A somber look
onboard ‘United 93’

At the Movies
By Senitra Horbrook

A fly on the wall — that’s how watching United 93 will make you feel. It’s heart-pounding. It’s intense. We know the sorrowful story and how it ends, but United 93 takes you back to that day and makes you feel like you’re there, an unwilling passenger aboard the doomed flight.
Almost five years have passed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In the weeks before this film’s release, much debate had focused on whether it would be too soon for a movie dramatizing the day, or, in this case, the story of passengers credited with standing up to a band of terrorist hijackers who plunged the plane into a Shanksville, Pa., field, an explosive crash that killed everyone aboard.
The decision to see United 93 is a personal one — the emotion of it all may be too soon for some but not for others. Those who decide to see it will not regret that decision.
There have been documentaries and TV movies, but director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy and Bloody Sunday) is the first to adapt the events of 9/11 into a major motion picture. He has set the bar high for other films that will follow.
United 93 tells the story in real time while chronicling the events that unfolded on Sept. 11. It concentrates most on the hijacked United Airlines flight. Of the four planes hijacked that day, flight 93 was the only one that failed to hit its intended target, the governmental infrastructure of Washington, D.C., thanks to the heroism of those on board.
The movie begins with the terrorists reading from the Koran and praying, then follows them to Newark’s airport. We watch them go through security, one of the men with a knife tucked into his pants, another with explosives in his carry-on bag.
We see passengers waiting to board the flight. The movie doesn’t explore the background of anyone; there is no human-interest aspect to the storytelling.
It is just another workday for the flight crew. One attendant can’t wait to get home to see her babies. The pilot is looking forward to some time off. Once everyone is aboard the plane, there is a minor traffic jam on the runway, causing about a half-hour delay.
While things are stalled on the ground, we get an inside look at what is happening in various air-traffic control stations and a military command room. A plane, American flight 11, has gone off course and there is no communication with the cockpit. A controller hears a foreign voice saying, "We have the planes," and suspects a hijacking. It is an almost unbelievable prospect to them, as no one can remember the last time an airplane was hijacked. Confusion arises because no one in the control rooms is really sure what to do. The military liaison is off duty. No one can get hold of the president.
Controllers in New York see a plane explode into a tower of the World Trade Center, followed shortly after by another plane that rips into the neighboring tower. Then it’s reported that yet another plane has rammed into the Pentagon.
Ben Sliney (playing himself) is the man in charge at the FAA National Center. He makes the decision to shut down all American air traffic.
The call comes too late for flight 93, which already is in the air. The terrorists wait a while, then make their move. Two men get into the cockpit, kill the pilots and take over command of the plane. Two other terrorists, one with an explosive attached to his chest, force everyone to the back of the plane. The frightened passengers use the air phones and cell phones to call loved ones. When they find out what has happened in New York, they realize their hijackers have no intentions of landing the plane safely. With the words "Let’s roll," they battle to ultimately take back the plane, but it crashes and disintegrates, leaving only a massive crater in the field in Shanksville.
The film’s realism is enhanced by the casting — you are absorbed by the story, rather than dwelling on actors playing a role. There are no big-name Hollywood celebrities here, and some of the actual air-traffic controllers play their parts. It allows the audience to truly feel the terror that the passengers felt, as well as the confusion and despair that the air controllers felt, racing against time and overwhelmed by the situation.
Of course, some of the story is inspired by speculation. The only people who know what happened on that plane during every minute aren’t around to tell the story. However, in writing the script, Greengrass relied on the families of victims as well as what is known from government documents.
United 93 is a well-done, respectful tribute to those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. Sadly, we can’t change the ending. But we can find comfort and inspiration in a special story of courage that is a hallmark of that day. ••
Movie Grade: A