United 93

Even if the drama United 93 had not been based on real events, it would still transcend certain boundaries of the medium called “film” and become one of the most important media works of the beginning of the new century. (17/09/2006)

The unreservedly enthusiastic foreign responses did not lie. In the beginning, Greengrass brilliantly gives the viewer a glimpse into the 9/11 shock and awe of what's going on in the flight centers (I guarantee that although you've seen the second plane crash into one of the Twin Towers at least a hundred times, Greengrass's rendition of the visually haunting footage will give you the chills again). The last 40 minutes, starting with the hijacking of the plane, is an incredible emotional ride, at the end of which, in the scene where the passengers break into the cockpit, I had a heart rate of about 220 and was picking my dropped jaw up off the floor; this despite knowing how it all turns out. Brilliant! And if you're worried about the pathos, with shots full of stars and blue-red stripes, you fear is unwarranted, Greengrass is just too good for that. PS: Given the incredible courage shown by some of the passengers, which the film captures so powerfully, I believe their survivors could not have asked for a better cinematic epitaph. (04/06/2006)

During the film I was convinced of a final four-star rating (the confusion in the control centre was wonderfully directed, but wasn’t that much fun), but the last half hour is something so incredibly and brilliantly impressive that I’m giving it five stars without any remorse. I’ve never seen a stronger “historical” film. 93% (27/12/2008)

There were two ways this could have been filmed. Either as a hyper-pathetic monstrosity perceiving every Arab as a terrorist and every American as a patriot willing to die for his country... or the way in which it was filmed. Paul Greengrass doesn't dwell on any motives that led the terrorists to act, but rather portrays them only as people who are pursuing their goal with confidence, and instead views the passengers as a group of people who, in an extreme situation, were able to perform a single radically desperate act of defiance. It all happens in real-time, which is then transferred from the control room to the plane and captures the immediate action through a handheld camera, all without getting involved in creating psychology, relationships, or quick links. This makes the entire film feel much more believable and raw, and the final 10 minutes will forever go down in film history! For those who can sympathize with the plight of ordinary people, this film is the ultimate celebration of civilian heroism. Those looking for theories, politics, and social criticism should wait for Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. (13/06/2006)

To put it in concentrated form: Paul Greengrass and the only logical reaction to a hitherto taboo topic – to keep your distance, not to judge, not to evaluate and, if possible, to present verified facts. If the filmmaker is strong and has well-mastered weapons such as a hand-held camera and a civilian-acting ensemble without stars, then the result cannot be anything other than absolutely suggestive, chilling, captivating. This is exactly what United 93 is like. The film does not spare the viewer in any way with reductions, drawing him into the center of events using all possible technical means, and it presents events with chilling authenticity and narrative distance. But the performance itself is literally devouring and fascination with the story, an unquenchable feeling of the unconstructed, and the absence of classic plot schemes - all this creates a space for a strong to horrible spectator experience. There is no moralizing at the end, an unshakable assurance that good can be delineated from evil, that the border is fixed and that crossing it will be punished. At the end we find out that victims and murderers are still and only human. The most chilling moment of the whole film for me was the prayer just before the inevitable catastrophe. At that moment, all the bizarreness and absurdity of today's world materialized aboard Greengrass's United 93. The value of such a film exceeds the prefabricated messages about real heroes a million times over, because it offers the viewer an intense experience without whispering. It's up to you how you evaluate it. (28/08/2006)

Greengrass applies the successful recipe from Bloody Sunday here as well (especially his trademark immersion technique, making you one of the passengers) - and again it works out exceedingly well. Almost everything here follows the same pattern and yet it’s so very different. The first 75 minutes are dedicated to reconstructing the chaos surrounding the first plane crashes, and then during the final quarter hour absolutely drains you emotionally onboard United 93. Again, where possible, he uses real characters "as themselves". Once again he revels in unobtrusive yet impressive music, in maximum detail using hand held cameras, and totally apolitically. Impressive, although as a movie it is difficult to evaluate, but the experience is truly powerful. ♫ OST score: 4/5 (24/08/2006)

Absolute experience that destroys viewers' senses. Greengrass's directing style brought to the highest level of tolerance through maximum authenticity and squeezing emotions in hectoliters. The second viewing, moreover, does not diminish the impression, on the contrary, it elevates it to the highest spheres. Those who haven't seen it have no chance of understanding the flood of praise. (29/08/2006)

I finished watching the movie 10 minutes ago... My forehead is still furrowed, my head is still spinning, and my heart won't stop pounding. No movie has really cost me that much in nerves. The atmosphere on the plane and on the ground was perfectly captured beyond measure. Plenty of confusion, emotion, and suspense. I know one thing for sure... this movie is unbeatable! It's like the situation hit me all over again. (25/06/2011)

When I looked at the ratings and comments of my favorite users, they reminded me of the impressions of the attendees of the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, who paid tribute to Stalin. United 93 has a reputation as an outstanding film, and I often come across comments where it is considered as a kind of benchmark against which the (im)perfection of other films is measured. At the very least, you can encounter the claim that it is the absolute peak of Greengrass's work so far, which other pieces from his workshop can only look at from a great distance. I'm afraid that historical events are receiving a five-star treatment here, not their artistic reflection. When footage of the burning Twin Towers appeared on television, it shocked the world and there was talk of the Third World War. The events completely deviated from the known world. The idea that someone would hijack a plane full of passengers and intentionally crash it into a skyscraper seemed insane to everyone. And the situation and feelings of the passengers of the last plane, who already knew their fate, were insane as well. Real life brought a more dramatic situation than the wildest action movie screenwriters could have come up with. Greengrass chose the method of documentary reconstruction, but the traditional characteristics of his work, especially the handheld camera and chaotic editing, reached their limits here. In crucial moments, it descends into a completely incomprehensible mix of bodies, jerky movements, and screams, you learn very little about the individual characters, and the film actually just rides the wave of the well-known events, without being able to properly utilize the immense dramatic potential that is readily available. The underrated Green Zone stands significantly higher in my eyes from a cinematic perspective. The shots from the navigation stations are justified, but not to the extent and with the content that Greengrass delivers to us. It's more like three and a half stars, and this time, contrary to my usual habits, I will lean toward a higher rating only out of reverence for the victims of the tragedy. Overall impression: 70%. (31/10/2013)

Today it’s five years since “it" happened, but right now I feel like I just experienced it again. Just like being there. I don’t think I ever saw a more real-life movie. Greengrass captured the events of 9/11 brilliantly, at the same time erecting a movie memorial to all victims of those attacks. Powell’s music just goes to augment the whole situation and instills a storm of emotions inside you which you might not find pleasant at all. (11/09/2006)

In a way, it is a second Schindler's List. It is equally artistically precise, with thematic weight added. These two aspects together form a unique work that certainly deserves nothing less than full appreciation. Paul Greengrass is able to create incredible authenticity with a smart use of handheld camera, aided by excellently chosen (completely unknown) actors. The tension escalates, the situation intensifies, and the viewer is left astounded in a truly unprecedented way. One of the most suggestive, rawest, and definitely best films of the year, which won't win an Oscar simply because it feels too unlike a movie throughout its entire running time. (22/06/2006)

It took me time to get my bearings, the film seemed more a documentary than the drama about a group of people in a desperate situation I was expecting. However, as sceptical as I was at first, the second half was absolutely riveting, Greengrass plays it big and at the very end I was staring at the screen so flabbergasted that I must have looked pretty ridiculous. Considering the premise the film draws from, the impressive way it presents everything, and how it ultimately overwhelms even Stone's ambitious World Trade Center, I will look past my initial doubts and give it a full rating. (14/10/2012)

United 93 is about as close to the term "objective reconstruction" as you can get with a movie. Which, given the subject matter, says a lot about the creative abilities of superman Greengrass. I'm in a similar mental state to a passenger waiting to die in a falling plane, and I'm personally in a similar state of mind when any landing of even the smoothest flight occurs, so I was able to empathize quite a bit. (13/10/2019)