Posted on 05/07/2006 10:53:29 AM PDT by Ramius
Somebody has bought tickets to “United 93.” The movie about heroism about the doomed Sept. 11 flight grossed $11.6 million in sales and finished second place (to “RV”) when it debuted last weekend.
Directed and written by Paul Greengrass, the docudrama has gotten spectacular critical reviews. But those same reviews tell you why “United 93” poses no box office threat to “Mission: Impossible III.” Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times, for example, called it “masterful and heartbreaking” – but also “deeply disturbing.” Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Daily News described it as “taut, clinical, almost merciless.”
Audience reaction has been somber, especially in areas directly affected by the Sept. 11 terror attacks. No one expected otherwise.
Weeping has been frequently reported during showings. One New Yorker described “United 93” to the New York Daily News as “just very disturbing.” Her husband said, “I guess it’s a form of shock.” One Long Island woman told Newsday: “During the movie, I heard a lot of sobbing, and when it ended, there was just silence. Almost everyone left with their hands crossed in front of them and their heads bowed down as if it were a wake or funeral.”
For the most part, Americans – including members of this newspaper’s editorial board – haven’t been able to bring themselves to watch a movie that vividly recreates so much of the horror and pathos of Sept. 11. It’s just hard to buy a ticket and board Flight 93 knowing beforehand how the tragedy will end and how skillfully and heartbreakingly Greengrass has no doubt rendered it.
This says something about drama’s almost mystical power over the human psyche. For some elusive reason, a well-told story can be unbearably, painfully, excruciatingly real.
It also says the wounds ripped open in this country by Sept. 11 are a long, long way from being healed. It is too easy to imagine ourselves or our loved ones caught by chance, not so long ago, on one of those doomed flights, in one of the twin towers or in the west side of the Pentagon. Part of the horrifying brilliance of “United 93,” according to reviewers, lies in the very ordinariness of its characters.
When the trauma of that day is further behind us, more Americans will probably embrace this film. But not yet. Not yet.
The same people who won't see "United 93" wouldn't see "The Passion of the Christ" for the same reasons....cowardice and comfortable ignorance.
Everybody has their reasons for what they do and don't do. I've spent way too much of the last three years in mourning, lost grandparents, lost friends, lost childhood heros. This last four months is the longest stretch in that time I've gone without a funeral and frankly I'm not eager to go back into mourning, which is exactly what this movie would be. I'm sure it's a brilliant movie and do want to see it eventually, just not now. Of course I'm not going to see MI3 either, just too dumb for me.
You are so right on there. As a John Wayne line goes...."Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway" That is what this movie is about and what I brought away from seeing it.
Even if there is no storybook ending. If they had landed safe and come out smiling it wouldn't hurt so bad to see them ~try~. We all want the Hollywood ending... I'll admit that. But sometimes there isn't one.
I saw to movie too.
Let me say that right off the bat, I am not one of those conspiracy nuts. I do not believe the government lied to us, or in fact, did anything wrong. 9/11 happened out of a clear blue sky for all of us.
Although I marveled at the balancing act (almost near neutrality) between the terrorist and the passengers, I think that same balancing act kept me from getting any feel for who the passengers were as individuals. I really had more insight into the terrorist that anyone on the plane.
I also want to state a personal opinion. I think what the terrorist did that day was murder. I think it was evil from the beginning to the end. I think what the passengers did that day was courageous and good.
Those are my opinions, but the movie did not support this view, nor did it dispute it. I take issue with that kind of neutrality. Don’t get me wrong, I do not need a movie that only supports my views, however, on this day, and with these passengers, a stand must be taken.
btw, I think this movie will play very well in the Middle East.
"RV"??? Do NOT waste your $$ on it. Saw it last night and wished I had just flung $$ out the window instead even though it had a couple moments of actual comedy in it.
The same crowd that refuses to acknowledge "United 93" is the precise same crowd that owns Michael Moore books and DVDs. This crowd also votes for spineless Democrats, and panders to our Muslim enemies.
The only thing they can do right now is close their eyes, cover their ears and wish the truth away.
They truly live in the "Land of Make Believe."
Ignore their limp-wristed denials, and see the film.
I agree with your comments regarding "United 93" and would add that there are lessons to be learned from the film.
The passengers came surprisingly close to retaking control and having the opportunity to save the flight.
The people that think its "too soon" for United 93, should read about how Atwar Bahjat, a television reported for Al-Arabiya television in Iraq, was tortured and then brutily murdered by the "Iraqi insugency". The Mudville Gazette lays out the horid details of what they did to this brave women. It is an unspeakable evil what they did to this reporter and shows the demonic depravity of the enemy. If the democrats take power in congress this year, how long before they decide to play nice with these animals?
But in their self-confessed ignorance, they still try to tell the rest of us what to think.
I saw it on opening night. Only about a dozen people were in the theater.
Undoubtedly, most folks are waiting for the DVD.
For those who are waiting, here's what to expect:
The movie lacks any Hollywood-ization. Some of the folks on screen are actually the real people playing themselves. The events unfold in real time, which gives a realistic sense of what it was like for those working behind the scenes, as they tried to understand chaotic events that no one had expected.
You feel awed by the passengers of United 93. It's amazing they figured out the need to fight the terrorists, even though they didn't know where the plane was headed. (The film suggests the destination was the Capitol Building.) This type of hijacking had never occurred before, and it would have been easy for them to sit and cooperate, as is the standard advice.
The filmmakers showed great restraint. They could have played to your emotions, by letting you know more about the passengers, and making you feel like you know them. In fact, the passengers remain as much unknown to you personally by the end of the film as they do at the beginning. Just like real-life encounters. I had to read their bios on the movie website to understand who they were.
Still, the lack of character development gives power to the little things you see on screen. Everyday people doing everyday things, making small talk, going about their business, not harming anyone--that's what gives you the greatest sense of loss.
The hijackers are also portrayed as human beings. To look at them, you would scarcely suspect the evil in their hearts. You almost feel like there is a chance for them to change their minds, before it's too late. When they finally hijack the plane, however, you feel like doing exactly what the passengers did, and then preventing a hijacking from ever happening again.
Never again! That's what you feel like saying when the film closes.
That, of course, is pure leftist b.s.
Remember the Alamo, Remember the Maine, Remember Pearl Harbor.
It was about 44 months from the attack on Pearl Harbor to Japan's surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. I can't imagine America's "greatest generation' being too lily-livered during those months to be reminded of why they fought.
It has been about 55 months since the attack of 9/11. Having seen the movie, I can vouch that United 93 is a powerful reminder of why we are fighting, and this does not sit well with the left who refuse to come face to face with the TRUTH.
This magnificent, "one of a kind" movie should be playing to packed theater houses. It isn't!!! The American people are in severe denial about reality, and they will pay for it dearly in blood a few years down the road. It is both a shocking and educational film at the same time. It clearly depicts how unguarded and defenseless America and her people were left by the Clintons and their vermin traitor Democrat Party. All Americans, need to see this film!!! Sad to say, they are not!!! Their deaths, and the deaths of their children will be by their own hand.
I have not seen it yet. The quotes of the above "movie reviewers and the folks that were interviewed" just tells me that we are becoming a nation of pansies, eloi, people "who can't handle the truth" and it breaks my heart, day after day.
The sheeple will go watch any movie out there with blood and guts and deprivation of all sorts and walk away saying "That was a great movie!"......Give them the truth, and all of a sudden, they're weak kneed pussies. I for one am sick of the fact that the peepls love all the crap presented by TV and hollywart and yet start peeing they're pants when confronted with the truth.
This is not my world, I'm just passing thru to a better place.
FMCDH(BITS)
I plan to do so and take friends and family with me! :)
I can't believe this....they obviously have NOT seen the movie.....what a bunch of cowards. Since I live near Tacoma....I'm sending a letter to their editor. Sheesh.
PLUS, the movie tells about what is going on ON THE GROUND while this flight (93) is in the AIR.....it was VERY INFORMATIVE, and should be required in High School History classes.
I saw the movie and it is clear why liberals hate it.
1.muslim men are the enemy, they pray repeatidly to Allah, there is no attempt to downplay their religion as hollywood would usually do
2.the people who fight back are white males, not women, not minorities
3.govt fails on every level
4.a euro wennie on UA 93 wants to negotiate with the hijackers
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