“United 93" (Universal Pictures)
The Flight That Fought Back
“Flight 93” is the story of the fourth hijacked plane on September 11, 2001. Two planes went into the World Trade Center towers, another went into the Pentagon, and this flight crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. The hijackers intended it to fly into the Capitol but the passengers revolted and averted that target. In the process they lost their lives. This film is a testimony to their bravery.
The director of the movie is Paul Greengrass and he has made a concentrated effort to show this story with taste and sincerity. It is filmed in an almost documentary style, and told in real time. It starts with the passengers arriving at the airport in Newark, New Jersey and follows them through the ticket lines and on to the plane.
You also get a look inside the Air Traffic Controller offices as the planes are tracked throughout their trips. It is there you get glimpses of the two planes hitting the twin towers. From that point the military is contacted and deployment procedures are slowly put into play.
Inside United Airlines Flight 93 the wait for the hijackers to make their move begins. It is nerve-wracking and seems to take forever. Once they announce their intentions the revolt of the passengers seems to come quickly. The movie makes it clear that the reason these passengers did revolt was they were aware of the twin towers attacks and knew they were not going to be set free, but were rather going to be sacrificed.
The film is impersonal in that it doesn’t identify the passengers by name and the focus is never on one individual. You see them only as a group and this reduces the heart breaking effect their efforts caused. Even Todd Beamer is not set out from the group. You hear his famous “Let’s roll!” but it is said in conjunction with other remarks.
The movie is rated R for violence and profanity.
The movie is presented with dignity, and you can feel the director’s concern for the feelings of the families of the persons represented on film. This “respect” obviously is the motivation for keeping the film impersonal. You watch the occurrences and your heart goes to the victims who through no fault of their own were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This is not a film everyone should go to see. There are some people who would be sickened by the occurrences, and would find it all too horrific to endure. For others it might be cathartic in that it will help them understand the strong will of these people who chose to fight back.
However the general public receives it, this film stands as a testimony to the valor of the passengers of United Flight 93. It is respectfully made and presented, and that is all we could ask from the filmmaker.
I scored “United 93” a harrowing 7 out of 10.
