United 93 (2006) - User Reviews

United 93 was the fourth plane of what is the most infamous terrorist attack that there probably will ever be. United 93 is believed to have been on its way to the white house, a journey which it never completed. Instead, it crash-landed into a field outside of the capital, the theory being that the passengers on the jet recieved word of what was planned, and overpowered the hi-jackers. This movie chronicles the events of September 11th from the perspective of the air traffic controllers, and the passengers on this flight.
I suppose it was only a matter of time before a movie was released about 9/11, myself personally, I didn't expect it so soon; it has only been a shade under five years, and I would have thought that the wounds were still a little raw. This film presents an interesting perspective on the tragedy, one that was not covered much in media discourse on the event.
The first half of the film chronicles the events in the various air traffic control towers which were guiding the planes hijacked. This is an interesting perspective, although not the best part of the film. Some of the acting and the dialogue came across as not really credible, given the gravity of the events. However, it does build the suspense well to the events on flight 93.
The second half is concerned with flight 93, and this is where the film really becomes a quality piece. Not over-dramatised or needlessly emotional, the film takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to the events. Dialogue is minimal, and I thought director Paul Greengrass did a fantastic job of what was not really a dramatic piece but a re-creation of events on the flight.
I'm sorry but i'm feeling it to be inapropriate to continue to analyse this movie as a dramatic work; I don't really feel that it fits into a 'movie' category, especially in the excellent second half, and this is one of the reasons why it is a success.
I guess some of my horror at the events are still a little bit too raw, this movie has brought up a lot of bad memories. That being said, I completely recommend it.

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