Film Review: United 93

Director: Paul Greengrass

Films based on harrowing real life events very rarely capture the genuine terror and sorrow of these events compared to the actual news footage that generally accompanies them at the time. After 9/11 it was inevitable a number of films about the events would be made and many were released to disappointing reviews. But if you are to watch just one film about the events that day, make it United 93 as it captures everything so beautifully. The confusion, the panic, the tears and the explosions all with a very real and humanistic feel to it. You don't feel like you are watching a movie, you feel like you were there.

Director Paul Greengrass has made his name working on films charting tragic real life events, the English director previously worked on TV films like Bloody Sunday and The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. His success directing The Bourne Supremacy meant he had a foot in the door to making a cinematic movie back in his favoured territory (he also went on to make Captain Phillips). 

Two passengers on the hijacked plane United 93

The story of the fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania without hitting its intended target was slightly forgotten amongst the hysteria around New York and the destruction of the World Trade Centre. The film focuses early on the people on the ground in charge of air traffic who slowly realize that not just one but four planes have been hijacked. After they scramble to do what they can after realizing it is a terrorist attack we see the developments on board United 93 as the passengers decide to take action to try and save themselves.

Shot in an almost documentary style as if we were a fly on the wall during the events. This added realism helps to build the tension and the emotions as the characters come to realize what we have all known since the start of the movie. Making a film feel real is often neglected by Hollywood in favour of cheap attempts to pull on your heart strings, which is where many other 9/11 movies failed. The final 20mins are a frantic and deeply emotional battle with the captors as the plane grows wildly out of control, rarely have I watched a movie so engrossed especially considering we all know how it turns out.

4/4 Ultrareal version of the fateful events on that day