It's not the best you've ever seen, but at least it's something:
Posted on 04/28/2006 1:21:50 PM PDT by RobFromGa
Just saw United 93-- I thought it was excellent. It evolves in real-time and its cuts back and forth between the Air Traffic controllers, the Military room, and the plane.
It was somewhat shocking to watch the level of confusion in terms of what was going on, but when you see what information that they were dealing with, it makes sense.
The hijackers to me came across more as fanatical than evil, and they were not turban-wearing obvious characters, they were cleaned up and I ride on planes with people like them on every flight I take.
In the movie, they are carrying out the plans of others and are obsessive in their task. We are not fighting an enemy that is likely to be reasoned with.
There is one character that I'm glad they included- he has a European *maybe French* accent and he makes a number of comments along the lines of "If we do what they say, they'll spare our lives"-- typical appeasement mentality.
Thanks to this group of heroes, many thousands of lives may have been spared and we kept the Islamic nuts from claiming the Capitol or White House as a prize.
I give in 9.5/10!
Thank you! As a matter of fact, I've talked to him many times about 9/11 and he probably knows more than I even suspect, despite him having lived in Canada since he was 5. There's a long story (I picked him up from school on 9/11 having just heard the news and worried that my father would be in trouble, b/c he worked two buildings away from the Sears Tower. All the planes were still in the air)...but he knows how much the United States means to me, I've showed him documentaries before. And it's not just that, obviously.
Thank you for the advice.
Language is the reason it got an R rating, but as a public school grade four student, he's heard it all before. I explained the context of the things that adults will sometimes say in stressfull situations and that I'm proud I have never heard him use the language that he has heard at school.
That is an excellent point, and you sound like a very good father. I'm also proud of my son. As much as it stings to lose your babies, it makes you so proud to watch them blossom into little, and then, big, people. :)
Take care.
It's not the best you've ever seen, but at least it's something:
I think it was conscious decision by the director that he wanted to film the ending sequence as a "real-time" type of film-making. He didn't want to include cutting-back-and-forth scenes between the passengers and people on the ground which would have lowered the intensity level. I think it is interesting most of the complaints here are about additional scenes people would have wanted to see in the movie. Haven't seen many complaints about the content that was actually in the movie. Personally, I thought I was an outstanding and well-made movie and may even go see it again while it is still in theaters.
I remember hearing about the operator, too. I think it was Todd Beamer talking with Lisa Jefferson. He asked her to say the Lord's Prayer with him. (See http://www.s-t.com/daily/09-02/09-10-02/a02wn022.htm)
Maybe some of the families felt those last phone calls were too personal to put in a movie. It does seem that there was more emphasis on the Muslims praying. If you watched the credits at the end, Muslim clerics were listed as consultants. Muslims are more fanatical with their praying. It's almost as if they pray to anesthetize themselves so that they are numb to the normal revulsion a human would feel when violently killing innocent people. The insurgents in Iraq who were beheading people prayed as they cut their victims' heads off.
I was so furious about her statement, that I refused to even kiss her when I departed for work this morning. Eight hours later, when I returned home from work, this argument had not been forgotten.
When she attempted to watch CSI Vegas tonight, I turned off the TV. How dare you!
I will watch this movie!
Because of my wife's stupid statement this morning, I will purchase six tickets at our local theater. When I walk out of the theater, five lucky people will receive free tickets.
I saw the 2:35 showing this afternoon in a Minneapolis suburb. There were probably 30 or so people, but the whole multiplex seemed pretty light today. Lots of rain, so it was an appropriate backdrop.
If you have not seen the film, yet, I am going to cite specific scenes, so this is a spoiler warning.
I had such a sense of dread before the film started, as I am well-aware of the ending. I thought the film did a remarkable job of bringing you into the film and making you part of it.
The confusion in the towers was so real and the emotion so raw as they are trying to get a handle on just what exactly is happening. "Where is plane such-and-such?" The intensity builds as they try to find the first flight that goes off course, and trying to deal with the other 4200 planes in the air at the same time. The disbelief that it could be a hijacking with all of the ATCs. The way they are huddled around looking at CNN footage of the towers, before the second plane hit, and CNN is saying "A small plane has hit..." Ben Sliney is looking at it saying "That is NO small plane. Look at the size of that hole!" (Take THAT DU conspirators!)Then the ATCs that are actually watching the second plane fly into the tower. It was like opening a fresh wound, again.
Switch to NORAD, and they are trying to figure out what is going on. Each tower has a piece of the information, but none of it has been put together. NORAD is only getting sketchy reports. Someone at one point says "How are we supposed to protect the entire eastern seaboard with only four planes?" And you feel the sense of helplessness.
Once the second plane hits, and the sounds of fighting in the cockpit of Flight 93 are heard by the ATC, the camera stays inside Flight 93. It doesn't go back to the towers or NORAD, it makes you take that final flight with the passengers, without catching your breath. You do not get to leave the plane, as they did not get to leave. This is brilliant filmmaking, IMO.
Unlike the other two cable movies, the phone calls are just brief clips, no long drawn-out calls. The passengers are piecing together information and it is very hurried and jerky. The terrorist is suspiciously watching them, and a few are hunkered down in their seats using the Airfones. The terrorist with the bomb- his face and eyes just seethe hatred. That was pure hatred I saw. I could see that he truly believed that America was Satan. Unlike the cable movies that have Tom Burnett with the cellphone earpiece and constantly talking to his wife, sometimes standing, the passengers on this flight are trying not to be seen.
They have no idea that the pilots are dead. They think that they are only dealing with the three terrorists they can see in the cabin; one has a bomb. They are not all calm and collected, either, they are frantic and crying, which IMO is much more believable. These were human beings, not superheroes, so they were, realistically speaking, scared to death. When they begin plotting to take back the plane, it is very believable. When the passengers, knowing that that their flight is on a suicide mission, make their final phone calls, it is heartbreaking, as the camera jumps from person to person, not letting you hear more than a few seconds of the most intimate moments.
As a former flight attendant, I sobbed out loud listening to the one flight attendant talking to her family member,"I promise I will quit tomorrow!" she sobs. I was right there with her.
I found myself rooting for the good guys and thinking, inexplicably I know, that just MAYBE they could get to the cockpit and take the plane back. "Yesssss!" I'm at the edge of my seat, my tissue tight in my fist "They're in! They've got 'em now!"
The ending was abrupt and final. The three paragraphs against black was all that was left. It was appropriate and draining. There was nothing more. The theatre was very quiet and people slowly began to file out as the credits rolled. Somber is really the only way to describe it.
I think that every single American should see this film. I am still a bit dazed. I have to say that coming here and posting my thoughts has been quite cathartic and strangely comforting, if a little bit long. Sorry about that. God bless those brave souls and God bless America.
Thanks!
Eventually it's be a DVD and you can watch it together.
Good post.
My wife fell for the liberal anti-American hatred that is being directed towards this representation of an event that changed America forever.
Just like the Mel Gibson's movie "Passion of the Christ", the liberals are doing everything possible to prevent people from watching this movie.
My wife should have known better!
The movie itself is politically neutral but the feelings and reaction evoked by the film, much like the day itself, definitley pull people to the right of the political spectrum (ie: wanting to hit back instead of "trying to understand what we did to cause them to hate us")
The terrorist leader is played by a fairly good-looking and photogenic actor. I guess its easier to feel sympathy for good looking people. The other terrorists were just plain ugly and vicious. I didn't think the movie was sympathetic to the Jihadist cause at all.
I understand your feelings of empathy with the people on board and their loved ones on the ground, but I have to say again that those types of shots would not be consistent with the film's style. It is not some "clearinghouse" of 9/11 memories and feelings, and it is appropriate for another film, not this one.
My lib girlfriend isn't that whacked!
She just called my to tell me the cable version is on E right now.
Told her that now that I have a visual impression of the characters I didn't want to ruin the experience.
...we must not forget...
Bless you.
Beamer was a natural leader. The country is the lesser for not having him still with us. The good thing is that every plane carries someone of that quality. In time of Crisis, they will out.
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