Friday, May 05, 2006

United 93 Review

I wanted to write about this last night, but the latest “Red Green Show” came from Netflix. It’s all about priorities. Thursday is starting to turn into a movie night for me, and last night I watched United 93.

The film was shot exclusively with a hand held camera, with a good amount of grain on the print, making it seem like a documentary. The musical score was remarkably unnoticeable, except in key moments. And all of the actors felt real, with the emotional impact of the movie coming from the final, fatal moments.

What else can be said about the plot or the story? You go into this movie already knowing the ending. It is not a film to be “enjoyed,” but experienced.

I had this conversation about Titanic a few weeks ago. I believe the reason that movie impacted so many people was because they experienced a tragedy that history had summarized as “Ship hits Iceberg and Sinks.” History lost the scale of the event and Cameron made it real. For three hours, you were a participant.

United 93 accomplished the same thing. You are in the FAA control rooms, you are in the Flight Control Centers, you are on United 93. History is turning the events of that morning into “Terrorist Fly Planes into WTC and Pentagon. Fourth Plane crashes into Pennsylvania Fields.” We are forgetting something that should not be forgotten.

The movie is reverent to that morning and to the victims onboard. It does not pass judgment on the terrorist, nor does it make any political statements: it is good historical fiction and I recommend it for the intended viewing audience indicated by the rating. I had believed that it was too soon for this type of movie (I am sure more are to come), but I was wrong. This film will help you remember how you felt on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

I know I did.

2 comments:

James said...

I want to see "United 93," but will probably avoid it again today. My Saturday movie outings are designed as an entertainment cap on a hard week.

"Red Green Show," eh? That thing has come on TV every day since I moved to Seattle. I think it comes on CBC, so it's Canadian, right? My wife has watched it and says that it's very good. I don't watch anything on television that does not star Richard Dawson or Fannie Flagg.

Rick said...

i think i'm in the part of the demographic that'll wait for united93 on dvd - watching at home with lamps and coffee and a fire in the fireplace (assuming fall/winter realease). don't know that i can handle a live screening, especially since crash effected me so much in the theater last year.