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| United 93 review: "a film of devastating emotional power" |
| 2006-04-20 |
| Review of the upcoming film by Deroy Murdock in National Review. EFL'd. United 93 arrives just in time. As we bicker over Donald Rumsfeld’s job security by day and obsess over American Idol by night, writer-director Paul Greengrass offers a harrowing reminder of what’s in play on Earth today. In a film of devastating emotional power, Greengrass traces that morning’s mounting horrors. This is no PC film crafted by moral relativists in Malibu. As soon as Universal Studios’ logo fades to black, a man quietly prays in Arabic. He holds a small Koran in his palms while sitting atop a motel bed. “It’s time,” one hijacker announces, and their murderous journey begins. United 93 should bury for good the absurd cliché that violent Muslim zealots are “cowards.” Rather than watch their knees knock together like castanets, the four al Qaeda agents on the doomed flight are focused and ruthless. When a cockpit screen announces, “Two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center,” the al Qaeda agents celebrate. “The brothers have hit the targets,” says pilot Ziad Jarrah. “We’re in control,” replies hijacker Saeed al Ghamdi. “Thanks be to God.” Behind them, ordinary Americans who had been eating omelets, knitting, and perusing travel guides quickly discern that their plane is a missile, and they mount a plan to retake it. Though their jet slammed upside down into a field at 580 MPH, United 93’s 44 passengers surely spared many more lives than they sacrificed. They also likely saved the U.S. Capitol, whose photo Jarrah affixes like prey to the airliner’s steering column. “That final image haunts me — a physical struggle for the controls of a gasoline-fueled 21st-Century flying machine between a band of suicidal religious fanatics and a group of innocents drawn from amongst us all,” Greengrass said. “It’s really, in a way, the struggle for our world today.” Greengrass uses little known actors and even some real-life air-traffic controllers and military tacticians who were on duty on 9/11. They make the film feel like a documentary, or perhaps a reality TV show captured on celluloid. The cast appears perfectly authentic as they grapple with a growing sense of doom and an increasingly unfathomable challenge. One performance stands out among many fine ones. Ben Sliney ran the FAA’s Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, from which it coordinated air-traffic controllers’ response to the hijackings. It also quickly grounded some 4,500 aircraft across America. Sliney supervised all this on 9/11, his first day on that job. He is portrayed rivetingly on screen by none other than Ben Sliney himself. This fine film’s verisimilitude parallels recent, real-world developments. “Shall we pull it down?” Jarrah asks another hijacker as passengers bang on the cockpit door. “Yes, put it in it, and pull it down,” the other replies. “Allah is the greatest.” Those words are on tapes played at the death-penalty trial of al Qaeda agent Zacarias Moussaoui. His Arctic demeanor mirrors the ice-cold evil that runs through the veins of those who have declared war on America and our allies. . . . It sounds like Greengrass got it right. Don't know about you folks, but I'm going. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #11 #9 RJ - The point is, this director apparently (at least for this film) is NOT like the rest of Hollyweird. Let's encourage him. For those who don't think they can take it - and I do understand - TW has the right idea. I knew there was no way I could sit through a public showing of Schindler's List - though I have seen it several times on tape/TV. I had too, even though I knew how painful it would be. (I used to live in Germany.) It's important we support good films, even as we condemn the standard crap they spew out of the Left Coast. Never Forget, Never Forgive. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-04-20 23:24 |
| #10 Whether you go or not, buy a few tickets. As far as I know, they only count ticket sales, not actual bodies in seats. We were in Germany when Schindler's List came out. I did the same thing back then. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-04-20 23:03 |
| #9 We owe it to the heros of Flight 93. Ummm, no this is not going to do anything for those folks, it only enriches Hollyweird, there are other, better ways to honor them than flocking to make Producer/Directors wealthy. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-04-20 21:50 |
| #8 Dunno if I could take it. Know I have to try. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-04-20 20:43 |
| #7 my luck, the guy next to me will mutter "Allahu Akhbar" and it'll be the end of several lives as we/they knew it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-04-20 20:31 |
| #6 I'll buy a ticket, or maybe more, for support, I doubt that I'll see it though. Like Mr. 6, I know my limits and living in the PRM my opportunities to play the beserker are way too frequent. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2006-04-20 20:21 |
| #5 Any patriotic citizen should see this movie. American begins to fight back, by God, "Let's Roll" |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-04-20 19:50 |
| #4 I agree with Barbara S. We owe it them. I've tried to steel myself to going by watching the trailers and backgrgound story -- and they rip me up every time. I can't even sit still watching them. But I'm going anyway, dammit. |
| Posted by: SLO Jim 2006-04-20 18:07 |
| #3 My neighbor's brother was the pilot of that airliner. I have some angst about viewing it. I'll bet he will too. |
| Posted by: texhooey 2006-04-20 17:41 |
| #2 We must go see this one in the theater, folks. We owe it to the heros of Flight 93. And we owe it to the filmmaker, who appears to have gotten it right. As opposed to the majority of Hollyweird and their hate-America, ain't-I-wonderful crap. I'll plunk down my money - and stock up on kleenex. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-04-20 17:35 |
| #1 I'm not. I don't care to see the inside of a jail. I kn0w my limits. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-04-20 17:29 |