on United 93, which was another problem for Stone's piece. I was surprised to see actual footage of the planes hitting the towers to be shown and applaud Greengrass for not shying away from it. The use of inexpensive hand-held cameras at to the urgency and realism that was needed. If the production was any bigger, it would have ruined the effectiveness.
The film doesn't show us the heroes from that day, instead it shows us how human they are. In the final chilling moments of the film when the passengers are trying to take over the plane, there is no "hero" shot of one man overcoming evil. Instead it is raw anger from these passengers and their need to save their own lives and the lives of others. The film ends on a perfect and chilling note of what they saw. We are not watching them crash, we are there with them. The heart pounding score increasing the tension and the intensity of the actions. There are no post-dramatic events to show, no air traffic control scenes trying to explain what happened. A beautiful ending to a powerful film.
Here's a film that tells us to look back at that day and remember those who died. It's not one to shy away from a serious topic, instead it confronts it head on. The film was given the go ahead by the families from the passengers on board. No one should watch United 93 as a "film", but more of a look back on that day. It's a respect piece to those who died. Not a tale of survival of any kind, other then the fact that we as people survived that evil and continue to live on.
It's safe to say that United 93 is one of the most important films of 2006 and probably of the last 5 or so years. Not only does it honour the family members of those on the plane, but the rest of the people who experience something that day; everyone experience something that day. There is no character to identify with, they are all equal, all human, all just like us. Everything that happens is in the moment, no one knows what is going on, but audience. Everyone should give this film an honest open minded viewing. It is important and will only grow to be more important with time.