United 93 DVD > Reviews > Courage and Honour.

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	An important account of a very difficult day
Disadvantages:	Very hard to watch

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

United 93
Directed by Paul Greengrass

I’m sure we can all remember where we were on the lunchtime of September 11th 2001 when terrorists attacked American soil using hijacked aeroplanes. I was at work, talking to a very nice BT customer about her phone account. The four huge TV screens in each corner of the call centre were, as normal, tuned into the lunchtime news on BBC 1. It was the only day in 7 years that I can remember the place being absolutely, utterly quiet.

There has always been a lot of focus on the terrible events at the World Trade Centre, and I’ve often thought how hard it must be for the families of people at the Pentagon and on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, that they are not as constant in the remembrance of people when thinking of that day. We think 9/11, and our next conscious thought is of two tall towers, and a great plume of smoke. And that makes me quite sad.

Being 35 weeks pregnant and highly expectant of at least a few weeks of intense boredom after this Friday, when I start my maternity leave, I decided to join Lovefilm.com, which is an online service where you can rent DVDs, watch them and send them back again. To start using the service I had to choose some films for them to send out and ended up picking about 20 that I had missed when they came out at the cinema. This was one of them. So was World Trade Centre, with Nicholas Cage, and what do you know, those cheerful DVD pickers at Lovefilm.com decided to send the both out as my first rental. I went out and bought tissues, in preparation.

The Film

There are people who will, no doubt, think that such a film should not be made. That maybe it glorifies terrorism. That maybe it was made too soon, the wound too fresh. I’ve never been a fan of disaster movies but somehow this film doesn’t really fall into that category.. In fact, I’m not even really sure what category it does come into. Watching it, I felt like I was watching a documentary, not a Hollywood film production.

The film follows the morning of the last journey of United Airlines Flight 93, beginning in the airport terminal, where they are delayed, through to a last take-off and eventual crash into a filed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Using real-life information from the data recording devices on board, as well as information from phone calls made from the plane to officials and loved ones, Paul Greengrass (director) manages to create a real time version of what happened.

It’s a film which really makes you believe in the goodness of people, and in the immense courage and strength the human spirit can attain in times of difficulty. It is a hard film to watch, though amazingly, despite being pregnant and hormonal as can be, I didn’t cry. I felt proud to see these people fight back against evil. I felt their courage and their strength, and somehow, I didn’t need to cry for them. I don’t somehow think they would have expected or wanted me too.

One of the brilliant things that Paul Greengrass does in this film which I have never seen in American film-making before, was to use real people, and by that I don’t just mean non-acting types – I mean the men and women who were in the Air Traffic Control Towers. Watching these people, and knowing they were re-enacting a terrible day, but showing us so well and so calmly their daily working business, their real-life reactions, and fast paced, courageous decisions, it was all too easy to move to the next scene, on board the flight, and imagine that you were looking at the real people there too. It seemed to take a good few seconds for my brain to remember that I couldn’t possibly be looking at the real passengers, as all the real passengers were gone now. I wonder if Greengrass did that on purpose, the way he cast unknowns on purpose, to really hit the message home that these people died that day too, in the most courageous and honourable way.

My Feelings About the Film

I have to say I don’t think I could watch it again. It was a hard film to watch, upsetting and thought provoking, as well as deeply moving. But it was a film that I’m glad was made, and I’m glad I got to see. It is a moving tribute that isn’t overly glossy and shiny, that doesn’t muddy the facts with fantasy, and that in no way glorifies the act of terrorism. As a film, it is beautifully put together, told with simplicity, honesty and grace, and I think it’s an important part of the remembrance of the people who died that day outside of New York’s crumbled towers.

Thank you for reading, Kate x