Reliving the unthinkable

On Sept. 11, 2001, specific faiths didn't matter. Faith itself did. People in America, onboard the hijacked planes, in the buildings, on the ground, and around the world looked to any kind of higher power for help. At 10:07 a.m., when United Airlines Flight 93, the last fated plane of that day, crashed to the ground in Pennsylvania, it became horribly clear that no one's prayers were answered. When people hear about a film based on the events of Sept. 11, the first thought that comes to mind may be that it is just Hollywood's way of cashing in on America's darkest, most tragic hour. However, you will not see an ounce of Hollywood in Universal Pictures' "United 93." There are no big Hollywood names in any role. There is no side-story, no hero who is able to save the day and there is most definitely no fairytale ending. There is only a heart-wrenching, factual reenactment of what happened that day. "United 93" is emotional, haunting, disturbing, hard to sit through and horrifying. Ironically, it is also worth seeing. In the film, the camera pans quickly between faces, conversations, offices and actions. With any other subject matter, it would be hard to follow. But with "United 93," it is anything but. From the second the film starts, every word, facial expression and situation is taken in completely, no matter how disturbing it may be. The film itself is intense, but the most intense moments begin when we see the first flights crashing into the World Trade Center. Passengers on the final flight are completely unaware of what has happened elsewhere, until many start to realize they may not be making it off the plane. After phone calls are made from the flight, word of the other highjackings and crashes are made known to those on-board. Now realizing they will not be landing safely, the final 30 minutes of the film portrays the passengers' decision to bombard the highjackers and the cockpit in an attempt to save their lives. "United 93" isn't meant to teach anything new, or make us aware of something we may not have known. It is not trying to change anyone's opinion, or to steer people towards forming new ones. Instead, this documentary-like movie shows no real bias towards one group or another. It simply puts events that are known to have happened into a sequence that frighteningly, makes you feel as if you are there. Though it runs for only an hour and forty minutes, it feels much longer than that. You know the ending, though you wish so badly you could change it or that a different ending would be shown.

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out