Remembering the Heroes of 9-11: United Flight 93, a Masterpiece

Remembering the Heroes of 9-11:
United Flight 93, a Masterpiece

Director Paul Greengrass' career has skyrocketed in recent years with him directing the last two Jason Bourne films in the highly successful action franchise. Now, with rumors that he'll be directing another Bourne film, it seems like a good time to look at one of the best, but now lesser known, highlights in Greengrass' filmography.

The directors' best film to date, a movie that received a lot of publicity at the time but is now hardly mentioned, is the 2006 documentary-style drama "United 93". United 93 is the harrowing true story of the events that took place on the fourth plane hijacked on September 11, 2001.

Told in real time, the film puts the viewer on the plane with the passengers as we see every shocking moment unfold exactly as it did to the passengers. We see the ruthlessness of the terrorists, who at first appeared to be ordinary passengers. We see exactly how they hijacked the plane and brutalized everyone on it, murdering both pilots and one of the passengers in front of the horrified onlookers. Then, in spite of the chaos, we also see the ordinary passengers turn into real life heroes and fight back against their captors.

Each moment, as the passengers try to take back the plane, we almost forget the outcome of the story and strain each moment, hoping somehow that they can still escape and that the plane won't crash as it did in reality in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania; stopped by the passengers from hitting it's original target in Washington, D.C.

The film is very respectful and is not exploitive in the least. It allows the viewer to see exactly what the passengers of United 93 experienced that day: how normal everything began for them that morning and how their lives were changed horribly and without warning. The realism of the film also helps the viewer appreciate the amazing courage and strength of character these ordinary people displayed in such overwhelmingly trying circumstances. They are what real heroes look like.

The documentary style camera work underscores all of this, and the purposeful casting of non-famous actors also helps to give the film an authenticity and realism it wouldn't otherwise have.

Greengrass displays a technical thoroughness, a consistency of vision, and a commitment to and respect for his story to such a high degree that the film isn't just good, it's a stand alone masterpiece. That being said, the film is extremely difficult to watch. As mentioned before, everything does look as if it's actually happening right in front of you with no flash, flares, or any special effects.

Although hard to watch, film goers and all Americans owe it to the quality of the filmmaking and, exponentially more importantly, to the real life passengers of United 93 to see this masterpiece.