The Film United 93 is Meant to Make You Think
However, for everyone who was not in a coma on September 11, 2001, “United 93” has a point of reference and it is a story about real people. The film is not a documentary. With the cooperation of families of victims of 9/11, the story was built from phone transcripts from the plane and testimony of workers on the ground. Mr. Glassberg chose to portray the action on the plane from imagination based on information from that fateful day. Again, it all works.
The clear blue day begins with airline personnel boarding planes and chitchatting. Air traffic controllers sit at their stations and are briefed on the day. We briefly see young Middle Eastern men saying prayers and preparing for a mission of destruction and death. We are privy to some nerves and yet they are portrayed as dedicated to their plan. Again, this is shown in a very low-key fashion. We finally see regular folks settling into their plane seats, talking, working, and oblivious to any danger in their midst.
The beginning of the movie focuses on the key planes taking off on 9/11 and ultimately not following their flight path. As word mounts of possible hijacks, it is almost dismissed as unbelievable. Past history showed some nut wanted to go to Cuba. The plane would land safely and no harm would be done. Everyone is operating from the old school hi-jack manual. It is when we see the controller in New York raise his binoculars and say, “Did you see that?” and a Twin Tower is in a cloud of smoke; that is when we all realize we are out of our league. Throw the rulebooks out of the window. Then the other plane plows straight into the other tower. Wow! The stunned disbelief, the overpowering grief, the realization of what is occurring builds in the film as phone calls are made, messages are sent, and decisions are made to start grounding planes.
In the meantime, the United Flight 93 takes off late from Newark. The group of hijackers is nervously looking at their watches as their schedule goes awry. There is some question as to whether they will abort their mission, but there is safety in numbers. One man in particular pushes the leader to continue the plan. Innocently, the flight attendants, passengers, and crew are eating breakfast and doing their jobs. As the crew gets a message that the twin towers and the Pentagon were hit and there are possible suspicious hijackings occurring, the cockpit is stormed and bedlam breaks out. With a picture of the Capitol building posted on his dash, the plane is commandeered by a Middle Eastern man and redirected to Washington, D.C.
Now, the pacing of the film accelerates as we see folks surreptitiously making phone calls and figuring out what is happening. The slow realization of what faces this plane builds and a group of passengers slowly formulates a plan to take back the plane. They assume they could die anyway – better to keep the hijackers from killing thousands more. This part of the film is done with the proper feeling of uncertainty and lacks bravado. The key to the story and the film is that anyone of us could have been in this situation. What would you do? The passengers were scared. They did not want to die. Yet, they felt the enormity of the situation and ultimately made a sacrifice of their lives to stop a deadly mission. In the final moments of the film, as the passengers roll up the aisle, you are scared for these people, you are rooting for these people, and you can feel your heart beat accelerate. The plane descends rapidly and you hear the struggles. You want the Hollywood happy ending, but that is not to be. The film ends with a dark screen and then silence and some final credits. The theater sits stunned and reflective and that was the goal of the movie. It told a story and made you think.
