Harry climbs aboard Greengrass' UNITED 93...

UNITED 93 is a superb film. That really isn’t any surprise… think about it, Paul Greengrass is a great filmmaker – but UNITED 93 is probably the greatest tightrope he’s ever walked.

The film is completely and wholly non-judgmental regarding the people involved on that day. There is no condemning of the Bush White House, Al Qaeda, the FAA or NORAD that day. Nor is there any condemning of the Airlines, the pilots. The terrorists are not cartoon characters, they’re not shown as being particularly anxious about their fates – rather they’re just kinda nervous about their own deaths, the success or failure of their “mission”.

Now the thing is… the actions of that day are full on horrific. And yes, I’m well aware that all of you that haven’t seen UNITED 93, think you know how it ends – and you’re kinda right. But what you can’t possibly imagine… is the nail-biting intensity, the palpable manic tension that this movie builds to.

Now – right from the get go… leave the conspiracy theories to the side. That isn’t this film and it isn’t Oliver Stone’s film either. Instead, UNITED 93 is the story about 1 of the 4 planes taken over on September 11th, 2001… and to an even greater degree the larger story of September 11th as told from the point of view of the FAA and NORAD… the two bodies that were tracking and trying to deal with the confusing alleged hijackings – as they were still in the air and the eventual horror when they realized what they really were.

That most of the people in these scenes were the actual officials and military personnel that were on duty and on the job on September 11th, 2001 is a testament to how strongly those individuals felt about telling their own story, their way. The film does not judge their actions that day, but rather it shows for the people on the plane and on the job to protect them and the greater citizenry of the United States… that it was just another day – where they had their priorities for that day laid out – and then early reports came in, which had to be confirmed, then passed on through the chain of command… and that the events that day were happening so quickly, that on that particular day – with that particular line of communication… it just didn’t work out.

The idea that the military was running Atlantic war games and had no planes in the air that could intercept in time with an executive order has always been amazing to me. To see that NORAD command had two unarmed Tomkats that were set to RAM the 747s and eject the pilot before impact… is particularly amazing. And that the President and Vice President were not available to NORAD is kinda amazing beyond words. BUT again, the film offers no judgment – just how it was.

Then after the two planes hit the World Trade Center and the plane hit the Pentagon and the first confirmation that United 93 was taken over… we shift the tale of that black day to aboard the aircraft… and at that point – we are placed on that plane for one of the most intensely claustrophobic Kobayashi Maru bullshit fucked up situations that anyone or group of people have ever found themselves in.

From the joy of the Terrorist pilots when they hear that their ‘brothers’ were successful in running their planes into the World Trade Center – to the immediate reaction of the passengers to being on a hijacked plane.

In a way – this is amongst the best applications of Hitchcock’s old standard of the couple at a picnic table with a bomb under the table that the audience can see while they continue to eat.

While the first half of this movie is a masterful filmmaker laying out the “situation” of the day in the larger scope… Greengrass turns to becoming a brilliant suspense filmmaker by simply laying the story out the way it most likely unfolded. The conversations about how they’d probably be ransomed. How they believe the bomb is a bomb and if they just chill, they’ll live. Then something amazing happens… they began to use the Air Phones on the plane. The passengers began to have access to “that larger story” that we’ve been following through the first half of the story… and suddenly – they realize… this plane isn’t going to be landed at some foreign airport. That they were not going to be bartered for the lives of brother terrorists imprisoned. No – this was a death ship.

And even then… they didn’t go into full blown action – because what do they do if they take over the plane… they can’t fly it, they can’t land it? And then they find they have a pilot and a guy that talked pilots down for a living on board… This gives them the chutzpah, the hope to maybe come out of this alive. They get weapons… The terrorists in charge of crowd control… they sense a growing mutiny – and from their side… this film is turning into a zombie movie. They’re in an enclosed deathtrap… They’re hope is to strike the U.S. Capitol with UNITED 93 for the “greater glory” to die as martyrs like their brothers that day… but now… they may not see their goal. Their deaths in vain. There becomes a panic in their eye. They were prepared to die in a sudden explosion, not being ripped limb by limb by an angry mob of pissed off passengers.

Once the mutiny is in motion… I swear, I do not know of a cinematic experience that was as tense as this. Tense from the desperate grasp at life by the passengers, at the desperate panic of the terrorists realizing their own failure… The measures each go to, to try to achieve each others’ goals. It’s absolutely riveting.

That said, there is no jingoistic rah rah going on here. This isn’t about the glory of a war on terror… nor is it about the glory of the war on America. Instead, to me, this is a horror suspense disaster film. I don’t know the people that died on that flight, and while certainly the events of that day and the choices made by the administration of this country are directly responsible for $3 a gallon at the pump… And sure I’ve read a lot about 9/11 and in particular Flight 93 from United. But I wasn’t really prepared to be emotionally invested in not just the passengers, but the terrorists as well. I wasn’t prepared to see that plane filled with human beings reacting to the events of the day. Just as we react to the events of each of the days we have to live in.

No. For me, this movie is brilliant. At a visceral cinematic level it succeeds wildly – and as a responsible piece of filmmaking it succeeds without dragging the irony of what we know now, or how we feel now about these things. Instead – it lays it out and lets you be the judge. Who could ask for more?