Review of United 93 (2006) by Jeff B — 14 Jul 2010

The movie that Paul Greengrass was born to make! This is one of the 10 best movies I have seen in my life. That also means that this is one of the best movies I will ever see in my life. Within the first 5 minutes of this movie I started to feel a lump in my throat and a bad feeling in my stomach.

I just started to feel really bad and I was thinking that I would not be able to complete this movie (mind you, I love gory and disturbing movies). The difference was that this movie was based on a true story.

It is about the people who grouped together against the terrorists on the flight that ended up crashing in Pennsylvania and missed its main target on September 11th. The movie was also about how the people who control air traffic slowly unveiled the hectic hijacking plot.

This was probably the toughest movie for me to sit through. I knew what was eventually going to happen at the end of the movie and that feeling of demise made it so tough to watch. Even though I knew that the horrific 9/11 attacks would be carried out and completed in the film, I was still holding out hope for the innocent victims of the gruesome attacks.

This movie is about the human spirit and it's about love. We see the tender love the characters have for their loved ones. Watching this movie made me appreciate my friends and family. It made me think about my own feelings if it was me or a loved one that was taken on that awful day.

The way the characters were handled in this movie was perfect. They were given no back story and we knew almost nothing about them. Normally that would be bad, but this movie was about the events and how they happened.

We did get to know the characters a little bit, but that happened as the story progressed. It also helped that the entire cast consisted of unknown actors (and some of the actual people that controlled the air traffic on that fateful day, who played themselves).

The acting was always intense and realistic. It's hard to imagine how the actors could keep up that intensity through every take, especially when you think about all of the cuts that were made. The characters and acting were perfect.

Paul Greengrass's direction was superb. He was nominated for an Oscar and should have won. He used the documentary/Bourne/Green Zone style direction that he is famous for. The direction made the movie feel even more realistic and it made the viewer feel as if they were a passenger on the plane.

This movie is so powerful and harrowing because of how real it feels. When the movie starts, you'll instantly feel the same way you did on September 11th when you first learned about the attacks. You might not want to re live those feelings, but I think it's necessary just to see how courageous the people profiled in the film are.

This is an often painful, disturbing, and truly scary movie that offers hope and faith in mankind. It's truly a masterpiece that future generations will be able to use in order to learn about September 11th.

It's an absolute shame that this did not win Best Picture (it wasn't even nominated) or Best Director in 2006. It really shows you the politics of Hollywood when a legendary director (Martin Scorsese) can have the year of his life award wise when he makes a mediocre crime movie about nothing important (The Departed).

It's okay, because the people who have experienced United 93 know what the real Best Picture of that year was. United 93 is truly an astounding film that will have a heart wringing effect on you. This is a movie that will move you in so many ways and will leave you with a feeling that cannot be shaken away.