United 93 (2006)

United 93 (2006)
Number 227 on IMDb's Top 250

Emotionally-packed and moving fact-based story about the passengers aboard doomed flight United 93 that was the fourth terrorist attack plane on September 11, 2001. The passengers on the flight, as a result of a delay on takeoff that placed them behind the planned attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, are able to learn of the attacks and discern that this is no mere high-jacking. While the real events that caused the ultimate crash of the plane can never be known, the events depicted would appear to be as might be expected. The unpreparedness of the FAA and the military in dealing with the situation, which is also well-depicted here. This is about as far from hilarity as you can get.

Trivia: U.S Military Air Traffic Controllers were used during the military scenes. The civilian air traffic scenes were done by real FAA air traffic controllers. The United 93 flight crew is entirely portrayed by real pilots and flight attendants, some of whom actually work for United Airlines. The pins on the uniform worn by Trish Gates in the film, are actual airline pins that belonged to flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw. They were donated by her husband, Phil Bradshaw, to replicate her uniform for the film. Gates was herself a flight attendant for United Airlines shortly before participating in the film. Families of the 40 passengers and crew members killed on United Flight 93 cooperated in the production, offering Paul Greengrass detailed background about their loved ones, down to the clothes they wore, what reading materials or music they had with them and what sort of candy they might have snacked on aboard the plane. The actors who played the terrorist hijackers and the actors who played the passengers and crew on the flight were kept in separate hotels during filming. They also worked out in separate gyms and did not eat meals together. This was so that the director could capture the separation, fear and hostility between the two groups of antagonists and protagonists. The filmmakers donated a percentage of the opening weekend proceeds to the Flight 93 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The actual amount donated turned out to be $1.15 million. At the request of the filmmakers, no studio-produced trailers were shown before the start of the movie in its theatrical run. The ensemble cast of mainly unknown actors were each given studies of their real life United Flight 93 counterparts.

I will admit, six years later and it was a little hard to watch this movie because of the subject matter, and I didn't know anybody that was killed in the attacks. I can't even imagine what it was like for the familes. Paul Greengrass made sure that he had permission from each family before he made this movie and he showed the families the movie before it was released. The film was presented in real time which means the events lasted the same amount of time that the film did. The movie was good...the one hour documentary on the DVD was better. It followed several of the actors as they met the families of the people they portrayed. It really gave you a sense of the lives that these heroes led.