United 93 Review

This movie was recommend by Rob from MovieRob as part of my Anniversary Celebration 5.

Synopsis
During the 9/11 hijackings, the passengers of Flight United 93 stood up to the hijackers to prevent them from reaching their target.

Review
The September 11^th terrorist attacks is one of those events that if you remember it, you remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard the news. It was an emotional time and for many it still is. Five years later, in 2006, United 93 was the first movie to attempt to tap into the emotions of that day. Throughout the entire film, the movie is reflective. It looks at the events sincerely. What’s more, it paints the terrorists as the villains but doesn’t demonize them. Director Paul Greengrass is able to do this because the bombers are not the focus of his film, the men and women on the plane are. Greengrass does a fantastic job of portraying the passengers of flight United 93 as heroes and the sacrifice they made that day for their families and their country.

I don’t watch many biopics because more often than not, they don’t keep my attention. There are exceptions but unfortunately this is not one of them. For me, most of the emotion didn’t come from the film, but rather remembering that day and bringing back the emotions I felt that day. The material wasn’t there to make this a two-hour long movie. For the majority of the film, it felt like it was dragging on. This would have been more impactful as short film or an hour-long television special.

I thought United 93 was OK 😐 While it did a good job evoking emotions from the day of the attacks, the amount of material doesn’t justify the run time. However, for the first film based around the September 11^th attacks, it offers a reflective and sincere look at what happened that day.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Paul Greengrass – Director / Writer
John Powell – Composer

Christian Clemenson – Tom Burnett
Cheyenne Jackson – Mark Bingham
David Alan Basche – Todd Beamer
Peter Hermann – Jeremy Glick
Daniel Sauli – Richard Guadagno
Trish Gates – Sandra Bradshaw
Corey Johnson – Louis J. Nacke, II
Richard Bekins – William Joseph Cashman
Michael J. Reynolds – Patrick Joseph Driscoll
Khalid Abdalla – Ziad Jarrah
Lewis Alsamari – Saeed al-Ghamdi
Jamie Harding – Ahmed al-Nami
Omar Berdouni – Ahmed al-Haznawi
Opal Alladin – CeeCee Lyles
Nancy McDoniel – Lorraine G. Bay
Peter Marinker – Andrew Garcia
David Rasche – Donald Freeman Greene
J. J. Johnson – Captain Jason Dahl
Gary Commock – First Officer LeRoy Homer Jr.
Polly Adams – Deborah Welsh
Chip Zien – Mark Rothenberg
Erich Redman – Christian Adams
Kate Jennings Grant – Lauren Grandcolas
Starla Benford – Wanda Anita Green
Simon Poland – Alan Anthony Beaven
Trieste Kelly Dunn – Deora Frances Bodley
Jodie Lynne McClintock – Marion R. Britton
Marceline Hugot – Georgine Rose Corrigan
Rebecca Schull – Patricia Cushing
Ray Charleson – Joseph DeLuca
Tom O’Rourke – Donald Peterson
Becky London – Jean Headley Peterson
John Rothman – Edward P. Felt
Libby Morris – Hilda Marcin
Denny Dillon – Colleen Fraser
Susan Blommaert – Jane Folger
Tara Hugo – Kristin White Gould
Lorna Dallas – Linda Gronlund
Masato Kamo – Toshiya Kuge
Liza Colón-Zayas – Waleska Martinez
Olivia Thirlby – Nicole Carol Miller
Leigh Zimmerman – Christine Snyder
Joe Jamrog – John Talignani
Chloe Sirene – Honor Elizabeth Wainio
Patrick St. Esprit – Major Kevin Nasypany
Ben Sliney – Himself
Tobin Meller – Himself
Rich Sullivan – Himself
Tony Smith – Himself
Col. James Fox – Himself
Staff Sgt. Shawna Fox – Herself
1^st Lt. Jeremy Powell – Himself
Curt Applegate – Himself
Greg Callahan – Himself
Rick Tepper – Himself