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United 93 (2006)
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Reviews Counted:198
Fresh:179
Rotten:19
Average Rating:8.2/10
Consensus: Potent and sobering, United 93 is even more gut-wrenching because the outcome is already known. While difficult to watch, director Paul Greengrass' film has been made with skill and treats the subject matter with respect, never resorting to the aggrandizement of which Hollywood has sometimes been accused. Especially effective is the cast of mostly unknown actors, who portray the passengers of the doomed flight as ordinary people who respond with bravery to extraordinary circumstances.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, and some intense sequences of terror and violence.
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:02-06-2006
Synopsis: UNITED 93, director Paul Greengrass's meticulous reconstruction of the events surrounding the crash--the result of a heroic struggle between the passengers and hijackers--of the fourth plane to be... UNITED 93, director Paul Greengrass's meticulous reconstruction of the events surrounding the crash--the result of a heroic struggle between the passengers and hijackers--of the fourth plane to be hijacked on September 11, 2001, is a landmark in filmmaking. Greengrass has chosen the most politically and emotionally charged source material available to an artist in the early 21st century, and shaped it into a psychologically draining, terrifyingly real, and technically brilliant film. Like his first feature-length work, BLOODY SUNDAY, UNITED 93 doesn't follow a traditional cinematic narrative structure; via hand-held cameras, grainy DV stock, and frenetic editing, it instead presents a visceral (at times sickening) in-the-moment documentary-style experience that maximizes the film's unavoidable air of tension and dread without being crassly manipulative. Yet for all of its precision and craft, UNITED 93 still depicts one of the most terrifying ordeals the United States has ever had to face--and that it was released less than five years after those events took place plays an undeniably enormous role in how the film is received. It is impossible to watch UNITED 93 and not be profoundly moved, whether that emotion is fear, sadness, anxiety, or pure rage. And it is an emotional catharsis far removed from what is the filmmaker's delicate hand and deft touch. Greengrass, though, is quite fearless in his depiction of the chaos of the day--the President is frustratingly missing; the FAC, NORAD, and local air-traffic control centers are shown in a disoriented panic; and the terrorists are brutal and remorseless--and, to his credit, he avoids soft-pedaling any political agenda and doesn't blindly canonize the flight's passengers. Rather, their heroism is treated as the product of a logical decision made by ordinary men and women who found themselves in the most extraordinary and illogical of situations. And that, ultimately, is where the power of UNITED 93 lies. [More]
Starring: Lewis Alsamari, J. J. Johnson, Gary Commock, Trish Gates
Starring: Lewis Alsamari, J. J. Johnson, Gary Commock, Trish Gates, Polly Adams, Cheyenne Jackson, Opal Alladin, Starla Benford, Nancy McDoniel
Director: Paul Greengrass
Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Paul Greengrass
Composer: John Powell
Screenwriter: Paul Greengrass
Studio: Universal Pictures
Reviews for United 93
Impossible to recommend as a great Friday night out, yet agonisingly vital as thought-urging cinema.
United 93 terrifyingly conveys the nature of the threat facing the world today and poignantly conveys onscreen the decision by a few brave individuals to fight back.
With an emphasis on the facts recovered since the incident and a refusal to hold back, United 93 paints a startling and unsettling picture of one of the most terrible incidents in recent history.
It is the film of the year. I needed to lie down in a darkened room afterwards. So will you.
United 93 stands as a towering, unforgettable testament to the bravery of the people who died that morning.
United 93 might be an insular response to a global tragedy, but -- taken on its own, limited terms -- it is powerful and sincere, giving reign to pity and fear without indulging jingoism or sentimentality. For that at least it deserves applause.
Gripping, harrowing and ultimately devastating, this is a powerful, visceral film with strong performances and razor-sharp direction throughout.
It is emotionally raw yet unsentimental; it shows people at their most pained and inspirational; it is both brilliant and troubling.
It plays out in such a shockingly authentic way that we feel like we're right there. And what makes this film vitally important is the way it challenges us to examine ourselves without ever making a big statement.
This is not a film you go to for enjoyment, but because you have a duty to endure it.
a real-time reconstruction of events on the doomed flight that manages to encapsulate all the anxieties and sorrows of our age.
I can say that United 93 has been done well -- with intelligence, compassion, efficiency -- and yet still question whether it was worth doing.
Amazingly detailed in its narrative cohesion and editing, United 93 is a noble tribute to the tragedy of 9/11.
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