Critic Reviews
United 93 (2006) Rank 3 Reviews
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based on (314) reviews
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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Philip Martin)
...a visceral, emotionally wrenching film and an appropriate, honorable tribute to the genuine heroes on that fateful flight. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Philip Martin)
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
Too soon too soon too soon. How can I bear to watch this? I don't even know which 9/11 conspiracy theory to believe yet. Or maybe not too soon. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
Time Out
At the end of âHamletâ, when the stage is clogged with corpses, Horatio asks his betters to âGive order that these bodies/High on a stage be placed to the view/And let me speak to the yet unknowing world/How these things came about.â After ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Time Out
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Revisits through an enactment dramatization the terrorist crash of United Flight 93 on 9/11. It's a film that's bound to get your blood boiling as it puts the viewer through a roller coast ride of emotions that might range from fear to terror to despair. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Entertainment Insiders (Warren Curry)
United 93 is bound to cause even more controversy than both last year's Munich and 2004's The Passion of the Christ combined, and for very good reasons. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Entertainment Insiders (Warren Curry)
Tracksounds! (Steve Townsley)
Sadly, this is no contrived Hollywood plot device, with no happy ending to playoff with grand fanfare. To provide a score about these events is extremely delicate, to use an extreme understatement. This film is a drama. This film is also a horror. There ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Tracksounds! (Steve Townsley)
Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies
Director Paul Greengrass's film is basically a documentary-like look at the events of September 11th with the United 93 flight at its center. That flight, as everyone knows, is the one that didn't hit its intended target. Greengrass has constructed a ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
The suspected hijacking of AA 11 is reported by a Logan airport controller who hears someone speaking in a foreign language over his headset. Initially, this report is treated with a bit of skepticism, but when CNN reports that a 'small plane' has hit ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Home Theater Info (Doug MacLean)
There are no real central characters here. No one person or small group of people that are made into heroes by the film. Instead the focus is on the collective actions of all on board. Everyone was afraid, everyone was scared but they rose above it ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Home Theater Info (Doug MacLean)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Greengrass takes pains to keep events believable and relatively unrhetorical, rejecting entertainment for the sake of sober reflection, though one has to ask how edifying this is apart from its reduction of the standard myths. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
An honest approach that conforms in all its exacting detail to the responsibilities the film carries as its basic requirement. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Intellectually, we know we should applaud the marvels United 93 has accomplished, and we do. But it is a film envisioned as a monument, a memorial tribute, and in our hearts we want something more. United 93 should have been made now, when memories and ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
It's an expertly made picture that I wish I could stamp out of my mind. What's the value of artistry that sucks the life out of ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
Newsweek (David Ansen)
This is first-rate, visceral filmmaking, no question: taut, watchful, free of false histrionics, as observant of the fear in the young terrorists' eyes as the hysteria in the passenger cabin, and smart enough to know this material doesn't need to be ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Newsweek (David Ansen)
Screen It! (Jim Judy)
One of the most powerful films of this or most any year of recent memory. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Screen It! (Jim Judy)
Jam! Movies (Louis B. Hobson)
Paul Greengrass's United 93 is beyond devastating. His film about the events of Sept. 11, 2001, is all the more numbing because it is handled with such dignity and efficiency. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Jam! Movies (Louis B. Hobson)
Daily Mirror [UK] (David Edwards)
United 93 stands as a towering, unforgettable testament to the bravery of the people who died that morning. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Daily Mirror [UK] (David Edwards)
eFilmCritic.com (Rob Gonsalves)
That said, what Greengrass does, he does superbly. The director of Bloody Sunday and The Bourne Supremacy works with his usual shaky-cam verisimilitude, his camera catching significant action and dialogue out of the corner of its eye. We witness the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Rob Gonsalves)
efilmcritic.com (Peter Sobczynski)
Unfolding in more-or-less real time, âUnited 93" focuses on the one seized plane that did not reach its target (supposedly the White House) and instead punched a hole in a field in rural Pennsylvania. Although it can never be known exactly what ...read the complete United 93 movie review at efilmcritic.com (Peter Sobczynski)
The Providence Journal (Michael Janusonis)
He uses techniques honed on both films to give United 93 its sense of urgency as well as heart-pounding tension. Greengrass uses lots of hand-held camera work to give United 93 a you-are-there real-life documentary feel. Some of the dialogue was taken ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Providence Journal (Michael Janusonis)
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Jam! Movies (Jim Slotek)
... Paul Greengrass is to be commended for presenting the events as humanely and scrupulously as he does. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Jam! Movies (Jim Slotek)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Gripping, harrowing and ultimately devastating, this is a powerful, visceral film with strong performances and razor-sharp direction throughout. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
When the public is ready, it'll be considered a classic. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
ReviewExpress.com (Diana Saenger)
Some human beings rise about the crowd in grandeur, leave a warm glow every time we think about them and imprint us with their nobility. United 93 shows us what GLORY is all about. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at ReviewExpress.com (Diana Saenger)
IGN Movies (Jeff Otto)
Intense, unflinching and well done. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at IGN Movies (Jeff Otto)
Village Voice (Dennis Lim)
Best understood as a memorialâ¦Like most memorials, it is respectful, premised on competing obligations to the dead and the living, and eager to stress that the deaths were not in vain. It not only tells us we should never forget but also illustrates ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Village Voice (Dennis Lim)
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
... a sober, unsentimental film, and it plays out like a documentary might ... ...read the complete United 93 movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)
... United 93 is a riveting docudrama as compelling as it is odd. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Phoebe Flowers)
... probably the best nearly unwatchable movie ever made. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Phoebe Flowers)
Zap2it.com (Dan Fienberg)
The supposed centerpiece of the movie is its least involving part. There's a crude transition from the ground docudrama to in-air melodrama that occurs about halfway through. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Zap2it.com (Dan Fienberg)
Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
You can practically taste the tepid cabin air and smell the hodgepodge of colognes and deodorants of the passengers stacked beside you. You eye the terrorists with angst. Once the hijack occurs, you feel the fear pulsing throughout the plane. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
Boulder Weekly (Thomas Delapa)
A film every American should see, if only to be reminded of how easy it was for a handful of hijackers armed with razor blades to mount a devastating and demoralizing attack on the most powerful nation on Earth. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Boulder Weekly (Thomas Delapa)
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (Josh Larsen)
...defiantly star-less, defiantly deglamorized, defiantly devoid of Hollywood hero worship - and all the more riveting because of it. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (Josh Larsen)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
... a powerful and thoughtful dramatization of the terrorist crash of United Flight 93 ... ...read the complete United 93 movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Kalamazoo Gazette (James Sanford)
Unlike 'World Trade Center,' this harrowing chronicle has scarcely a hint of Hollywood. ...'United 93'... thrusts itself into the heart of the action, whether you're ready to go there or not. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Kalamazoo Gazette (James Sanford)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
No film and no subject are above criticism: United 93 is a respectful tribute but decidedly not a great or a must-see picture. Ultimately, the film's merits are in raising questions about the politics of representation and politics of entertainment. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
Reverent yet provocative ... ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
Lawrence Journal-World (Jon Niccum)
The very act of depicting the events with such detached frankness makes for a far more gripping experience than any cinematic embellishments might provide. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Lawrence Journal-World (Jon Niccum)
Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)
It is through [a] complicated exploration of what it means to be human and the downplayed sacrifice of the passengers that the film achieves its greatest poignancy. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Scene-Stealers.com (Eric Melin)
Denver Post (Lisa Kennedy)
... in telling the story of the one terrorist-commandeered jet that did not hit its target on Sept. 11, 2001, United 93 does so much right. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Denver Post (Lisa Kennedy)
TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
Two hours of cinema that is uncomfortable and sobering to withstand, but impossible to take your eyes off of. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
There's nothing about United 93 that qualifies as entertainment in the traditional sense: It is an unpleasant, wrenching experience, which is just as it should be. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Newark Star-Ledger (Lisa Rose)
Their story is told with devastating realism, stirring up a fresh sense of horror and erasing five years' distance from the attacks. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Newark Star-Ledger (Lisa Rose)
Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine) (Gina Carbone)
Maybe 100 years from now someone will make a film that isn't so gentle, so tentative. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine) (Gina Carbone)
Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
A unique film about a unique event...but what will we think of United 93 in five years or, for that matter, fifty? ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
By sticking to the facts, Greengrass has created a surprisingly effective tribute to the heroism of common people and a cautionary tale that demands to be seen. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Kansas City Star (Robert W. Butler)
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Wow. How do you review something like this? United 93, the movie, doesnt feel so much like a movie. It feels like an event. With such sensitive material, Im sure many people wonder if the filmmakers will be insensitive in their portrayal or ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Movie-Vault.com (Avril Carruthers)
Some roles in Air traffic Control or the military are played by those who played them in real life on the day. Others, on the plane where none survived, are played by experienced airline crew and ordinary people, in a cross section representing the 40 ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movie-Vault.com (Avril Carruthers)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Ed Blank)
You watch "United 93" from first frame to last with a knotted stomach, a level of real-world dread that I can remember having with no other movie. Well, maybe the ones about John F. Kennedy's assassination. But they weren't so intense from the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Ed Blank)
DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
Of the nearly 5,000 reviews on this site, there are only a handful that have a true personal meaning to me. I mean, letâs face it â weâre reviewing works of fiction here and hardly any of the movies we look at arenât something we can directly ...read the complete United 93 movie review at DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
CinemaZone.dk
Paul Greengrass lavede i 2002 en blændende skildring af den søndag i 1972, hvor britiske specialtropper satte en brutal stopper for en demonstration i den nordirske by Derry. Han demonstrerede i fornem stil med Bloody Sunday, hvordan fiktions- og ...read the complete United 93 movie review at CinemaZone.dk
BBC Films
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is one of the most upsetting films you will ever see. It's the everyday detail, the mundanity here, that is devastating. You watch as people board, order their breakfasts, sip their orange juice, chitchat - unaware of the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at BBC Films
Cinema Blend
The opening scene of United 93 is that of a Muslim man praying in a hotel room, he is interrupted by another man who states âitâs time.â Right away, perspective is key. While the audience knows what is about to happen, and knows these actors are ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Cinema Blend
FilmJudge
Some have criticised United 93 for being made too soon. I don't accept this argument because defining what is and what isn't "too soon" is impossible. It has also been suggested that the film makes money off the back of a tragedy - this has a bit ...read the complete United 93 movie review at FilmJudge
The Phantom Tollbooth
he audience sees the four terrorists getting up in the morning, saying their prayers, ritually shaving themselves and getting ready for the flight. At the same time, the flight crew is boarding the plane, and the air controllers are getting ready for a ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Phantom Tollbooth
Off-screen
United 93 compie uno dei passi decisivi del lento processo di avvicinamento della cultura americana allâ11 Settembre. Il film di Paul Greengrass, regista non nuovo ai cunicoli angusti della storia recente (vedi Bloody Sunday), racconta una delle pagine ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Off-screen
The Onion A.V. Club
We all lived through this not so long ago; it's an odd thing to make a film whose most striking effect is its ability to bring the feelings of Sept. 11 flooding back, then close on a profoundly disturbing note. A crasser film would have been easier to ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Onion A.V. Club
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
There's just nothing artful about it, and it's Greengrass who deserves the credit. These nonactors don't act the way most people do when playing themselves. They act the way people do when they're being themselves. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Hollywood.com (Kit Bowen)
Be prepared. United 93 is overwhelming, telling a story we've all come to know so very well. It will be one of the most affecting movies you'll ever see--if you can bring yourself to see it, that is. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Hollywood.com (Kit Bowen)
Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)
Greengrass' own formidable version brings [the story of United Airlines Flight 93] to life -- and to death -- with a bluntness and nobility that are almost too hard to bear. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Houston Chronicle (Amy Biancolli)
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
Greengrass is so determined not to exploit the deaths by 'entertaining' moviegoers that his film becomes almost an academic exercise -- an experiment to determine at what point deadpan dramatization plus audience anticipation equal emotional devastation. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
Doncinema.com (Flavio J. Arosemena)
Greengrass se limita a observar, y nos entrega por completo a los espectadores la responsabilidad de alcanzar conclusiones. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Doncinema.com (Flavio J. Arosemena)
Movie Habit (Matt Anderson)
If this film in any way sparks more people to refuse complacency and remain vigilant, then -- and only then -- could I deem this movie a complete success. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movie Habit (Matt Anderson)
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
United 93 doesn't provide tidy answers or emotional catharsis, but it is a courageous exploration of painful issues. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Rick Groen)
Greengrass's reluctance to unduly demonize the villains or overly sentimentalize the victims is commendable on the surface, but it tends to blur the two sides and to mask the gulf that separates them. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Rick Groen)
The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Its focus is purposely narrow. But that narrow focus, along with the lack of fully realized characters, and the absence of any historical or political context, raises the question of why, notwithstanding the usual (if shaky) commercial imperative, this ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
The New Republic (Stanley Kauffmann)
To see the flight captain and co-pilot checking the plane before takeoff, to watch the varied passengers settling into their seats, is more agonizing than watching passengers board the ship in all those "Titanic" films. With United 93 we see these people ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The New Republic (Stanley Kauffmann)
d+kaz. Intelligent Movie Reviews (Daniel Kasman)
What interests me in Paul Greengrassâ United 93, like in the directorâs film Bloody Sunday, is the theme of communication during a catastrophe. Using the docu-drama approach similar to that previous film (and, it should be noted, somewhat similar to ...read the complete United 93 movie review at d+kaz. Intelligent Movie Reviews (Daniel Kasman)
Film e Dvd
A cinque anni dal fatidico evento, dopo un periodo di "tabù" per il tema dei dirottamenti aerei al cinema, piano piano le cose stanno ritornando alla normalità . La domanda più che legittima è: sarà pronto il pubblico ad accogliere un film su ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Film e Dvd
Nick Schager Film Project (Nick Schager)
Emotionally devastating and yet strangely empty. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Nick Schager Film Project (Nick Schager)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Yet, with "United 93," it's hard to shake the feeling that the filmmakers' motivations were less than altruistic. And the uncomfortable queasiness that results from watching a re-enactment of these particular events may be more than some in the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Here's a movie that I didn't want to see, didn't enjoy seeing and wouldn't wish upon anyone else. It left me shaking and sweating. Like a modern-day Battleship Potemkin, it re-creates some of the events of the morning of September 11, 2001, focusing ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Parent Previews
In the years to come, I hope United 93 will stand as a tribute to those brave men and women, and the sacrifices made by their families. But is now the time for this kind of production? Does United 93 promote healing or add to the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Parent Previews
James Bowman
I didnât look forward to seeing Paul Greengrassâs United 93. Those who called out "Too soon!" when the trailer was first shown a few weeks ago have my sympathy. Even five years later, Iâm inclined to think that weâre still too close to the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at James Bowman
NYC Film Critic (Ethan Alter)
Hands down my biggest issue with the film though is the way that Greengrass ends up elevating the story of United 93 to a heroic myth on par with The Alamo. The conventional narrative of 9/11 is that it was a day when America's typical line of defense ...read the complete United 93 movie review at NYC Film Critic (Ethan Alter)
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