My full review on United 93 (for my school paper):

[DunkinDan89]

Thought I'd share it here:

United 93 Displays the Heroes of 9/11


Passengers hurriedly plot what to do in United 93



“This is real world”.

That was the line most heard throughout the movie United 93 by military officials pleading to send F-16 planes to take down suspected hijacked planes. The F-16 planes never took flight though, as confirmation never was given to launch this mission. However, the last of those suspected planes did go down, but not by guns or missiles, by everyday Americans who made a heroic stand for their country.

United 93 is a movie that had lots of criticisms on its debut. Some viewers said it wasn’t time for it to come out -- it was to soon. Others said this was just going to be another Hollywood movie that was focused more on getting money than telling the story accurately. The trailer for the movie even had to be taken down from a New York City movie theater since it upset and reminded so many people of what happened nearly five years ago to their city.

All are fair criticisms, but after it is all said and done, United 93 is a movie every American must view at some point in their lifetime. The story does not merely focus on what happened to the World Trade Center on September 11th, but on what could’ve happened to the capital building on that day as well. As the tagline for the movie states, “September 11, 2001. Four planes were hijacked. Three of them reached their target. This is the story of the fourth.” The story’s goal is not to send a painful reminder to Americans on what happened on one of the worst days of the nation’s history, but to show Americans how much worse it could have been if it hadn’t been for a few ordinary passengers that saved the nation’s capital.

The story begins with a Muslim prayer; done by one of the hijackers of United 93, as after a morning of intense worship the terrorists prepare for what they’re convinced their god has called them to do. They manage their way through airport security easily, and now it is just a matter of when the plane takes flight and picking the right time to take over.

Meanwhile, Ben Sliney has been announced as the Federal Aviation Administration Director of Operations. Sliney plays himself in the film, and soon after we find out that this is his first day on the job. Amazing. Sliney shows his dedication and thoroughness during a board meeting, and its apparent he’s already popular with the board since they joke around about expenses, saying Sliney’s already way behind and better catch up. Ironically it is that in a few hours, the “hard time” they gave Sliney about expenses was actually going to become a horrifying reality for Sliney and America.

The movie then sends viewers to multiple air traffic control centers and a military air base. At the Boston air traffic control center, an employee gets strange and disturbing feedback from one of the planes he’s covering, American Airlines Flight 11, and is certain he heard foreign voices present in the cockpit, and feels they had reason to take over the flight. The rest of the control centers eventually get involved, greeting the news with disbelief as well as some apparent excitement, as multiple workers exclaim, “man, when was the last time we had a hijack! Must have been twenty years ago…” That excitement quickly turns to sheer terror, as the suspicions become a reality when the flight goes completely awry. Originally headed to San Francisco, it now seems its new target is located somewhere on the east coast, as it tears down the map through heavy airfield traffic. Not long after that, a second and a third flight become new suspects of takeovers, and now it is very apparent that more might come and Sliney must make the biggest decision of his life on if he should ground all the airplanes in the country.

Once in the air onboard United 93, the group of four terrorists eagerly await to carry out their mission. The leader of the group appears hesitant to act at first, but after pressure from his comrades, one member straps a fake bomb on his chest and the men take action and hijack the plane successfully.

The passengers onboard United 93 are told that they are headed back to the airport. However, a few of the travelers communicate with their family members to inform them of the events on their plane, but some are told that two planes have already hit the World Trade Center, and another one has hit the Pentagon, giving everyone reason to believe that they are not going back to the airport. Everyone begins to question what to do, some asking if the bomb is genuine and if they could charge the plane. One of the passengers, Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., says quietly “this is a suicide mission, we are not going back to the airport”. One of the most famous lines comes from Todd Beamer, a father of two boys and an acclaimed Christian, who urges passengers to charge the plane, saying “Are you guys ready? Let's roll! Come on, let's go!”.

This movie reminds me of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ due to three reasons. 1.) It’s not a fun movie to watch at all. 2.) The viewer knows what’s going to happen from beginning to end. 3.) While evil looks like it will win, good will always prevail in the end. As mentioned before, the line, “this is real world” is repeated throughout the movie. United 93 is a movie that seems like its happening in the real world at that instant, almost as if one is watching documentary tapes from the flight but the cameras are hidden.

This is an exceptional film, as director Paul Greengrass tackles a very unsettling subject and displays it so realistically so well. While two other movies about the September 11th events are coming out this summer, Oliver Stone and Nicholas Cage’s World Trade Center, and Adam Sandler’s (you read that right) Empty City, one’s best bet is United 93. Unlike the other two movies, United 93, doesn’t have a star-studded cast or stunning visual effects, Greengrass seems intent on telling the story the right way and with actors who look like everyday Americans.

The ending is a quick, jolting, sudden stop to an extremely intense last scene where the passengers take action. Some left the theater I was in weeping in their seats, however, I left as a proud American. I don’t care if the Oscars or any other movie award show comes till next March, leaving the potential for amazing movies to come in the next year, United 93 is not only the best movie of the year, it’s the most important one to.

**** out of ****