A magnificent and harrowing film experience that is essential viewing for anyone

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 2006)

Over five years after that horrific day, the world still is being influenced and changed as a result of 9/11. It was only a matter of time before a Hollywood studio would greenlight a film specifically about the event (instead of just letting scripts trickle in with blatant mentions of the event). And so, this year would be marked with two interesting takes on the event: one from veteran Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone, and one from relatively inexperienced British director Peter Greengrass. I have yet to see Stone's film, but as you can probably already tell, I was very impressed with Greengrass' film.
Greengrass has done what most filmmakers and studios would almost never even dream of doing. He has written and directed a film with a cast of relatively unknown and/or inexperienced actors, to help dramatize the events that took place on September 11, 2001, in real time. Starting out on the terrorists preparations for the act, the film then transports us to the airport terminal and all of the characters either boarding or waiting to board Flight United 93 to San Francisco. What proceeds is a mix of footage from both the flight itself, and from the air traffic control stations at various airports across the United States.
What makes this film so unique is the fact that besides a few phone calls and radio transmissions, there is really no hard facts about what exactly happened on Flight 93 that day. Greengrass has managed to use this fact to his advantage, and has written out a fictional basis of events based groundly in the actual known facts. While the set-up to the actual terrorist take-over of the plane is not exactly too exciting, the moments afterwards are absolutely fascinating to watch. Everything you may or may not have heard about happening on that plane plays out in truly dramatic fashion, and it strikes just the right chords at just the right moments. Seeing these almost completely unrecognizable actors give absolutely heartbreaking portrayals of these real life people is just that. You will be hard pressed to not feel like choking up as the film draws to its finale.
And it is not only the passengers that shine. The actors portraying the terrorists are real, and are emotional beings. They are not the horrifying monsters that the American media have played them out to be. They have families at home, they are scared about the mission, they do not know whether or not they are making the right decisions. They are conflicted totally, and Greengrass and his flurry of actors allow this to play out magnificently on screen. In getting many of the actual military and airport personnel on duty that day to portray themselves, Greengrass stumbles slightly. While it gives the film a much larger push in means of realism, he also sacrifices these scenes to looking and acting amateur. You can almost pick out exactly who the actors are, and who is not. This is only a minor issue however, as it does not completely ruin the film at all. It just takes away from it at certain parts.
The film has no big special effects, and relies heavily on the original CNN footage to showcase the sequences involving the planes crashing into the World Trade Center. The image has been played out far too many times for any of us to forget, so it was nice to see them not forcing themselves to have to redo the scene themselves for dramatic effect. The old footage is enough to allow the memories to flood back to us, and continues the dramatic feel of the picture. In fact, even with the recreated stuff, the film still strikes me as being realistic enough to feel as if these new items are not new at all. The plane itself, the air traffic control rooms, the costumes, even the food, look painstakingly recreated, and as a result, breathe total realism. Of course, the shaky and bizarre camera angles also allow for the viewer to feel as if you were standing right there on that fateful day. And if that does not make you any more emotional than the film already makes you, than there clearly is something wrong with you.
I was not anticipating this film to be great at all. I was not in the camp of the film coming "too soon", I just thought it seemed like a shameless cash-in that could have been spared for more original work.
But now I realize that this bold work is in fact, quite original, and is frighteningly realistic to boot. Greengrass, while creating a controversial picture, has delivered a magnificent and harrowing film experience that just simply needs to be essential viewing for anyone who watches the cinema format, or just anyone in general. It may not be overly amazing, or have any real entertainment value, but the way it begins to absorb you and never let go is exactly what good cinema is. And of course, is the most we can ever ask from a filmgoing experience, entertaining or not.
8/10.