Flight 93

I guess I don't know what I was expecting, but this movie went above and beyond what I thought it was going to be. I am not very good when it comes to actually judging how good or bad a movie is, but I gave this movie a 9 because it absolutely broke my heart. On Sept. 11 2001, I was in high school watching everything happen on TV and I guess I didn't cry then or at all because I was so shocked and didn't understand. This movie made me realize how terrible this event really was, and for the first time, I shed tears. This movie was a good movie to give you an idea of what it was really like for those people and what their families went through and what they knew. I am truly sorry that people feel that they need to do this and this movie has made me feel awful, but it did a very good job of making you feel the way you should feel when you think about these types of things.

This was a decent film that might actually have portrayed the events on United Flight 93 on September 11. I think that it is comparable to United 93, the other film about the same subject, and I liked both movies about the same. This film captured the obvious fear the passengers felt on that day, and goes into more detail with the phone calls they made to their loved ones telling them what was happening. The suspense in the movie was kept high despite the fact that you knew what was going to happen. The cockpit-charging scene was the highlight of the film, in my opinion. You learn a little bit more about some of the passengers than in the other movie. If you have an interest in 9/11 and would like to see a movie about the heroes on that day, this movie might be for you.

**1/2 out of ****

Flight 93

Last month, in recognition of the 8th anniversary of 9/11, I reviewed the film United 93. As good as that film is, it's not the only movie about that fateful flight, nor in my opinion, is it the best.

These days it seems that the best crews are actually working in television, and the made for TV movie Flight 93, a joint production of A&E and FOX is a good example. It tells the exact same story as United 93 taken from the same sources, and also told in a dramatic narrative style, but with a bit more impact. It's a shame that far fewer people have actually seen this TV version of the story.

As I've said, both are good "films", but Flight 93, which is technically not a film because it was shot on HD Video instead of 35mm Film like United 93, has more dynamic camera work. Perhaps it's the size difference between the film camera and the HD camera, but even though both were shot primarily hand held, the angles, tight shots and pans are more daring and interesting in Flight.

Additionally creative choices and edits were a bit sharper with Flight. For example, within the first few minutes of the film we know the names of the hijackers, and most of the key passengers, thanks to the great idea to include a series of tight shots on the boarding passes as passengers boarded the plane.

Flight 93 also includes lots of details throughout that weren't shown in United 93, including some that were perhaps whitewashed from United (whether this was intentional to avoid controversy, lawsuit, for creative reasons, or to lionize all the innocents, or just an accident of choice in the editing room, it still has an impact) for example, the fact that the pilots of the commercial aircraft had received a warning against possible cockpit intrusion, but chose to open the door anyway.

While none of these little things – a shot here, a detail there – makes much of a difference on it's own, taken together, they add up to a more dramatic story.

If you're the type that views only movies shot on film as "quality", and eschew anything video – yeah, you'll probably like United 93 better. But if you can enjoy HD video just as much (and with a story this engaging, how couldn't you?) I'd recommend Flight 93 between the two.

This was very well done despite being on a small budget. I was shaking through most of it as I was reliving the experience through the actors and events. The acting and writing was excellent and though the real people surely looked different this movie put faces with the names. The characterizations were done very convincingly and I now want to see photos of the real people to see how well the casting was. I know I will never take for granted my next flight and will be aware of those around me and what they are doing. I found myself wondering during the movie, why hasn't more been done to avenge this day as I still have a empty feeling that those that would attack our country have not been hurt enough for what happened on this day so that they or their children won't attack again. There can be no secret of what happens in the end, but it was very interesting how they figured out what the overheard "Let's roll" quote was for. This movie did make me totally forget everything and I was glued to the television. The "I love you" scenes were nicely done. The movie was not boring, though it could have easily have been. But like the movie "Blackhawk Down" it's a very powerful emotional movie and seeing it more than once can be exhausting, but it's a valuable and enlightening movie and needs to be seen by those that can handle it.

I believe this film accomplished what it set out to do. No big stars, no big special effects, it focused just on the ordinary people that got caught up in this event. The film "United 93" is quite good but that is told in close to real time and includes several air traffic controllers where as this movie mainly comes from the communications the people on board had with people on the ground.

I have read some reviews that were based on the politics of the situation, I won't comment on those. If you read the reviews that talk to the actual movie I think you will get a better idea of the actual merits of the film itself.

The no name cast did quite well. As I said the focus is on the communications between people on the ground and those in the air who could see they were going to die. I think it's a movie that will be rated higher as we move away from the actual events. As far as the reviews go that say it's not realistic because everyone involved has blonde hair and or has a baby is on par with the reviewers who knocked the Lord of the Rings because so many of the main characters had blue eyes.