United 93

The heroic story of the members of flight United 93, who stood up to the terrorists trying to hijack the fourth plane on September 11, was portrayed in the movie “United 93” in April of 2006, only five years after these tragic events took place. The film was very controversial: Is it too soon? Will this film offend anyone? The answers to these questions are all on a personal level, and can only be fully answered if the individual sees this movie. Although Oliver Stone’s, “The World Trade Center,” was to be released later this year, “United 93” was expected to “soften the blow” about movies made regarding September 11, and would receive outrageous press. In the trailer for this movie, there is no announcer, no recognizable actors. While sitting in the theater, watching previews, viewers were alarmed by what they saw. The movie clip starts off by watching people load onto an airplane, very peacefully. All of a sudden, the plane is hijacked, and a sense of terror runs throughout both the passengers of the plane, and the audience in the theater. Due to these shocking previews, many theaters pulled the trailer from showing. Both articles and stories in the news started streaming throughout the country, and “United 93” opened in theaters with mixed feelings from America.

The first time that I saw this movie was in the theater a year ago. The main scene that has stayed in my head, and that was still alarming when I watched this movie for the second time was as the plane was going down, the camera would cut to different passengers reciting the prayer, “The Our Father.” The almost disturbing thing about this was that as they were saying it, the terrorists were praying to God as well. While watching the movie, the viewer would see and hear a passenger recite a line from the prayer, and then hear a hijacker respond in Arabic. The passengers were praying, because they hoped that they wouldn’t die, or that perhaps they simply wanted to die peacefully. On the other hand, the terrorists were praying because it was their mission from God to do this, and they simply wanted to end their lives for something they felt was right. Different cultures and religions were depicted, making it clear that no matter what culture or religion one has, death is something that scares most.



When the passengers assembled together and devised a plan to redirect the plane and fight back to the terrorists, a sense of relief exudes. Ramming the cockpit and stabbing the hijacker with the bomb (which they found was not real) almost makes the audience feel as if the plane would be landed safely, and that everything would be all right. This is what everyone hopes, even though the viewer already knows the ending. This scene defines the entire movie, and why this film was made. It showed the heroic efforts made by the 40 passengers and crew that died that day. They did everything they could; although they could not save themselves, they saved the Capitol Building.



The first time I saw this movie, it was by accident in a way. The movie my friends I wanted to see was sold out; I had a slight hesitation to see “United 93,” mainly because my uncle had passed away a few months prior to its release, and also because I felt it was too soon to see it. After the film, I had mixed feelings about what I had just seen. It was really hard to imagine that ordinary people had the courage to stand up to others that were ultimately going to kill them. “United 93” made me appreciate life a lot more, and helped me to not take things for granted. During the part in the movie where people were calling their families from SkyPhones and cell phones, it made me think about my own family. I could deeply relate with these people, because I knew that if I was in the same situation as they were, I would have been doing the same thing.