United 93 dir. by

22 June 2006


Genre:
Script:
Cast: , , , ,
Rated :

This is a film that is pretty impossible to review as just a film. We’ve all seen the news footage of those planes crashing into the World Trade Centre, we all know what happened that September.

And part of me wonders why I went to see this film. I can’t say it was entertainment in the usual sense of the word, although it was an entertaining film. But entertain seems to suggest fun, and this film is anything but fun. From the moment it starts you know what will happen these people in the end. You know they are all going to die, and more than that, you know that it isn’t just characters, but that this is what happened those people. Okay, so they had to guess at the details, but in essence this is what happened on board United 93 on 11th of September.

It is an unflinching look at what may have happened about the plane after the hijacking, and it told in a gripping, powerful way. But because of the nature of the plot, I’m not sure I could actually recommend this film. And I’m not sure why exactly it was made. It doesn’t try to offer any explanation. There is no grand over-arching statement about the “war on terror”. It is simply the story of the what happened on one plane, about the crew, passengers and hijackers. And I think in the end that is all it tries to be. To give a voice to those murdered in the attack. And it succeeds.

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2 Responses

  1. Mal says:

    I couldn't go to see this film; I'm not saying I object to it morally or anything (although, as you say, you do have to question its purpose) but I wouldn't be able to watch it in the same way I won't read or watch anything about the Holocaust. I did watch Schindler's List, but that concentrated more on Oscar Schindler than on the camps.

  2. Fence says:

    I think the reason was simply to tell the story of these passengers, I guess in a way every story is just about people. This one happened to be true.

    I can understand anyone not wanting to go see it, but I'm glad I went.