United 93 (2006)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Paul Greengrass

Writer (WGA):

Paul Greengrass (written by)

Release Date:

28 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | History

Tagline:

September 11, 2001. Four planes were hijacked. Three of them reached their target. This is the story of the fourth.

Plot:

A real time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.

Plot Keywords:

Passenger | Flight | Terrorist | September 11 2001 | Hijacker

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

J.J. Johnson	...	Captain Jason Dahl
Gary Commock	...	First Officer LeRoy Homer
Polly Adams	...	Deborah Welsh
Opal Alladin	...	CeeCee Lyles
Starla Benford	...	Wanda Anita Green
Trish Gates	...	Sandra Bradshaw
Nancy McDoniel	...	Lorraine G. Bay
David Alan Basche	...	Todd Beamer
Richard Bekins	...	William Joseph Cashman
Susan Blommaert	...	Jane Folger
Ray Charleson	...	Joseph DeLuca
Christian Clemenson	...	Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
Liza Colón-Zayas	...	Waleska Martinez
Lorna Dallas	...	Linda Gronlund
Denny Dillon	...	Colleen Fraser

Also Known As:

Flight 93 (USA) (working title)
United 93 (USA)
Vol 93 (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, and some intense sequences of terror and violence (appeal planned).

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

France | UK | USA

Language:

English | Arabic | German

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | USA:R (certificate #41676) | Germany:12 | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Italy:T | Singapore:M18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIA | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | Argentina:13 | Philippines:R-13 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Australia:M | Iceland:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Denmark:15 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The Military controllers were only used during the military scenes. The civilian air traffic scenes were done by real FAA air traffic controllers.

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the overview of the Newark airport in the beginning, an air-traffic controller can be seen wearing a blue lanyard displaying, "Transportation Security Administration" with an American flag displayed after "Transportation". These were issued post-September 11, 2001 as the Transportation Security Administration was formed under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which was signed into law on November 19, 2001. Most 2001 roll-out supervisors at the TSA have these lanyards for airport identification cards. An ATC could own a lanyard as it is understandable that the lanyards would be distributed throughout the airport operations personnel.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ahmed Al Haznawi: [subtitled Arabic] Ziad. It's time.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in United 300 (2007)

Gutwreching, Powerful and Repsectful

Never has a movie stunned me as much as "United 93". I was literally shaking during the final minutes of the film. Even though I knew the outcome I tried to fight it. I kept yelling under my voice "come on guys, PUSH PUSH..., KEEP FIGHTING". But unfortunately none of us can escape the eventual tragedy. I didn't leave the auditorium until the final credits ended. When I walk out of the theater, I felt like I felt on that dreadful day of September 11th, 2001...Numb.

Paul Greengrass's film in no way exploits, sensationalizes or points fingers about what happened that day. There's no undertones or overtones. This the most respectful film i've ever seen. "Shindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan" come to mind when I think about impact and power. But both Spielberg's film's followed the film-making standards of; three acts, character development etc. Greengrass throws us into the events of 9/11/01 as if it were happening right now. In fact, we never even really get introduced the the people on the flight. All we know is that whatever happened on that plane was shear terror. And from that terror hero's rose and fought back.

I live in Southern California and even though the events of 9/11 happened across the country and didn't affect me directly, I still am shakken by the events. Where I live, most people have forgotten. It's a time in history I will never forget and dread every single day. I can only imagine what the families of the victims live with everyday.

"United 93" was the most challenging film I've ever watched. It's not a popcorn flick and should not be seen for entertainment. It's a personal choice to see this film, in my opinion. But whatever you do never forget September 11th, 2001; it's victims and Hero's