Critic Reviews
United 93 (2006) Rank 5 Reviews
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efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
In both films, you almost want to yell warnings to the oblivious characters. As the passengers in “United 93” snooze through the flight attendants’ safety instructions, you almost wish you could shatter their complacency. The attack is still fresh ...read the complete United 93 movie review at efilmcritic.com (Dan Lybarger)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
This is a masterful and heartbreaking film, and it does honor to the memory of the victims. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
It's Greengrass' way of asking a question that looms large in these post-9/11 days: Are we all praying to the same God, or is one man's God better than another, and one man's God vastly more ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
The superb United 93, from the British writer-director Paul Greengrass, does not waste time defining the undefinable. Nor does it strain for poetry when, with this story, prose is enough. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
TV Guide (Ken Fox)
One of the most harrowing, viscerally upsetting films ever made. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at TV Guide (Ken Fox)
Film Threat (Pete Vonder Haar)
You're unlikely to come across a more powerful film this year. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Film Threat (Pete Vonder Haar)
Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
What United 93 demonstrates, as if we needed proof, is that it is too soon - it may always be too soon - to sort out the feelings from that day. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)
Time (Richard Corliss)
The controversial film that is unbearable--and unmissable. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Time (Richard Corliss)
LA Weekly (Scott Foundas)
It is the highest compliment I can pay Greengrass to say that he is a master of the mundane, the routine and the everyday. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at LA Weekly (Scott Foundas)
Dallas Observer (Robert Wilonsky)
May be the most wrenching, profound and perfectly made movie nobody wants to see. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Dallas Observer (Robert Wilonsky)
USA Today (Claudia Puig)
An unflinching, powerfully visceral and haunting portrait of the tragic events aboard one of the terrorist-commandeered flights on the fateful morning of Sept. 11, 2001. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
There's no cheap uplift to their victory, no pop catharsis. What's great about United 93 is that you never feel it's just a movie - even though, as a movie, it's terrific. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
I am here to tell you that Greengrass has fashioned one of the most powerful films I have ever seen, and that watching it makes you value your loved ones and your privileges more, perhaps, than you ever have. He has made a film that makes you feel, makes ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
Empire (Dan Jolin)
Impossible to recommend as a great Friday night out, yet agonisingly vital as thought-urging cinema. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Empire (Dan Jolin)
efilmcritic.com (Collin Souter)
I, for one, was not sure, but knew I had to regardless. Greengrass has made an uncompromising film, one without obvious, aggressively heroic pursuits and without a need to hammer in any kind of “message.” He depicts the events in real time and as ...read the complete United 93 movie review at efilmcritic.com (Collin Souter)
eFilmCritic.com (William Goss)
Director Paul Greengrass applies the frantic nature of his work in Bloody Sunday and The Bourne Supremacy to the events of United Flight 93, which left New York en route to San Francisco but was subsequently hijacked and crashed into a Pennsylvania field ...read the complete United 93 movie review at eFilmCritic.com (William Goss)
eFilmCritic.com (Jason Whyte)
The scenes of the planes crashing into the World Trade Centre are handled with delicate precision. Instead of seeing the horror of the impact of those planes, we see the reaction of air traffic controllers, military personnel, and other pilots. When the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Jason Whyte)
digitallyOBSESSED.com (Rich Rosell)
I've had a copy of United 93 in my dOc review pile for more than a few weeks, and every time that I came close to sitting down to watch it I would come up with an excuse of some kind why I shouldn't. They weren't always good reasons, more avoidance than ...read the complete United 93 movie review at digitallyOBSESSED.com (Rich Rosell)
Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)
In the course of the commentary track by writer/director Paul Greenglass, he answers those who thought that it was too soon to make a film about UNITED 93. It's not too soon, he says, it's high time. As with the feature film release of UNITED 93, the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)
musicOMH (Shawn Fitzgerald)
When I had first heard about both United 93 and World Trade Center being in production, I felt both nauseous and pissed off (but not surprised). Turning 9/11 into a night out at the cinema was stomach-churning enough, but an even bigger ill-inducing ...read the complete United 93 movie review at musicOMH (Shawn Fitzgerald)
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Tuesday, Sept. 11, was an ordinary American day in every respect: gorgeous weather with the promise of fall in the air, 4,000-plus planes in the skies, business as usual below. For a group of air-traffic controllers, that business took a chilling turn ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Screen Rant (Vic Holtreman)
The film opens showing the perpetrators in their hotel room, preparing for what lies ahead through prayer and ritual. At this point I hesitate to use the word "terrorists" to describe them, because they are not portrayed as such... yet. What the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Screen Rant (Vic Holtreman)
Filmjerk.com (Brian Orndorf)
The film cuts between two stories: the situation in the FAA headquarters and a government military base, and onboard the flight of United 93: the one plane that did not hit its intended target, instead crashing into a Pennsylvania field, killing everyone ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Filmjerk.com (Brian Orndorf)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Doesn't seem to matter that United 93, written and directed with bruising brilliance and healing compassion by Paul Greengrass, is a monumental achievement that stands above any film this year. According to the polls, audiences intend to shun it. It's ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
Brilliant, tightly focused, and momentous. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
Newsday
(R) With a discerning eye for telling detail and a tautly orchestrated yet scrupulous narrative drive, writer-director Paul Greengrass assembles a persuasive account of what ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Newsday
iF Magazine
Although the movie is called UNITED 93, it actually rotates between three centers of action: the plane itself, where passengers nap and stewardesses calmly make their rounds, unaware of the danger on board; the Federal Aviation Center monitoring the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at iF Magazine
Cinema Signals by The Filmiliar Cineaste
If there was ever a film depicting a real event that came with intense
responsibility to tell it right and with the right proportions of
sensitivity, this is it. At a time when emotions are still felt at the mere ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Cinema Signals by The Filmiliar Cineaste
Georgia Straight (Janet Smith)
The director heightens the you-are-there feeling by using handheld cameras and shooting the 90-minute flight in real time. He also casts a mixture of unknown actors and people who play themselves, from air-traffic controllers to flight attendants ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Georgia Straight (Janet Smith)
RopeofSilicon (Andre Rivas)
September 11, 2001. Four planes were hijacked. Three of them reached their target. This is the story of the fourth. This is a balancing act of the highest order and director Paul Greengrass deserves humungo credit for making a film that is honest, ...read the complete United 93 movie review at RopeofSilicon (Andre Rivas)
hoopla.nu
I'm not entirely sure why this film was made. It might have been a tribute to those who died, though there's nothing overly honourable about their representation. It might have been a condemnation of the woeful government and military response to ...read the complete United 93 movie review at hoopla.nu
Tony Medley
The events of 9/11 had
effects other than a blatant, brutal attack on America. One of the
residual effects was the misuse of the word “hero.” All the vainglorious
politicos and media aside, except for the firefighters ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Tony Medley
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
The film unfolds in real time. We see the passengers arriving at the airport. We see the pilots and stewardesses going through their normal routines. We see air traffic controllers, personnel at the command center and personnel at the military’s ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Empire Movies (Brendan Cullin)
ple who did everything they could to prevent the murderers from following through with their demented plan and in the process probably saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives. We should not forget that in all the tragedy of September 11th, there were ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Empire Movies (Brendan Cullin)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Considered simply as a film, then, this is a masterful work. Greengrass has fashioned a taut, clear narrative from the historical record and plausible supposition, moving smoothly (with the expert assistance of editors Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse ...read the complete United 93 movie review at One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Slate
Earlier this week, we were debating whether to assign a piece on the controversy over United 93 trailer. But I was listening to people on the radio today who seemed truly upset by having seen the United 93 trailer, and I could understand why. And I ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Slate
Blackfilm.com
The world had no choice but to sit back and watch the horrific devastation of the September 11, 2001 attacks. And once the smoke cleared, many people were ready to go to bat for America. This majority of Americans thought war was justified and should be ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Blackfilm.com
Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Kushmeer Farakhan)
Is it too soon for a movie based on the tragedy of September 11th? Perhaps, but it is comforting that the event was treated with such respect and grace here. The film is not for everyone. When the film was over, there was dead silence ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Kushmeer Farakhan)
Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Brian Oliver)
I will be honest and up front right off the bat: I did not want to see this movie. I do believe movies surrounding and about that horrific day are too soon, however, I don’t have a problem with others wanting to see it if they so choose. But, for me, I ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Brian Oliver)
The Dallas Morning News
This is a movie that will never please everyone; few great films do.
Conspiracy theorists will grasp at straws, while others will cry
exploitation. But for those up to the challenge, United 93 may
actually prove ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Dallas Morning News
Bucket Reviews (Danny Baldwin)
If there was anyone outside of teenage girls who woulda thunk that a "romance" starring Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet would actually be a good movie, it wasn't me. I walked into the screening of A Lot Like Love as pessimistic as could be, ready to chew ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Bucket Reviews (Danny Baldwin)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
United 93 is a masterful motion picture. Its impact stays with the viewer; its images are hard to shake. In the years since 9/11, much of what happened that day has become ingrained in our culture. We have absorbed it. United 93 ...read the complete United 93 movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
The Hollywood Reporter
Press notes for motion pictures are usually filled with dispensable, self-congratulatory puffery, but the one for the soul-searing film "United 93" contains this trenchant comment from its English writer-director, Paul Greengrass: Speaking of the 40 ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Hollywood Reporter
Moviepie.com
Of course I can't review an airplane movie without comments on the special effects. This one was one of the most realistic movies with all the proper air traffic control communications, the procedures looked accurate, and the cockpit was realistic ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Moviepie.com
MovieFreak.com (Sara M. Fetters)
There are those, of course, who cry a picture like this is just too soon for us to be able to watch and understand. Hogwash. For the life of me I refuse to believe those saying this could possibly be right. Is it too soon to honor those pushed into an ...read the complete United 93 movie review at MovieFreak.com (Sara M. Fetters)
Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
The questions that come up when discussing United 93, a drama about the only plane out of four hijacked on September 11th that failed to reach its intended target, might be "Is it too soon?" Or "Why now, at not even five years since the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
The King's Room (Paul Perkins)
There things in life you will never forget the
first day you fell in love, the first day you child started to walk,
the day you got married. The one day you will never forget is Sep
11, 2001 that the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The King's Room (Paul Perkins)
The King's Room (Clyde Ayles)
If you were watching television
on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, you will never forget the images
of the planes that were sent crashing into the twin towers in New
York City. The ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The King's Room (Clyde Ayles)
Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
There aren't going to be too many people that don't know the story of flight United 93. On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked a number of airplanes in the United States. It had been decades since a plane was hijacked in the U.S. and at first no ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
The Arizona Republic
Assuming the hijackers were on a suicide mission, the passengers stormed the cockpit of the Boeing 757 but were unable to take control before the plane crashed, killing all 44 people onboard. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Arizona Republic
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
Just as Greengrass did with his masterful take on the civil rights massacre of Bloody Sunday, he takes a documentarian’s approach to the material which puts us right back to that frenzied morning where we sat glued and horrified in front of the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Kushmeer Farakhan)
Murphy's Movie Reviews (Ted Murphy)
Greengrass recreates the attacks on the World Trade Center utilizing existing news footage and it still retains the horror of that day. Despite knowing the ultimate outcome of this film, UNITED 93 is a harrowing and important film. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Murphy's Movie Reviews (Ted Murphy)
Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
The movie doesn't cop out into cheap melodrama, never turning the hijackers into cardboard villains and never glorifying one passenger or crew member over the others. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Aisle Seat (Mike McGranaghan)
As you would expect, this is not an easy film to watch. It is intensely sad and it brings up powerful emotions. At the same time, I did not leave the theater emotionally wrecked. United 93 is ultimately a healing experience. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Aisle Seat (Mike McGranaghan)
Boxoffice Magazine (Wade Major)
... a film that honors its subject with solemnity ... ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Wade Major)
Oscar Guy (Wesley Lovell)
Amazingly detailed in its narrative cohesion and editing, United 93 is a noble tribute to the tragedy of 9/11. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Oscar Guy (Wesley Lovell)
Detroit News (Tom Long)
This is art engaging grim reality in the hope of perspective, understanding and perhaps even closure. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Detroit News (Tom Long)
Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
Claustrophobic as hell, as director Paul Greengrass puts you right into that damned plane and won't let you out. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
EnPrimeur.ca (Nicolas Lacroix)
Un candidat sérieux comme meilleur film de l'année. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at EnPrimeur.ca (Nicolas Lacroix)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
Writer/director Paul Greengrass has brilliantly and movingly threaded the needle. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)
Writer-director Greengrass recreates events of 9/11/01 with astonishing intensity. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)
filmcritic.com (Sean O'Connell)
Stands tall as it pays tribute to the Americans that gave their lives that day in the name of freedom. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at filmcritic.com (Sean O'Connell)
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) (Jonathan R. Perry)
If United 93 were a work of complete fiction, it would be an absolutely riveting thriller. That it's based on actual events makes it all the more compelling, horrific and heartbreaking. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) (Jonathan R. Perry)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
The film is lean, harsh and remarkably free of cant. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
AALBC.com (Kam Williams)
Cinema verite at its very best! ...read the complete United 93 movie review at AALBC.com (Kam Williams)
WaffleMovies.com (Willie Waffle)
Writer/director Paul Greengrass never pulls any punches, always presents us a view of how harrowing this day was, but never exploits it or resorts to Hollywood histrionics. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at WaffleMovies.com (Willie Waffle)
Film Threat (Pete Vonder Haar)
Greengrass has put forth a fine effort, eschewing hysterics and refusing to pander to those who would prefer a propaganda exercise to a serious film. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Film Threat (Pete Vonder Haar)
Supercala.com (John Venable)
Good luck having a 'nice day' after leaving this film. You'll be an emotional wreck in need of a hug. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Supercala.com (John Venable)
sbs.is (Stefan Birgir Stefansson)
Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)
United 93 presses hard on raw nerves and then, in its final frame, it literally crushes them. What Greengrass has created is haunting and unshakable, the medium at its full potential. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)
Nolan's Pop Culture Review (Michael A. Smith)
...a story about the resolve of a group of strangers that banded together in the most difficult of times to do what they knew in their hearts was right. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Nolan's Pop Culture Review (Michael A. Smith)
Modern Fabulousity (Gabriel Shanks)
It has more to say about our collective failure, our rage, our sadness, our faith, our courage, our mistakes, and our regret than a million reviews (including this one). ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Modern Fabulousity (Gabriel Shanks)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
There's no way to watch United 93 , Paul Greengrass' heartbreaking, pulse-pounding drama about the lone hijacked commercial airliner that failed to reach its target on Sept. 11, 2001, and not anticipate the dreadful outcome. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
Movies for the Masses (Joseph Proimakis)
reminds you how profound an effect a movie can have. How the hand guiding the camera, can dive into your guts, twist them around, and rip out feelings you never knew about ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movies for the Masses (Joseph Proimakis)
Toronto Star (Peter Howell)
... this is a picture we all must see. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Toronto Star (Peter Howell)
Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
This will be the kind of film that will live on forever and keep the memory of those affected alive for generations to come. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Daniel Neman)
"Personally, I wouldn't think of seeing the movie," said John B. Levy, a Richmond businessman who was on a plane heading for LaGuardia Airport in New York when the first hijacked jet hit the World Trade Center. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Richmond Times-Dispatch (Daniel Neman)
Talking Pictures (UK)
United 93 begins in chaos and ends in flames. From the barely audible entreaties of the hijackers that open the film to the final prayers of the passengers and crew, the film revisits the fear and confusion of that day. Shifting between the passengers ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Talking Pictures (UK)
Tail Slate (Michael Sheridan)
I also don’t think we’re in a position yet to look back on those events properly. It’s only been five years to the day, and I’m not quite sure we can really understand what happened. Nor do I believe that we, as a country and a society, have come ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Tail Slate (Michael Sheridan)
National Public Radio (Bob Mondello)
All Things Considered, April 28, 2006 · United 93 takes an unflinching look at the events surrounding the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. The plane's passengers rushed the terrorists, leading to a fatal crash in a Pennsylvania ...read the complete United 93 movie review at National Public Radio (Bob Mondello)
NPR's Morning Edition (Kenneth Turan)
Morning Edition, April 28, 2006 · United 93, a movie about passengers who fought for control of a hijacked plane on Sept. 11, is hard to get out of your mind, no matter how hard you try, according to Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic ...read the complete United 93 movie review at NPR's Morning Edition (Kenneth Turan)
NPR's Fresh Air (David Edelstein)
Fresh Air from WHYY, April 28, 2006 · Film critic David Edelstein reviews United 93, the dramatized version of events on the plane that crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after being hijacked Sept. 11. Learning that other planes had been flown into ...read the complete United 93 movie review at NPR's Fresh Air (David Edelstein)
Sight and Sound
Once in the air United Airlines Flight 93 is hijacked by four men, led by Ziad Jarrah, who pilots the plane. The passengers find out about the other attacks from phone calls with friends and family. They decide to try to retake the cockpit. After ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Sight and Sound
Sunday Online, Australia (Peter Thompson)
The moral dilemma that Greengrass faced hinged on the living connections to the events. Much of the story of United 93 is told on the ground and many of the real people, the flight controllers and military personnel, play themselves in the film. But ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Sunday Online, Australia (Peter Thompson)
Premiere Magazine
Neither totally fact nor fiction, this brilliantly distanced, documentary-style account of the fourth hijacked flight of September 11, the one in which the passengers attempted to reclaim the plane from the terrorists and ended up crashing it into a ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Premiere Magazine
stylusmagazine.com (Kevin Worrall)
As I walked up our apartment’s fire escape to the main entrance, my biggest concern revolved around the fact that in a few minutes I’d be ingesting some predictably awful Burger King breakfast. Upon entering the place and heading back towards my ...read the complete United 93 movie review at stylusmagazine.com (Kevin Worrall)
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Daniel Neman)
The movie "United 93" is a wrenching and invaluable retelling of the events of that unforgettable morning. Writer-director Paul Greengrass has filmed it in such an immediate, take-you-there style that we see it all unfolding in front of us again. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Richmond Times-Dispatch (Daniel Neman)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"United 93" is exactly the movie it should be — respectful of the real Sept. 11 victims it portrays, revealing about that horrific day's events, consistently emotionally gripping, and most certainly startlingly honest. It easily ranks as the best movie ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Exclaim!
The worth of a film depicting the events of September 11, 2001 is really something the public will have difficulty deciding. Though tragic retellings of horrific events are always adapted for the big screen, in North America there’s hardly ever been ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Exclaim!
Decent Films Guide (Steven D. Greydanus)
Whatever monument is eventually built at Ground Zero or anywhere else, United 93 is as fitting and worthy a memorial to the victims and heroes of September 11 as one could hope for. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Decent Films Guide (Steven D. Greydanus)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
The well-made and heartfelt United 93 is, by every possible definition, a superb film and a worthy memorial. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
... one of the most harrowing, viscerally upsetting films ever made. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Denver Rocky Mountain News (Robert Denerstein)
Others have attempted to tell us about Flight 93, but Greengrass may have made the definitive account, allowing his movie to unfold in real time. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Denver Rocky Mountain News (Robert Denerstein)
Las Vegas Review-Journal (Carol Cling)
... a gut-wrenching re-creation that represents a triumph -- a heartbreaking triumph, but a triumph nonetheless -- of you-are-there filmmaking. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Las Vegas Review-Journal (Carol Cling)
Christianity Today (Peter T. Chattaway)
In a way, the film is a memorial. It honors the passengers who fought back by visualizing their experience and imprinting it on our screens for years to come. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Christianity Today (Peter T. Chattaway)
7M Pictures (Kevin Carr)
We needed this movie. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at 7M Pictures (Kevin Carr)
Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
It's hard to imagine a less sensationalized 9/11 film than United 93 . ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
Eclipse Magazine (Michelle Alexandria)
Who knew those heartless, shameless, money grubbing bastards in Hollywood could make a stunning and emotional film like this? It's never too soon to honor true American heroes. United 93 is clearly the first great film of 2006. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Eclipse Magazine (Michelle Alexandria)
zBoneman Movie Reviews (Kevin Jones & Adam Mast)
This is without question the most important and moving film of the year. It is quite often uncomfortable to sit through, but for some, it might prove to be a cathartic experience. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at zBoneman Movie Reviews (Kevin Jones & Adam Mast)
homevideo.about.com (Ivana Redwine)
Many of the scenes in United 93 take place at civilian air traffic control facilities. What begins as a routine day for the controllers turns into a nightmare as a commercial jetliner rams into one tower of the World Trade Center, followed minutes later ...read the complete United 93 movie review at homevideo.about.com (Ivana Redwine)
Film Monthly (Clint Fletcher)
First off, I would like to address the obvious issue that is going on with this movie. The question on everyone's mind is- is the Nation ready for a 9-11 movie? Or more importantly, am I ready for a 9-11 movie? The answers to these questions will ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Film Monthly (Clint Fletcher)
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
The tension mounts even before the climactic focus on events inside United 93 when passengers, aware that they are doomed if they do nothing, are shown desperately trying to fight back. The terrorists are portrayed as agitated and fearful that they might ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
"United 93" is a very difficult picture to watch, but director Paul Greengrass has made a very powerful film that chooses to portray the events of the day in docudrama form. "United 93" offers fairly little dialogue, only occasional hints of music ...read the complete United 93 movie review at A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
Must See Flix (Craig Brown)
I had some notion of what Paul Greengrass’ United 93 was going to be like. But I was not prepared for how affecting it would be, or how raw my emotions about its subject matter still were. Watching the film’s depiction of certain fateful events on ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Must See Flix (Craig Brown)
hybridmagazine.com
This film is supposed to be the story of United Airlines flight 93, which was the fourth flight that went down on 9/11 and the only one that didn’t take a landmark with it. There’s a lot of talk about what people believe happened on the plane. Just ...read the complete United 93 movie review at hybridmagazine.com
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
The film is almost unbearably haunting, as tiny details take on huge significance, from the subtle drone of a morning prayer to the banality of an airport departure gate filled with people chatting on mobile phones. These elements pile on top of each ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
musicOMH (Shawn Fitzgerald)
United Airlines Flight 93, a 757 with 40 passengers and flight crew on board, was the fourth and final hijacked flight to take off that dark day. This film recreates the flight in real-time, from the delayed takeoff to the hijacking to the realization by ...read the complete United 93 movie review at musicOMH (Shawn Fitzgerald)
CineScene.com (Ed Owens)
The tragic events of September 11 th , 2001 will forever be summed up for me in a single indelible image, one captured by an amateur videographer on the streets far below the real ground zero many stories above: a gaping passerby looking up in horror as ...read the complete United 93 movie review at CineScene.com (Ed Owens)
About.com Hollywood Movies (Rebecca Murray)
An Unnerving But Necessary Film ExperiencePaul Greengrass has crafted one of the most difficult films to sit through with his intense and unforgettable drama, United 93, a film which details the tragic events of September 11th, 2001. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at About.com Hollywood Movies (Rebecca Murray)
Screen Rant (Vic Holtreman)
A gripping, realistic portrayal of the events of 9/11 centered on the passengers of United Airlines flight 93 that's hard to watch but should be seen. Where to start with this one? A sense of anxiety would be a good place... as in the feeling I had ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Screen Rant (Vic Holtreman)
Bucket Reviews (Danny Baldwin)
September 11, 2001. Three Arab men awake in their hotel room before sunrise, pray to their God, shave themselves, and get dressed. “It’s time,” one of them proclaims in a weary voice. As the scene progresses, an aura of terror fills the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Bucket Reviews (Danny Baldwin)
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
It's a sensitive, brilliant, uncynical re-creation, one that seeks not to exploit the dead but to commemorate them. It does this by telling the story as truthfully as possible, without Hollywood bombast, gratuitous violence or fake heroism. It ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
4 Stars - Inspiring When Americans experienced the attacks of 9/11, we had no idea we were the target of such hatred. That obviously religious people would be compelled by their leaders to violently take the lives of both young and old by ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
Flak Magazine (Sean Weitner)
The two questions everyone's asking about United 93 basically boil down to how and why. The why is the more searching question — Why now? Why did this have to be dramatized? What good can come from it? — and I can only respond that it doesn't ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Flak Magazine (Sean Weitner)
ShowBIZ Data
In his review of United 93 appearing today (Tuesday), New York Post critic Lou Lumenick comments, "It's a long, brutal and honest look at a shattering event some Americans would apparently prefer not to see depicted -- but also a respectful, inspiring ...read the complete United 93 movie review at ShowBIZ Data
El Criticon (Antonio Méndez Casanova)
El vuelo 93 de United Airlines fue el cuarto avión secuestrado el mismo dÃa del ataque terrorista del 11 de septiembre del año 2001.
En tiempo real se reviven los sucesos acontecidos tanto dentro como fuera del avión, con los valientes pasajeros ...read the complete United 93 movie review at El Criticon (Antonio Méndez Casanova)
New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
That’s the question my friends and colleagues posed—sometimes with a shudder—when I told them I was off to see United 93, the story of the one hijacked flight on September 11 that did not hit its intended target, in the U.S. capital, but crashed in ...read the complete United 93 movie review at New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
filmdeculte.com (Nicolas Plaire)
Le réalisateur Paul Greengrass est le nouvel instigateur d'un genre sec, froid et violent, exposant sans fard ni artifice le reflet d'une réalité crédible et documentée. Après avoir conquis les spectateurs avec sa Mort dans la peau, il penche son ...read the complete United 93 movie review at filmdeculte.com (Nicolas Plaire)
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Universal, which has released the movie, and writer-director Paul Greengrass have said and done all the right things to placate those who accuse them of ripping at fresh wounds. They've emphasized the okay given by the families of those killed on that ...read the complete United 93 movie review at City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
MovieWeb (Dodd Alley)
There are various ways to define horror. Some may see it as a threatening monster in a scary movie. Others may see it as running late to a board meeting. In everyday life, these simplistic things may come off as threatening, but are they really so bad to ...read the complete United 93 movie review at MovieWeb (Dodd Alley)
Plugged In
As terrified passengers phoned loved ones, they learned the horrifying fate of the other three planes ... and realized they would have to wrest control of the airliner from their assailants if they hoped to avoid a similar one. Though their brave efforts ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Plugged In
kids-in-mind
Film adaptation of United Airlines flight 93, which on 9/11 was hijacked, and the plane was going to be crashed into a Washington, D.C. target. But unlike the two planes that crashed into New York's World Trade Center and the one that crashed into the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at kids-in-mind
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Almost 30 minutes elapse between the start of the movie and the time United Airlines Flight 93 is airborne, and it's another 30 minutes before terrorists commandeer the plane. In between, the movie traces chaotic reactions to the World Trade Center and ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Movie Chicks
We all know what happened on September 11, 2001. Four commercial planes were hijacked by terrorists - two crashed into the World Trade Towers and one crashed into the Pentagon. One of the planes that was supposed to be part of the attack never ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Movie Chicks
Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)
UNITED 93 begins and ends with prayers in Arabic. Those are offered by the terrorists who seized the plane. There are prayers throughout the film as well, some offered in English and all mouthed in wonder, or in terror, or in fear, or in anger. Writer ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)
Orlando Weekly (Steve Schneider)
Director Paul Greengrass’ cinematic Sept. 11 memorial, though, shows that truly great art abrogates all other considerations, including time, taste and the risk of misinterpretation. And I’m not saying any of this because United 93 made me well up on ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Orlando Weekly (Steve Schneider)
Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews (Harry Knowles)
The film is completely and wholly non-judgmental regarding the people involved on that day. There is no condemning of the Bush White House, Al Qaeda, the FAA or NORAD that day. Nor is there any condemning of the Airlines, the pilots. The terrorists are ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews (Harry Knowles)
The Independent (Anthony Quinn)
Orson Welles once observed that there were only two kinds of emotion on a plane: boredom and terror. The British writer-director Paul Greengrass has distilled the latter into a very concentrated form in his momentous drama United 93 and, in doing so, ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Independent (Anthony Quinn)
Jam! Movies
Let's say you could make up a "verboten list" for the first Hollywood movie about 9/11. By process of elimination, you just might just come up with something like United 93. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Jam! Movies
filmcritic.com (Sean O'Connell)
The horrors of September 11, 2001, have been well documented. Seconds after American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the World Trade Center’s north tower, our collective attentions fixed on the unthinkable scene. Hours stretched into days as we ...read the complete United 93 movie review at filmcritic.com (Sean O'Connell)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
It is not too soon for "United 93," because it is not a film that knows any time has passed since 9/11. The entire story, every detail, is told in the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Future Movies (Bruce Munro)
United 93 takes its name from the plane that was hijacked but crashed into farmland in Pennsylvania before it could hit its target, the U.S. Capitol building, because passengers on board tried to wrest control back from the terrorists. But writer and ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Future Movies (Bruce Munro)
Comingsoon.net
Regardless of the political subtext, there hasn't been a movie since Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" that has left me so shaken or so close to tears as this powerfully emotional film. That alone should be a testament to what Greengrass has ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Comingsoon.net
Pop Entertainment.com
When United 93 was released in theaters this spring and I saw the coming attractions trailers, I couldn't help but think that I never wanted to see it. It was too soon after the tragedy of September 11, 2001. There is not much in the world, but ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Pop Entertainment.com
The Movie Insider (Ben Samara)
United 93 (2006) Movie Review by Ben Samara at The Movie ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Movie Insider (Ben Samara)
Flipside Movie Emporium (Rob Vaux)
The results transform United 93 into a testament as inescapable as the memorial now going up at Ground Zero. This happened, it tells us. This is us. This is who we could be. This is what we fear we've become. Those are hard ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Flipside Movie Emporium (Rob Vaux)
Fulvue Drive-in
United 93 is the first major feature film dramatizing events that occurred on September 11, 2001, with Oliver Stone's World Trade Center scheduled to follow in August. However, some people are asking, "Is it still too soon for any movie about the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Fulvue Drive-in
The Reel McCoy (Patrick McCoy)
Every American should see this movie. If not, you are letting down your country and dishonoring those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. There isn't a whole lot for me to say here. The movie was directed perfectly by Paul Greengrass and is ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Reel McCoy (Patrick McCoy)
Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
9/11 was a brilliant modern intelligence operation – four planes in the air simultaneously, and all but one hit their targets. The ordinary and the extreme, and the extreme always has a precise plan. Ordinary life is not based on precision. The ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
World Socialist Web Site
The extremely limited merit of United 93, the account of the hijacked airliner that crashed in a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, lies more in what it doesn’t do than in what it does. The film is not a flag-waving epic. It does not exploit the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at World Socialist Web Site
Foote on Film (John H. Foote)
Greengrass chose to make a film that is document of what happened that day. He spoke with families of those who perished on the lane to get a handle on what they were doing before they boarded the plane, hired real flight attendants to achieve the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Foote on Film (John H. Foote)
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
The Seattle Times (Moira Macdonald)
But there was another kind of heroism on that plane, one that perhaps didn't make so many headlines. A woman, tearfully speaking to a loved one for the last time, cuts her own phone call short so as to press her phone into the hands of the stranger next ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Seattle Times (Moira Macdonald)
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
The terrorists obviously have bad attitudes, family members make phone calls to their loved ones (we only hear their side of the conversation) and a man briefly jokes about putting some booze into what he's drinking. If you're still concerned about the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
Tiscali UK
While many criticized the film's timing, considering five years still too soon to revisit such a traumatic event, it's clear that whenever United 93 is shown, be it 20 years from now or a hundred, it will still resonate as powerfully. Being British made ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Tiscali UK
The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
A PERSUASIVELY narrated, scrupulously tasteful re-creation of the downing of the fourth and final plane hijacked by Islamist terrorists on Sept. 11, "United 93" is the first Hollywood feature film to take on that dreadful day. It won't be the last. (Next ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Lee's Movie Info (Lee Tistaert)
United 93 is without a doubt one of the most realistic, emotional, and haunting films I’ve seen. Judging from the promotional material for this picture, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but critics had labeled it as intense, raw, and unflinching in its ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Lee's Movie Info (Lee Tistaert)
ChildCare Action Project: MOVIE ANALYSES FOR PARENTS
United 93 is a best-guess but thoroughly researched recreation of the actual acts of nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists to commandeer four American commercial jet airliners on September 11, 2001 and fly two of them into the Twin Towers, one into the Pentagon ...read the complete United 93 movie review at ChildCare Action Project: MOVIE ANALYSES FOR PARENTS
The story begins as the United States intelligence, military and flight authorities slowly realize that something is amiss after the first plane hits the Trade Centre. The whispers slowly build in loudness and intensity as they shout orders, trying to ...read the complete United 93 movie review at
New York Observer (Andrew Sarris)
Still, Mr. Greengrass and his associates have fashioned a moderately absorbing spectacle out of a wrenching day in all our lives. If I cannot join in the almost universal acclamation this production has achieved, it is because in the aftermath of 9/11, ...read the complete United 93 movie review at New York Observer (Andrew Sarris)
Boxoffice Magazine
Employing a cast of almost total unknowns (only character actor David Rasche is recognizable) and shooting the film in the same skittish documentary style he employed for his 2002 Berlin Film Festival-winning "Bloody Sunday," British writer/director ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Boxoffice Magazine
TotalFilm
With the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaching, director Paul Greengrass has spoken of the need to de-sensationalise; to train a steady gaze on the over-familiar, in a hunt for "the DNA of our times". And so, with the blessings of most of ...read the complete United 93 movie review at TotalFilm
TotalFilm
Greengrass, whose Bloody Sunday serves as a stylistic template, skilfully pieces the story together from phone transcripts, cockpit transmissions and the 9/11 Commission Report. It’s a fractured history, narrative black holes Polyfilla-ed with ...read the complete United 93 movie review at TotalFilm
CineMe (Daniel Meyer)
Only thing for sure is that Greengrass out-Passions The Passion, mounting an emotional, controversial event film in the best possible way, which is to say with as little production as possible. i.e. Plenty of handicam; the score intrudes only once, when ...read the complete United 93 movie review at CineMe (Daniel Meyer)
Political Film Society
Fahrenheit 911 (2004), there is no explanation in United 93 of the fact that the Air Force requests orders from President George W. Bush but receives none, and a title at the end indicates that Air Force jets were one hundred miles from United 93 at the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Political Film Society
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (Nell Minow)
I cannot tell you whether you are ready to see this movie. I can only tell you that when you are ready, this respectful, heart-wrenching, quietly devastating movie will be the one you want to see. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (Nell Minow)
TeenHollywood.com (Lynn Barker)
This respectful film plays more like a documentary with riveting action than a Hollywood feature film. The events of 9/11 are focused on the air traffic controllers, the passengers of United 93 and the terrorists onboard the flight. We start with the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at TeenHollywood.com (Lynn Barker)
Cinema Blend
When it happened, for those of us watching it on TV from our living rooms and offices, the events of September 11th seemed almost like some Hollywood disaster movie. When the World Trade Center fell, many might not have been surprised to see the name ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Cinema Blend
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
But "United 93" is neither sensationalism nor propaganda. It is a meticulous, human-scale re-creation of a poignant act in a broader drama, from a British director with no apparent political agenda. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Guardian (Peter Bradshaw)
What other subject is there? What other event is there? Nothing is so important, so inextinguishably mind-boggling as the terrorist kamikaze flights of 9/11. Al-Qaida gave the world a situationist spectacle that dwarfed anything from the conventional ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Guardian (Peter Bradshaw)
L.A. Daily News
The commander of the Northeast Air Defense Sector only has four planes available and can't get an executive order to engage the hijacked aircraft because no one can find the president or vice president. (It's impossible not to think of the image of ...read the complete United 93 movie review at L.A. Daily News
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
British director Paul Greengrass, whose "Bloody Sunday" became one of the best films of 2002, uses the same hardnose techniques to record a nerve-wracking synopsis of tragic events, culminating with the nose-first crash of the now-famous "Let's ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Cutting Edge
United 93” is gebaseerd op de veronderstelling dat de passagiers de vier kapers overmeesterden. Onderzoekers kwamen tot die conclusie nadat ze uit gsm–gesprekken konden afleiden dat de inzittenden zich er bewust van waren dat ze het er niet levend ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Cutting Edge
DVDBeaver
Greengrass spent most of his early career making TV documentaries about social issues in the UK. He attracted international attention with Bloody Sunday, a harrowing re-creation of British military response to civil-rights marchers in Northern Ireland. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at DVDBeaver
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A respectful, accomplished, non-exploitative piece of historical filmmaking and -- for audiences -- a gripping white-knuckle ride all the way. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Entertainment Weekly
Humans are drawn to looking at the unwatchable as a way of cheating death. At least, that's what I told myself to prepare for watching United 93, a harrowing, documentary-style reenactment, in real time, of what might have happened on the one ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Entertainment Weekly
Freeze Dried Movies (Brian Juergens)
Many people feel United 93 is "too soon", and I certainly won't argue with anyone's need for time to heal. But when it isn't too soon, this film demands to be seen. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Freeze Dried Movies (Brian Juergens)
Wanniski.com (Matthew Wanniski)
I have the freedom -- the luxury, even -- to see whatever I want to see and write about whatever I want to write about, but this wasn`t a question of what I wanted to see. It was about what I needed to see. Why? Because we promised ourselves "we will neve ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Wanniski.com (Matthew Wanniski)
FulvueDrive-in.com (Chuck O'Leary)
One of the most gripping and deeply upsetting films I've ever seen. I honestly left the theater shaking with a combination of anxiety, anger and sadness I haven't felt since the days immediately following 9/11. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at FulvueDrive-in.com (Chuck O'Leary)
Variety (Brian Lowry)
The result is a tense, documentary-style drama that methodically builds a sense of dread despite the preordained outcome. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Variety (Brian Lowry)
Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
United 93 unfolds with the terrible inevitability of a modern-day "Battle of Algiers," with Greengrass exerting superb control of tone, structure and pace...United 93 may be the best movie I ever hated. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
MovieMaze.de (Markus Ostertag)
Als am 11. September 2001 der United Airlines Flug 93 vom New Yorker Flughafen Newark in Richtung San Francisco startete, befanden sich unter den 44 Passagieren vier Terroristen, die das Flugzeug kurz nach dem Start in ihre Gewalt brachten. Als sich an ...read the complete United 93 movie review at MovieMaze.de (Markus Ostertag)
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Instead of using actors, Greengrass employed many of the actual air traffic controllers and military commanders who were on the ground that day. Also aiding his film's universality is Greengrass' use of little known actors in the central roles, ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
The movie is hard going, not least in the sense of powerlessness it leaves in an audience that knows exactly what will happen. And yet you come out feeling that the filmmakers have done the right thing by these people, and by this day. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
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)
New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone, but if the families of the victims take something positive from it, as their cooperation with Greengrass suggests they do, that's justification enough. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
It's a long, brutal and honest look at a shattering event some Americans would apparently prefer not to see depicted - but also a respectful, inspiring one that's in no way exploitative or emotionally manipulative. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
As I left the house I paused on the porch and gave a thoughtful gaze at the American flag that fluttered on our pole. I had placed it there the day of the terrorist attacks and after President Bush vowed a war on terrorism, I pledged not to take it down ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Christian Spotlight on the Movies
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
To many Americans, 9/11/2001 represents one of the worst dates in U.S. history. Personally speaking, if I could relive any day in my entire life, that day would be the very last I would ever choose. I was left, quite literally, shaken and speechless ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
Before the world was turned upside down that day, four young Islamic men boarded an airplane in the United States of America, were shown to their seats in the first-class cabin, and despite speaking in Arabic (they apparently understood little English), ...read the complete United 93 movie review at San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
Movies for Guys
33 passengers and 7 crew members made a decision together to bring this plane down no matter what it took, to make sure the 4 terrorists aboard did not reach their destination and complete their mission... And that is the only story Paul Greengrass ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movies for Guys
DVD MovieGuide
There are a solid twenty minutes of United 93, particularly the heroic finale, that stir up pain, sadness and true unadulterated drama, but the remaining 91 minutes are sloppy, boring and repetitive, riddled with "shaky" camera effects that will ...read the complete United 93 movie review at DVD MovieGuide
CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Alberto Cassani)
Negli Stati Uniti si usa dire che chiunque fosse grande abbastanza da ricordarselo, ancora adesso ricorda esattamente dov'era e cosa stava facendo quando ha saputo che avevano sparato al Presidente Kennedy. Oggi, le generazioni successive possono dire ...read the complete United 93 movie review at CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Alberto Cassani)
culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
Perhaps one reason the film is so effective is that it shows the unfolding of September 11th much as most of us experienced it – as spectators. Aside from the doomed Flight 93, the action is almost wholly confined to the control towers in New York ...read the complete United 93 movie review at culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
Steve Rhodes
Told in almost documentary style by writer and director Paul Greengrass (BLOODY SUNDAY), the film is cast with unknowns and with people in civilian and military air traffic control who play themselves. Opening with a prayer to his god by one of the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Steve Rhodes
Reel.com
Is it too soon or simply too late for a movie about the horrific events of 9/11? That's been the overriding question in the pre-release buzz about United 93, Universal's gutsy docudrama about the hijacked plane that fatally crashed in a Pennsylvania ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Reel.com
samseescinema
The story itself doesn't focus solely on the ill-fated flight of United Airlines 93, despite the title. Greengrass wants to first put the event in perspective. Half of the film's running length is spent witnessing the event unfold in the air traffic ...read the complete United 93 movie review at samseescinema
Filmspiegel (Thomas Schloemer)
Das Tanken ist ein zentrales Motiv des Films und eine der wenigen Stellen, an denen er sich an einer künstlerischen Durchdringung des Stoffes versucht. Wir sehen die Boeing 757, dieses elegante Boot der Lüfte, und wie sein Durst nach Kerosin gestillt ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Filmspiegel (Thomas Schloemer)
FilmFocus.Co.UK (Joe Utichi)
United 93 is a film the whole world should see and, ultimately, could not have come soon ...read the complete United 93 movie review at FilmFocus.Co.UK (Joe Utichi)
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Many Americans are still too shocked and too saddened by the events of September 11, 2001, to want to relive that infamous day. They do not want to board United Airlines Flight 93 in Newark and ride a doomed plane. We sympathize with their feelings. Why ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
The focus is unsettling. United 93 insists on looking at 11 September in a way that is at once expected, familiar, and startling. It is relentlessly in progress, in time and bodies. The movie doesn't pretend to figure out "what happened," but does ...read the complete United 93 movie review at PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
Film Ireland
Paul Greengrass's Bloody Sunday stunned those who had the chance to see it on the big screen; it breathed new life into the stultifying genre of films about the Northern conflict by employing a 'documentary style' aesthetic and semi-improvided ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Film Ireland
DVD Talk (Randy Miller III)
The image above isn't taken directly from Paul Greengrass' United 93 (2006), but both represent something much larger than what's on display. It is, of course, the recovered flight data recorder of that doomed Boeing 757; the last plane to crash on ...read the complete United 93 movie review at DVD Talk (Randy Miller III)
The Age
It's in the final, terse moments of United 93 that you may find it difficult to breathe. Everybody knows the story. Everybody knows what happened. Yet director Paul Greengrass and his ensemble cast of no-name actors still manage to imbue the revolt by ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Age
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Those routine safety instructions that begin each airline flight could never have prepared anyone for what happened on "United 93." Any of us could have been on that flight, and, in a way, we all were.And this sense of personal loss is just one of the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
If you’re old enough to read this review, then you must be old enough to remember where you were on September 11, 2001.
I sure remember where I was during the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, and I certainly don’t need a ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Exclaim!
Rarely is a director’s commentary as moving as the film itself. But with subject matter as sensitive as this, writer/director Paul Greengrass effectively communicates why this film had to be made now and why certain aesthetic choices were picked to ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Exclaim!
The Observer (Philip French)
When you recreate actual events for the cinema, and the prospective audience is presumed to know the outcome, there are a variety of strategies available to the film-maker. One is that used by the producers of The Longest Day, the 1962 movie about the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Observer (Philip French)
Big Picture Big Sound (David Kempler)
9/11 Heros I suppose that it was only a matter of time before a movie about this would be made. It seemed a little bit soon but who knows when the appropriate time is to present an event that so mightily impacted all of us. Perhaps there is no right ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (David Kempler)
Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
I was sure I knew what I'd think of “United 93”. I was going to talk about how Mr. Greengrass tells a reverent but lifeless story. I was going to say that the film falls victim to standard Hollywood bombast, or that the story feels ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Zertinet Movies (Steven Snyder)
More people seem to be concerned about “United 93’s” release date than anything it actually has to say.
Just as news has spread of New York City audiences booing the film’s trailer, saying it’s “too soon” to dramatize the horrific events of ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Zertinet Movies (Steven Snyder)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Gripping, harrowing and ultimately devastating, this is a powerful, visceral film with strong performances and razor-sharp direction ...read the complete United 93 movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
DVD Verdict (Jennifer Malkowski)
First and foremost, United 93 is a movie about the gut-wrenching triumph of that flight's passengers and crew over the terrorists who took control of it. The way these people "stood up as one" and accomplished what they did is the emotional heart of the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at DVD Verdict (Jennifer Malkowski)
Film Freak Central
I guess when you talk about a movie like Paul Greengrass' United 93, you have to talk about the propriety of the project: whether death, fear, and suffering at its most obscene is something we should try to know or gratefully shield ourselves from. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Film Freak Central
Bullz-Eye.com
Going to “United 93” is like attending a wake, and Paul Greengrass has created a heartbreaking eulogy to the victims of 9/11. Whatever your reasons for seeing this film (inspiration, closure, rubber-necking), it should be treated as such. In ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Bullz-Eye.com
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
So how do we Westerners wrap our minds around the concept that some men decide to live only in order to kill themselves, and do it by taking as many other living creatures with them as possible? Is it the 72 virgins waiting for them in paradise? Not ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
DVD Town (William David Lee)
As I write this review, it is the five-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks that have forever changed the way we live our lives. It was inevitable that movies and fictionalized accounts of that tragedy would be made. I don't think that was ever ...read the complete United 93 movie review at DVD Town (William David Lee)
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
This time we can’t comfort ourselves with the words “It’s only a movie.” Foreknowledge of the horrible reality of Sept. 11, 2001, makes United 93 a tough proposition for some viewers who are fearful of revisiting the emotions ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
Boston Globe
Is it too soon? Maybe. Probably. But if we're to endure the unimaginable realities of Sept. 11, 2001, retrofitted into a two-hour Hollywood movie, this is the way to do it. As written and directed by Paul Greengrass, ''United 93" turns out ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Boston Globe
Variety
Inevitably, seeing the same events on a theatrical canvas provides an additional wallop, though writer-director Greengrass' approach -- from the jittery camera to the dozen or so aviation and military personnel who play themselves -- feels more ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Variety
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
In 1937, Delmore Schwartz wrote a short story called “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” in which the first-person ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Sunday Online, Australia (Peter Thompson)
There have been human tragedies in recent years that have dwarfed September 11 in terms of scale and numbers: earthquakes in Iran and Afghanistan, the tsunami of 2005 closer to home, even the war in Iraq. But there's something uniquely awful about ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Sunday Online, Australia (Peter Thompson)
The Trades (Paul Schultz)
Like everyone else, I still have vivid memories of that sunny Tuesday morning of September 11, 2001, when our lives in America took a permanent veer away from innocence to confront the reality of terrorist in our own back yard. I recall exactly where I ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Trades (Paul Schultz)
The Spinning Image (Pablo Vargas)
Upon entering the movie theater on opening night of Paul Greengrass' brilliant film United 93, I was quickly reminded that this was not going to be another escapist night at the movies. A local TV reporter with his entire technical crew ambushed me ...read the complete United 93 movie review at The Spinning Image (Pablo Vargas)
Voir.ca
Opportun ou opportuniste, United 93? On pourrait débattre longtemps cette question. Il s'en trouvera pour dire que les événements revisités dans cette fiction à saveur documentaire sont encore trop douloureux pour être ressassés. D'autres ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Voir.ca
DVD Talk (Eric D. Snider)
As observers had hoped, writer/director Paul Greengrass turns out to have been the perfect choice for such sensitive material. His "Bloody Sunday" (about the British army's attack on Irish civil rights marchers in 1972) and "The Bourne Supremacy" ...read the complete United 93 movie review at DVD Talk (Eric D. Snider)
Sacramento News & Review (Jim Lane)
Writer-director Paul Greengrass revisits September 11, 2001, focusing on the hijacked flight that crashed in rural Pennsylvania, apparently on its way to Washington, D.C. Greengrass employs the same documentary-style techniques that worked so well for ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Sacramento News & Review (Jim Lane)
allesfilm.com (Miriam Daill)
Paul Greengrass wusste, welcher schweren Aufgabe er sich stellen würde, wenn er als Amerikaner einen Film über die Geschehnisse an Bord dieses Fluges machen würde. Viele erwarteten sich einen Hollywood-Blockbuster, einen Katastrophenfilm mit ...read the complete United 93 movie review at allesfilm.com (Miriam Daill)
dvdfuture.com (R. L. Shaffer)
There are a solid twenty minutes of United 93, particularly the heroic finale, that stir up pain, sadness and true unadulterated drama, but the remaining 91 minutes are sloppy, boring and repetitive, riddled with "shaky" camera effects that will ...read the complete United 93 movie review at dvdfuture.com (R. L. Shaffer)
BBC Films
"You don't ask until you think it is the right time," says Greengrass on his decision to make the film. "And that right time, I thought, was now." Bereaved family members aren't always in agreement, but they are forthcoming about their efforts to come to ...read the complete United 93 movie review at BBC Films
Slant Magazine
It isn't too soon and it never is. The arts do not stand still in the face of world events and anyone who tells you otherwise (or deems the question worthy of any sort of extended pontification) is a bloody fool, plain and simple. People have been ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Slant Magazine
Frank's Reel Reviews
As the first World Trade Center smolders in the background, the endless series of mishaps and system flaws reveal themselves while officials attempt to decipher the developing events. The FAA has no direct contact with the military, the military ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Frank's Reel Reviews
KYW Newsradio (Bill Wine)
Because of the heroic actions of a group of strangers who have just learned that the World Trade Center and the Pentragon have been attacked, this plane will crash near Shanksville, Pa. rather than in Washington, DC., 81 minutes after takeoff. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at KYW Newsradio (Bill Wine)
In Review (Adam Suraf)
One of the scariest things about terrorism, perhaps the scariest, is that you never know when something horrific is going to happen. Nobody knew a thing the day some masked men stormed a dormitory during the Olympics in ’72 in Munich, killing a slew ...read the complete United 93 movie review at In Review (Adam Suraf)
Three Movie Buffs (Eric Nash)
Even though the final outcome of the movie is common knowledge it still got me by the gut. When the men on that plane started pounding away on a hijacker I was rooting them on. When they storm the cabin I hoped in vain for them to succeed. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Eric Nash)
Chicago Tribune (Matt Pais)
Writer/director Paul Greengrass ("Bloody Sunday," "The Bourne Supremacy") chronicles in real time the events believed to have taken place on United Flight 93, when a passenger uprising made this the only 9/11 hijacked plane that didn't hit ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Chicago Tribune (Matt Pais)
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)
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
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Time Out
At the end of â€Hamlet’, when the stage is clogged with corpses, Horatio asks his betters to â€Give 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.’ After ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Time Out
![United 93 (2006) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Daily Mirror [UK] (David Edwards)](../images/3_0.gif)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
ShowBIZ Data (--)
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)
IGN Movies (Jeff Otto)
Intense, unflinching and well done. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at IGN Movies (Jeff Otto)
efilmcritic.com (Peter Sobczynski)
Unfolding in more-or-less real time, “United 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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Village Voice (Dennis Lim)
Best understood as a memorial…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)
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, let’s face it – we’re reviewing works of fiction here and hardly any of the movies we look at aren’t something we can directly ...read the complete United 93 movie review at DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
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)
Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
Reverent yet provocative ... ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Sacramento Bee (Carla Meyer)
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)
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
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)
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
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)
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)
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)
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 “it’s time.” 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
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)
Off-screen
United 93 compie uno dei passi decisivi del lento processo di avvicinamento della cultura americana all’11 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 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
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)
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)
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
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)
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Wow. How do you review something like this? “United 93,” the movie, doesn’t feel so much like a movie. It feels like an event. With such sensitive material, I’m 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)
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
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
d+kaz. Intelligent Movie Reviews (Daniel Kasman)
What interests me in Paul Greengrass’ United 93, like in the director’s 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)
James Bowman
I didn’t look forward to seeing Paul Greengrass’s 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, I’m inclined to think that we’re still too close to the ...read the complete United 93 movie review at James Bowman
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
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
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)
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)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
The material itself makes it seem less like an attempt at examination, understanding or some kind of closure than like picking at an unhealed wound and reopening it. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
Uruguay Total (Enrique Buchichio)
Un tenso y atrapante relato que imagina, con un realismo casi documental, lo que pudo haber sucedido a bordo del fatídico vuelo. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Uruguay Total (Enrique Buchichio)
New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
... beat for beat, the whole thing plays out very much according to the Hollywood playbook. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Monsters and Critics (Ron Wilkinson)
A film of limited ambition that may be before its time. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Monsters and Critics (Ron Wilkinson)
Las Vegas Weekly (Josh Bell)
Greengrass has created an almost masochistic ritual that is hard to appreciate in a traditional cinematic way. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Las Vegas Weekly (Josh Bell)
Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
An emotionally devastating film - not because of what it shows on the screen - but because of the heartbreak that it brings to the forefront of our mind. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
Strictly in movie terms (after all, it's a movie), United 93 slips from suspense film to disaster film to horror film. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
ColeSmithey.com (Cole Smithey)
Ultimately, United 93 is a regurgitation of suspicious media-fueled speculation about events on an airplane that we know very little about. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at ColeSmithey.com (Cole Smithey)
Cinemania (Dan Jardine)
A fear-mongering exercise at best, a prolongued and agonizing snuff film at worst. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Cinemania (Dan Jardine)
Slate (Dana Stevens)
United 93, as grueling as it was to sit through, left me feeling curiously unmoved and even slightly resentful. ...read the complete United 93 movie review at Slate (Dana Stevens)
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