United 93

[modage]

I haven't seen the film, but is it possible this film might be viewed by some as right-wing propaganda meant to re-instill a blind patriotic faith in the "war against terror" being waged in the middle east?

i have a friend at work who refuses to see the film for that reason.  but i agree with pete.

keep an open mind, my friend.  if you play too much imaginary ideological chess inside your head, you'll miss the actual voices from actual people.

that said, i am really sad i missed this.  hopefully the dvd release will be speedy.

[MacGuffin]

hopefully the dvd release will be speedy.

Gee, when might that be? 

[MacGuffin]

Due on 9/5 from Universal is Paul Greengrass' controversial but well made United 93, in both full frame and anamorphic widescreen versions (SRP $29.98 ). Extras will include audio commentary with Greengrass, as well as the United 93: The Families and the Film documentary.

[Ravi]

full frame

The terrorists have won.

[SHAFTR]

This film was out of left field for me.  Right now, as it stands, it is probalby the best film of 06.  My only exposure to Greengrass was through The Bourne Supremacy which I found to be frustratingly disappointing.  Then he does United 93 and pretty much hits every note as perfectly as he could.  Writing, editing, cinematography, acting...every stylistic choice fit the content.  Even small touches, like showing the Terrorists get ready in the morning end up being subtle yet profound.  With a project like this, it is so easy to slip up and trivialize an event like 9/11 and I assumed that would happen here with incorrect stylistic choices.  Yet, it didn't and United 93 ends up being tragic, horrifying, beautiful and true all at the same time.  A very difficult feat to accomplish.

[modage]

finally saw this last night and i do think its a good film, but i dont think its a great one, the best of the year, or one that will go down in history.  why?  partly as GT mentions that maybe the scope of the film is too limited.  to examine only these events of 9/11 and not give it more context will surely have a greater affect on all of us who remember that day but a generation down the line, it wont bring up the same feelings.  and most of its power will be lost because it reduces it to, basically a thriller.  and a thriller where there are no characters to speak of and the bulk of the film is spent in the air traffic control rooms and NOT on the plane.  (this was probably my biggest problem with the film, the film is called United 93 and i was prepared to spend 2 hours with these passengers but it seemed like too much time was spent seeing the air traffic controllers respond to the larger events.  so maybe had the scope been even MORE limited it could've suceeded if we'd only known what the passengers on the plane knew?)  but essentially without the feelings that we bring to the film that give it a greater meaning, the film is essentially just a made-for-tv true story.  it is the best made-for-tv true story ever made, but i dont think it will stand the test of time.

[RegularKarate]

I'm about 100% sure if the film had just stayed inside the plane, it would have completely sucked.
The trailer suggested it did just that... we were lead to believe it was all weepy phone calls and "oh my, we're all going to die" for two hours, but what we got was so much more.

It's an experience film... these were the ONLY people who were able to fight... they were the only ones who could and did do jack shit to help the situation. 

[Pubrick]

so you see.. the title has TWO meanings.

[modage]

I'm about 100% sure if the film had just stayed inside the plane, it would have completely sucked.
The trailer suggested it did just that... we were lead to believe it was all weepy phone calls and "oh my, we're all going to die" for two hours, but what we got was so much more.

what we got instead was an hour of people in control rooms responding to the situation/not knowing fully what was going on.  sure it was realistic, but was it interesting?

[RegularKarate]

what we got instead was an hour of people in control rooms responding to the situation/not knowing fully what was going on.  sure it was realistic, but was it interesting?

Yes

Interesting is subjective so that's a dumb question.  Obviously, I found it interesting or I wouldn't have liked it.  Not only was it interesting, it was exciting.
I can understand if you don't like movies unless people use clever dialogue or run around in bat suits you might not find this "interesting", but I did.

I think I get GT's point... I don't think he's correct at all because he can't tap into that thing that supposedly beats in his chest for resources... but still, I understand it.

I dont' think this movie was the best of the year or anything, but it's definitely up there (this year has been kind of shitty).

[modage]

I dont' think this movie was the best of the year or anything, but it's definitely up there (this year has been kind of shitty).

then we're in perfect agreement.  i'm not saying i didnt like this movie, but with the reviews you would think it was going to shake the world of film or something.  and while i was riveted throughout i couldnt help but feel it was because it was mostly because of the feelings i brought to it.  it is well-made, no doubt, BUT if it werent for the feelings i have about the events and that day i dont think it would have nearly the same effect.  thats all.

[MacGuffin]

the film is essentially just a made-for-tv true story.

I think that's a cop-out description and an insult to this film.

What this film doesn't do that the A&E "made-forTV" film did is what elevates it. No where in United 93 do we cut away to the loved ones on the other end of the phone lines. We do not see the 911 operator, the eyewitnesses that saw the plane before it crashed, etc.; anything of that nature that turns the story melodramatic to 'tug at the heartstrings.' Instead, by being in the aircraft (and the entire third act brilliantly stays there), pure claustrophobia kicks in. The film stays in your face and there is no escape. But the film also needed the air-traffic scenes in the beginning. Without them, you don't establish why the plane was hi-jacked in the first place, and that would have completely assumed you knew the whole story to begin with and completely catered to one's feelings from knowing what happened that day. Without them, I'm sure a lot of exposition in dialogue would have been introduced.

I've read some reviews here that point out that the film doesn't establish "characters." But understand that by foregoing that, the film makes you identify more with all the passengers. You can understand the situation better with subjectivity. If a few people were established with backstories, that would have made the audience think to root for this guy or follow that woman's doings, sidelining others that weren't given a substory. It would have been a disservice to pick out Todd Beamer and wait for him to say, "Let's Roll!" Cue heroic music. United 93 almost throws this line away, establishing that all the people aboard are given equal attention.

[for petes sake]

I'm about 100% sure if the film had just stayed inside the plane, it would have completely sucked.
The trailer suggested it did just that... we were lead to believe it was all weepy phone calls and "oh my, we're all going to die" for two hours, but what we got was so much more.

what we got instead was an hour of people in control rooms responding to the situation/not knowing fully what was going on.  sure it was realistic, but was it interesting?

I actually thought the sequences in the control towers were just as effective as the sequences inside the plane.  I felt like these sequences mirrored our own shock and confusion about the events of that day as they unfolded.  I remember watching the TV as the second plane crashed, and knowing that now, very clearly, we were under deliberate attack by somebody or something.  Remember all that reporting about there being a bomb in a van one one of the escape bridges?  It was the same kind of a mistake as the controllers mislabeling the Delta flight as being hijacked, or not initially knowing which flights had crashed into the towers.  There was so much new information that we were being flooded with, that our brains sturggled to process it and make rational predictions about what was going to happen next.  We were all partially paralyzed by fear.  You can see it in the traffic controllers as they struggle to remain calm and perform their jobs, and for me they were a mirror as to how I, and the rest of my family, responded to the events of that day as they unfolded.

I don't think this symbolism was Greengrasses direct intention, but it's still there...and the fact that he didn't consciously reinforce it makes it all the better anyways.   

[socketlevel]

I'm about 100% sure if the film had just stayed inside the plane, it would have completely sucked.
The trailer suggested it did just that... we were lead to believe it was all weepy phone calls and "oh my, we're all going to die" for two hours, but what we got was so much more.

what we got instead was an hour of people in control rooms responding to the situation/not knowing fully what was going on.  sure it was realistic, but was it interesting?

I actually thought the sequences in the control towers were just as effective as the sequences inside the plane.  I felt like these sequences mirrored our own shock and confusion about the events of that day as they unfolded.  I remember watching the TV as the second plane crashed, and knowing that now, very clearly, we were under deliberate attack by somebody or something.  Remember all that reporting about there being a bomb in a van one one of the escape bridges?  It was the same kind of a mistake as the controllers mislabeling the Delta flight as being hijacked, or not initially knowing which flights had crashed into the towers.  There was so much new information that we were being flooded with, that our brains sturggled to process it and make rational predictions about what was going to happen next.  We were all partially paralyzed by fear.  You can see it in the traffic controllers as they struggle to remain calm and perform their jobs, and for me they were a mirror as to how I, and the rest of my family, responded to the events of that day as they unfolded.

I don't think this symbolism was Greengrasses direct intention, but it's still there...and the fact that he didn't consciously reinforce it makes it all the better anyways.   

i agree, i just watched this for the first time a couple weeks ago.  i really thought it was amazing.  i loved the lack of sticking with one protagonist, which made it united indeed.  the control tower scenes added atmosphere more than anything.

I'm Canadian myself, and even though by default i can't relate to a lot of what happened to the same extent most of you guys could.  i gotta say i was choked up at the end, beautifully directed, and i was so proud of that effort made by those people.  truly heroic.