Talk about "United 93" here:
Review by: Breanne Derby
Plot Summary
United 93 tells the tale of the many events that took place on September 11, 2001, specifically those surrounding the United Airlines flight 93. Flight 93 was the fourth airplane that was hijacked on September 11th, but it did not reach its destination because of an uprising by the passengers against the hijackers. This film is not a documentary, but a dramatization attempting to portray what may have happened on board the airplane. The events that take place in this film are not factual, but they are what may have happened, and what can be derived from the airplane's "black box" and from phone-calls the passengers made to their loved-ones.
Review
Many things were done to make this film seem as real as possible. The CNN footage of what was happening at the
World Trade Center was the actual CNN footage that aired on September 11th. The vast majority of the film, if not all of it, was filmed with a shaky hand-camera. This was an interesting approach because it allowed many of the shots to be taken from behind people's heads and for the whole film to have sort-of a jostled, shaky feel.
Also used throughout the film was an interesting focus-technique. The camera would get a shot of some item or a person's face, and originally they would start off a bit out of focus, and after a couple seconds they would slowly transform into being in focus. I'm not entirely sure what this was intended to do in the grand scheme of things other than look cool in an abnormal way, but this technique was consistent throughout the film, as were the shots taken from in-between passengers and often with parts of the heads of secondary characters both on the airplane and in the air traffic control centers. This was probably done to provide the viewer with a sense of living the film rather than just watching it.
I was surprised at how much of this film took place in the air traffic control centers on the ground, but I suppose they really had as much insanity on their hands as any other group. One thing that amazed me was that many of the people seen working in the air traffic control centers and in the military bases were portraying themselves in the film. Many of the people on the screen were the actual people who had lived through the crisis. While I was watching the film I noticed that some of the "actors" stumbled over a couple lines and stuttered, but I assumed that could be credited to add to the hectic feel of the things taking place. It wasn't until the credits rolled and I saw so many "HIMSELF" and "HERSELF" parts being played that things really came full circle. I cannot imagine living through that type of a situation one time, let alone re-acting it out five years later.
Conclusion
This film is being criticized because of the fact that it's only been five years since the 9/11 attacks took place. It has been viewed as callous to make a commercial film about the events that took place, and to some extent I agree. I find the concept of the movie "World Trade Center" with Nicholas Cage a bit disturbing. United 93, however, was amazing. Viewing this film was very shocking even though I already knew what had happened. The fact that I knew the people represented in the film had all really been alive made viewing this film different than any other.
Personally, I see absolutely nothing wrong with making this film and portraying what a courageous act of defiance the passengers committed. If anything, it is a tribute to their memories and the people they saved by preventing the plane from reaching its destination. This film evoked an emotional response in me that no other film has come anywhere close to. My whole body was shaking when the credits began to roll, and I sat in shock for a while. This was a great film, but I don't think I would want to see it very many times in my life. Watching the film was an experience, and I was captivated, but after I finished it I left the theatre feeling emotionally drained. I felt immensely involved in this film as I was watching it, and perhaps that is why. I have more than twice as many notes on this film as any of the others I've seen; it was truly amazing.
