United 93 Reviews

United 93 is extremely unnecessary movie which shouldn't exist at all, unfortunately, it do exists, more unfortunately, people are so biased reviewing this and giving it a critical acclaim.

I dare to say it, the movie was terrible from start to finish, why would you cash-in on a tragedy if you have nothing to present? what was the purpose? because whatever it was, it failed on every level, people are watching this, remembering the tragedy which put them on the spot they wanted (let's watch a movie about 9/11) and that's that, while in reality the movie have no quality of being a movie at all.

If you are familiar with Paul Greengrass work (The Bourne trilogy) you'd know that he's a brilliant editor, he's very fascinating in showing you how people work around their desks and how things are connected, before with the Bourne movies, there were many scenes of the CIA working on their computers trying to trace bourne and how things look at the office and he made it look very entertaining, so he employed the same technique here, he tried to show you that the FAA was working really hard trying to trace these missing airlines, he even employed real people, real FAA officers and told them to react to CNN live feed of the 2nd plane hitting the world trade center, and he basically tried to show you what was really going on there, but that was completely unnecessary, he was just buying time to make it a full length movie, frankly, i hoped to see something i haven't seen before, like how the FAA closed their Air space for the first time in history without any accidents, i hoped so much and got so little, and there was nothing here that i didn't know before.

The most annoying thing was the camera work, Paul Greengrass tried to show you a realistic look inside the plane, but i felt so dizzy with that shaky camera and heavy editing, and the movie isn't informative at all, it wasn't anything really, all i learned was that the president was the only person who have the authority to issue an Air strike against possible hijacked airplanes and i already knew that, which is the reason i asked about the purpose of this creation.

The movie tried not to humanize the terrorists and tried to show you the heroes (the passengers) as they try to regain the airplane back from the terrorists, but no one will ever know for sure what happened there, and the movie didn't focus on the passengers, instead, it focused on the terrorists, because the movie starts with them getting prepared to do the job, and shows you how they were nervous and not ready, and that was wrong on so many levels, because now we don't know who the passengers were, and we didn't feel their fear, it was just shallow and not memorable.

So overall, a movie without a script, without characters, without performances, without anything to present is not a movie, it was just mainstream Hollywood trying to fill their wallets cashing on people's memory of a horrible day.

From its brilliantly cinematic opening sequence, this film was action-packed, exciting, and smartly shot like most Paul Greengrass films.

Horrifying, entrancing, and all-too-real. Knowing how the story ends didn't detract from WHAT went on during that flight. Paul Greengrass and the producers did a tremendous job piecing together a coherent story from all the second-hand accounts of the family and friends on board that doomed flight.

This flick must be one of the most underrated movies I have ever seen. Indeed, Paul Greengrass is above all known for the two Bourne movies he has directed (indeed, those were some solid action flicks but nothing really amazing in my opinion) and everybody seems to forget this 'small' movie he made between those two. In my opinion, it is actually a real shame since this movie happens to be a real masterpiece. Yes, I'm totally serious. First of all, I thought this it was just really heartbreaking. Indeed, to watch this was a really powerful and harrowing experience. Above all, the real masterstroke was that they chose not to give any explanation about why the protagonists acted in anyway, victims or terrorists, and, as a result, it pretty much works like a captivating mirror showing the chaos in which our world is evolving. On top of that, the cast was solely composed of an unknown actors and no one stood out which made this shattering retelling of these tragic events even more captivating. With dealing with this kind of movies, my wife always argues 'Since they are all dead, how the hell do they know how it all went down?'. First of all, the makers spent a huge amount of time to make it as accurate as possible and, secondly, faithfulness is not everything, I'd rather had a story well told which happens to be fake than a straight story which happens to suck balls. Anyway, I think this movie was just amazing, I think it is a great achievement and it is definitely worth a look.

United 93 is a film that reflects the horror of September 11, 2001. The true events of what happened on United 93 that day showed the brave courage of the passengers to fight back. It showed that 1 out of the 4 hijacked planes that day failed to reach it's destination. I can't believe how well this film directed, written and produced because nobody survived the crash and they couldn't tell the story of what happened. It is a film that is very hard to watch for any American especially ones from Manhattan or ones who have lost friends or relatives due to the attacks. This film became a rival with World Trade Center because they were both released on the same year. Personally, I like World Trade Center more. The thing that I thought was slightly flawed about United 93 was that is was rather slow to begin with of when the moment would come of the hijacking of the plane which I suppose in a way is quite good.


This film doesn't really have any particular actors but it wasn't really about the characters, it was about the horrific feelings the film gave to the events that happened that day. It was the theme of the story that made it a very interesting story to watch. None of the characters really had names but as I said, that wasn't really the point of United 93.


Paul Greengrass has become an absolutely fantastic director after directing United 93 and now Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum. Despite I liked World Trade Center more, Greengrass did a better job on United 93 than Oliver Stone did in World Trade Center. The script was awesome and realistic even though there was no story told by a particular passenger on that plane because everybody on it died. Greengrass is an absolutely fantastic screenwriter as well.


United 93 is a film that shows the public who aren't American or any other American not fron New York how horrifying, scary and yet courageous that day became. Greengrass's best work is still The Bourne Ultimatum definitely but this one almost replaces it from that. After reading that this film was good for the families and friends of those who died on that plane it shows that anybody can watch it. One of the best films of 2006 and one of the Oscar Best Picture snubs.

''We have to do something, they are not going to land this plane.''

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.

Paul Greengrass: Director of Flight 93.

Paul Greengrass's bold dramatization of the horrific events of September 11th 2001 was one of the biggest undertakings taken in cinema in the first few years of 21st century. The importance of the event was undeniable, but the emotions which it had naturally aroused in those personally involved in the story and the vast majority of the world's public made this subject incredibly delicate. However, with United 93, Greengrass met the many obstacles that came with the project; thus establishing himself as one of the most talented and important filmmakers out there.



The power of United 93 comes almost entirely from the genius of Greengrass; the script, the style and his execution of a brilliant and sensitive piece of film-making. The film is not a simple documentary drama.
It is a true to the events but takes the steps necessary to turn it in to a story with intelligent perception of what happened and helps us connect with all the people involved; which isn't just everyone on the plane. Bravely, however, this film takes on the subject of the hijackers without reducing them to inhuman psychopaths but portrays them as misguided human beings. Before one boards flight 93 to carry out their terrible plan; he uses his phone and simply says "I love you"; a touch of genuine class from Greengrass whom shows us the tragic humanity of the hijackers yet cleverly never sides or goes against them; this is a genuine account of what happened from various sources.
Starring many unknowns, and even some of the real people involved at the airport, including Lewis Alsamari as Saeed Al Ghamdi, J.J. Johnson as Captain Jason Dahl, Gary Commock as First Officer LeRoy Homer, Trish Gates as Sandra Bradshaw, Polly Adams as Deborah Welsh, Cheyenne Jackson as Mark Bingham, Opal Alladin as CeeCee Lyles, Starla Benford as Wanda Anita Green, Nancy McDoniel as Lorraine G. Bay and David Alan Basche as Todd Beamer. The real events inside the plane will never be known, but the authentic feeling aroused in United 93, from the phone calls made by the doomed passengers, is convincing, gripping, moving and dignified, a magnificent drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Editing, and it won the BAFTAs for Best Editing and the David Lean Award for Direction for Greengrass, and it was nominated for the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound.

Due to Greengrass's sensitive handling of the story it is not hard to see why it won so many Awards and Nominations, he is to be praised (he only proceeded with the film once he had gained the consent of all the families of United 93, whom co-operated with his research),but his realization of the story on screen is the real triumph. His hand-held style, which is exhilarating in the Bourne series; a style he contrasts with the scenes on the ground where the chaos is viewed through a far more stable and controlled environment. The sheer lack of order and control that occurred on the ground that day with the air-traffic controllers and the federal government is brought to our eyes effectively; with some of the crucial real life figures re-enacting what happened that day.

All of this would still have been rather pointless had it not been for the power of the story being told. The courage of the passengers is incredibly powerful and a testament to the human spirit which seemed so absent that day. The final part of the film in which the passengers fight back happens is a glorious piece of cinema. Moving, chilling, haunting; it is an absolutely perfect ending to an important reminder and recording of events.

My wife and I watched 911 and walked away feeling it was less like a movie, more like a documentary. It was very hard to "enjoy" but in it's own unique way was excellent.