Tragic Events Of United 93 Gripping, Unsettling

     To say that United 93 is emotionally charging is an understatement. The feature film, based on the true events of one of the hijacked planes of the September 11 terrorist attacks, draws more emotions from its audience than the vast majority of other movies. However, the strongest emotion for me was anger. I felt sadness and pain for the passengers aboard the aircraft but my passion was devoted against the hijackers. I am confident that the dominant emotion varies from moviegoer to moviegoer, though, which is the amazing quality that makes United 93 so powerful.

     As I said, United 93 is based on true events that transpired on September 11, 2001. That tragic day in the nation’s history saw the hijacking of four flights. Two of the planes resulted in the complete demolishment of the World Trade Center in New York City. Another one of the planes crashed into the Pentagon. United 93 focuses on the only plane that did not reach its target.

     As the motion picture opens, four men are preparing for what will ultimately become known as the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They, along with a small handful of other people, board a jetliner but their departure is delayed. Meanwhile, folks in the air traffic control room are unable to get a response from a plane in mid-flight. One person overhears background chatter about the plane being hijacked and, despite their efforts, nobody is able to make contact with the plane.

     A few more hijackings pop up but no one completely grasps the seriousness of the situation until one of the planes flies into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. United Flight 93 has taken off by this time and the pilots soon receive a transmission informing them of the other hijackings. Then, the four men on the plane make their move and take control of the cockpit. The passengers, who have now been sent to the back of the aircraft, refuse to give up without a fight, though.

     As a result of the relatively real-time account, it does take some time before United 93 gets to the meat of the event. Unfortunately, the flick spends quite a good chunk of time on the ground in the air traffic control rooms. It is intriguing to see what was going on downstairs (especially given that most of these people are portrayed by the real air traffic control personnel that dealt with the historic tragedy) and these scenes add to the film’s overall documentary feeling, but it can get tedious waiting to get back into the sky.

     There is no way of knowing exactly what transpired during the flight, but the filmmakers make the best from the released intelligence about the event. They also utilized reports from the people that the passengers called during the hijacking. Speaking of said phone calls, the most heart wrenching scenes are the ones that feature the passengers calling their loved ones expressing their final goodbyes.

      United 93 does not focus on the passengers as characters, though. Instead, the passengers are merely strangers that have come together as human beings. This along with the real-time account makes the audience feel as though they are right there on the plane. Director Paul Greengrass does not try to exploit the passengers nor does he take advantage of the situations to create a false sense of intensity. All suspense and horror is authentic in the film which is far more gripping and unsettling than anything fabricated could have been.