United 93 (United We Were)

[TheStuboy]

For one day in this decade all of America was united and no matter who you are you were with your country on that day. That day, of course was 9/11/01.
On that day, if you recall, two planes hit and took down the World Trade Center towers in New York City, another plane crashed into the Pentagon and still another, that was headed for the capitol building, crashed into a field in PA. This final plane which never reached its target was United Airlines Flight 93. This film tells the tragic, yet heroic story of a band of passangers who stood up to their hijackers and prevented another disaster from occuring.

This is not a subject you want to make fun of out of respect, and if you do make fun of dying and death you are an immoral person. Almost 3000 people lost their lives on 9/11 as a result of the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor.

United 93 chronicles the entire flight of the fourth hijacked plane in real time. This means that the movie is the length of the real flight, 111 minutes. Confusion on the ground during the events of 9-11 becomes evident from the first plane that stops responding, American Airlines Flight 11.

We watch, once again, in horror as the first and second World Trade Center towers are hit and then the Pentagon. The final quarter of the film takes place entirely on United 93, where we see a group of passagers plotting to overwhelm the moronic terrorists.

This film is very emotional and had a significant impact on me seeing it from a different angle, what we thought happened in the plane. I still remember and will never forget the sight of the Twin towers being destroyed on 9-11 since I was able to see all of it live.

United 93 is an excellent story of Americans being heroes and standing up for their country. Everyone should know the story of what happened, but this film brings it to light so much clearer and it is actual evidence of what could have happened.

The acting is superb! I was really surprised at how natural things seemed and how real it was potrayed. The terrorists quickly become our enemies in the film and we utterly hate their characters, as well we should. These people who believe they are killing in the name of Allah, have no conscious what so ever, that and they are retarded.

I actually loved it when the terrorists were being overcome by the passangers and never have I seen this done before on film.

The audience was dead silent at the end of this film, which I am not going to reveal. You know the story.

Paul Greengrass has himself an impressive, but slow at times, historically accurate film here. I give it 3.4 stars out of 4. Absolutely powerful, and it came at the right time.


If only he knew what was coming, maybe he would have thought twice about commiting terrorism.

[Kaing of Kaings]

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see United 93 in Phoenix, AZ. The thing you must remember about PHX is that it is damn hot and one of the sweatiest butt holes in the world or at least the United States. It was 100+ yesterday and that is so hot that you get a headache when you go outside. The only thing to do there in the summer is stay inside, dip your sac in the pool, or go to a movie. My woman and I decided to go to a movie and Poseidon looks like a cheese fest so we decided to see United 93.

The movie starts off with a foreboding beat and we see the Osama's praying to Allah. From then on, the intensity builds up because we know what is coming yet feel powerless to stop it. Most of you know what happened on 9/11 but this puts a human face on it. It's not the same affect you get from watching CNN during that day, its more in your face what happened. From the beginning of the film I felt this sense of dread and it kept on building up throughout. The loss of innocent life that day was staggering and the terrorist knew how to exploit that. What we get is a film that should be watched in history classes to teach what went on that day.

Paul Greengrass did a good job with this film and didn't hold anything back. We do see the chaos that happened at the air craft control centers and the military’s weak response. There were many tough decisions to make that day. We also see what happens to the other three planes that day. One thing for sure, I don't think that people will sit in their seats the next time a terrorist decides to take over a plane. My hope is that this movie will keep the tragedy in people’s minds and make people stand up against terror, in what ever from it comes. American's are better than that. Anyway, this movie is very powerful especially up to the end. At the end of the movie, I was shaking and teary eyed at the same time. I felt fear, relief and sadness all at the same time and it was a weird feeling.

Anyway, I give this movie 3.25 stars out of 4. It was powerful except there were slow parts in it and it didn't help that the air conditioning in the theater we were in went out and we had to sit there and sweat in the heat. But...as a result, we got free tickets to see another movie. Next on my list, The Da Vinci Code.



We can't forget what happened. Otherwise, History is doomed to repeat itself.