| (07.26) | Lady in the Water  |
| (05.21) | Da Vinci Code, The  |
| (05.06) | United 93  |
| (02.05) | King Kong  |
| (01.29) | Syriana |
| (01.24) | Walk the Line |
| (01.05) | Chronicles of Narnia, The: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  |
| (01.02) | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
| (12.30) | Jarhead |
| (12.27) | Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit |
| (12.05) | randy: Polar Express, The |
| (12.02) | Geoff: Polar Express, The |
| (07.27) | Jen: Lady in the Water |
| (07.27) | Justin: Lady in the Water |
| (07.12) | Sarah: Da Vinci Code, The |
| (05.25) | Chris: Da Vinci Code, The |
| (05.25) | Acceler8: Da Vinci Code, The |
| (05.21) | Mr Plow: Da Vinci Code, The |
| (05.11) | Sarah: United 93 |
| (05.11) | Bread: United 93 |
Don’t go into United 93 expected a good time, because that’s definitely not something you’ll get. What you will get is an incredible recreation of the biggest, most important event that has occurred in many of our lifetimes.
Despite the title, the doomed flight (the only one of the four hijacked planes that didn’t arrive at its intended target) is only the focus of the last third or so of the film. Prior to that, we’re essentially given a backstage pass to a number of air-traffic control centres across the county (military and civilian), and in particular, the National Air Traffic Control Centre, where all of the major decisions in response to the hijackings were made. I found all of this to be absolutely fascinating, though I’ve heard others say it was a little dull. I felt that not only were the actual mechanics of coordinating air traffic during such a trial really interesting, but the sheer frustration of the people in charge in attempting to deal with bureaucracies and communication hiccups was palpable. Watching the second plane hitting the World Trade Centre from inside the LaGuardia air traffic control tower felt just as real and just as powerful as when it actually happened, and I don’t mind saying that that was the first of a few moments in the film that brought a few tears.
As the film shifts focus to flight 93 near the end of the film, a real sense of inevitability arises. The terrorists have assumed control, and the passengers realize that something – anything – must be attempted. Many passengers were able to make telephone calls during the ordeal, and they’ve learned about the WTC and Pentagon attacks. They know that flight 93 is not going to be landed safely. A plan is hatched, and it’s around this point that the knot in my stomach began to tighten. As they prepare to rush the cabin and try to gain control of the plane, there’s a small, faint amount of hope that pokes through, realizing that these people – heroes in the truest sense of the word – might actually succeed. Impossible, of course, which makes for a tense and uncomfortable mixture of feelings.
United 93 is exceptionally well-made, avoiding any sort of unnecessary dramatization, sentimentalization, or any other Hollywood cliché that could undermine this event. I appreciated how everything takes place “in the moment”, with absolutely no reference to Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden, and I don’t even think the word ‘terrorist’ was ever used. To the people on board flight 93 and in the control centres around the U.S., those things didn’t matter at the time.
The film is also one of the most intense, powerful, and sad films I’ve ever seen. I'm thankful that director Paul Greengrass had the integrity to make this film and make it the way that he did; I'm glad I saw it, but I'm not sure if I'll ever want to see it again.
I've heard a lot about this film (I'm sure we all have!) and it's one of the top films on my list to see when I get back. I've read that the director was going to do it well and not fill it with pro-americana anti-terrorist propaganda, and it turns out they were right. Looking forward to seeing it, for sure.
Pete, if you see this movie in Australia, let us know what the feel is there amongst Aussies. I'm curious to know if they'd get the same feeling that North Americans would get.
Geoff, thats a pretty high score for a movie that's not all fiction. I haven't seen this movie yet, but I don't really like the Idea of fictionalizing events. To me It seems a little disrespectful and can sometimes miss many angles. I know what happened, but do I need to see it played out from a script. On the other hand I will probably see this at some point, but is it really worth that many stars?
I havent seen this movie but I saw a review of it on TV a few days ago, and the review was excellent...One thing they mentioned that I found interesting was that many of the people in the film weren't big name actors, or any kind of actors at all....In fact many of the people actually play themselves in this film....
Anywho I intend on seeing it at some point, even though I know its gonna be a movie that will indeed cause "the knot in my stomach to tighten" as geo-physics puts it...
Hey Geoff, has the knot loosened up yet? has it unknotted all together?
TOODLES
Chris, I'm not sure what you mean by "fictionalizing events". The movie is about as close to non-fiction as something like this can possibly be. It's almost like a documentary. Obviously, we'll never know *exactly* how events unfolded on the plane itself, but investigators (and, well, filmmakers) have been able to piece things together pretty well from all of the phone calls that were made on board the plane, as well as the cockpit voice recorded.
Overall, I came away from this movie feeling a *lot* of respect for all of the people involved -- especially the passagners on the flight.
Hi Geoff, what I meant by fictionalizing is that once a real event is put into a movie, the characters and the plot are no longer 100% real. It becomes a story that can be manipulated and not a true reflection of reality. It's not a documentry, but even those can be manipulative as to what the truth is. I even feel this way about movies such as Ray and Walk the Line. As much as i'm curious, I don't like being bombarded by the coverage of 9/11. And this is a great way to draw an audience. If they made a current real life documentry about Darfur, I'm sure it wouldnt get as high ticket sales. Don't get me wrong the movie probably is entertaining, but It must have cost mucho bucks and is raking in a good chunk too. I feel for the people who died, because their death has put money in the bank for the film makers and I doubt they'll donate it all.
Great review Geoff, I thought this was a very powerful film as well, the way Greengrass made it without delving into politics/the war etc.. definetely helped it. That scene where you see plane #2 hit the tower and the way the people reacted in air control booth is one of the most well done scenes in any movie in recent memory. It's easily the best film I've seen this year.
For me, what really validifies what this film is doing is the fact that the families of the victims all seem to feel that it truly honours their loved ones. I haven't heard from a single person who felt exploited (as is often the case with biopics). True, the movie will make a lot of money, but the filmmakers did donate $1.5 million towards the building of a United 93 memorial. Obviously they will make a lot more $$ than that, but it's still a nice little chunk of cash that will ensure that the monument gets built. Also I feel that the film itself serves as a very respectful, powerful memorial to these people.
The events of 9/11 were a great tragedy, but I think the thing that truly makes that day the most infamous day in history is how the true terrorists are not being reported to you or I.
Now I really don't know what happened on flight 93, or any of those other flights for that matter. But what really disturbs me is that never in the history of modern technology and human existence has a skyscraper destructed in on itself in a pristine orderly and uniform fashion all from a simple fire. However, we are to believe 3, yes THREE buildings fell in the same day from the same incidents in the same spot.
Now I realize the motivation for this movie is a very positive and real one. But if after all this, no one will question the events of that day after looking at the facts then I will truly be sickened to be a human being.
Thank you, grand master of the conspiracy theory. Perhaps you can now work on proving the claims of the Da Vinci Code?