UNITED 93 [DVD]

Producer Paul Greengrass had the humanity and good grace to invite the families of the tragic passengers and crew of United 93, to meet the actors who played their lost ones in the film. In the Bonus section of the dvd. Also a moving Memoriam. Greengrass also asked the actual Chief of the FAA, Ben Sliney, to play himself in the film, which he graciously did. Along with several ATC operators, and a real air hostess, who played Sandy. Dvd is excellent quality, really unmissable .

Good film but faulty dvd. It was refunded immediately and I purchased a replacement.

I have to say that this film has far exceeded my expectations. The docudrama style is thankfully unsensational and believable. It was absolutely the correct direction to take and Paul Greengrass should and has been saluted for that. It would have seemed disrespectful in the extreme to have made this into some sort of bombastic, jingoistic popcorn fodder but what we are presented with here is a muted, mature, faithful legacy to those on board that doomed flight. I find it unbelievable reading comments saying the film is boring because this is about showing us the reality as far as we know it of what happened, about being a tribute to those who refused to be victims and whose spirit to fight back took over and about posing the difficult questions as to how this was able to happen. I'm sure entertainment never entered into it.Besides, I was on an emotional rollercoaster from the very start. Watching the mundane actions of the flight crew and passengers as they board and prepare for take off unaware of what lies ahead, watching the confusion and chaos of those in the control rooms, seeing the nervous shiftiness of the four unassuming hijackers, hearing the verbatim final messages to loved ones and the overwhelming final mutiny were all so gripping, tense and moving. Scenes throughout were so well executed with the editing deserving special mention, especially the frantic scenes on the ground between the military command room, control centres and airport towers, you get a real sense of the chaos and the bewilderment as reality dawns on those watching it all unfold.Another wise decision Greengrass took was to only make a nod to the other three hijacked flights, rather than attempt to recreate any scenes on board those planes. We only hear about them as an off trajectory flight number or see them as a moving dot on a control screen. When there is suddenly no response from that flight or worse, it simply disappears from the control screen, we can only imagine what the situation is like aboard that plane. We know what has happened and there is no need for confirmation.There is so much more that can be said but other reviews have already sung such praises. That the film won such favour with the relatives of those on board gives the film another level of added worth. It was nice to hear some of them talk about the film as being a cathartic experience and that they felt a little peace afterwards. That's a real testament to United 93's noble intentions and perfect execution. It is a terrific piece of cinema.

I remember exactly where I was on September 11th 2001, as I'm sure most people do.It was a normal work day until we heard the news of the Trade Centre attack. After we heard the news, nothing was normal about the day anymore.For all of the passengers on these hi-jacked planes, the day would have started normally for them too, but the terror they must have felt upon realising the situation they were in would have been a thousand times worse than the terror that my colleagues and I felt that day.Other than news coverage of that awful day, this is the first thing I have watched about this attack. I heard about the WTC and the Pentagon attacks, but that was as much as I knew. And after reading other's reviews, apparently I'm the only person who did not know about United 93. I only love horror when it's not real.This film starts building the tension right from the beginning and it continues to build until the terrifying ending. Not knowing about this particular hi-jacked flight, I didn't know how it was going to end. My heart dropped into my stomach and I'm sure it's going to stay there for some time.I would like to think that if I was in the same situation, I would have been heroic and stepped up with the rest of them to try to get back control of the plane, but if I'm completely honest, I probably would have just hidden myself on the floor, hoping for a better outcome. Respect has to be given to the passengers that at least tried to do something.My heart goes out to the families of the victims.I'm not going to say "I enjoyed this film" as "enjoyed" is completely the wrong word, but I was gripped from start to finish and well into the credits. I'm the kind of person that moves immediately onto the next film as soon as the credits start to roll.

There is a little bit of confusion concerning the title of this movie. The working title of this movie was "Flight 93", later changed to "United 93". Now there is another Movie already available called "Flight 93" but it is not this one.I saw "United 93" in the cinema and base my review on that viewing. The movie describes in real time the events that happened aboard and on the ground concerning this flight. Compared to "Flight 93" this film is even more factual, which does not mean that it is in any way less shocking. Whilst the proceedings on board, the telephone calls and everything is well described, the hijackers are not as stereotype as in the other movie and actually their actions and thoughts are included giving a more complete picture.For some this movie may be a little challenging though as a lot of the ATC coordinations and communications will be hard to follow for people who do not come from an aviation background. (Incidentally all the Air Traffic Controllers are played by themselves). The movie also shows how unprepared the authorities were for an attack of this magnitude, which of course nobody could expect.If you have a choice between "Flight 93" and "United 93" I recommend buying this one, as it is more in depth and less emotional. And emotions are not really necessary as just watching the facts is more emotion than anyone can take.

Historical