Title: United 93 Director: Paul Greengrass Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Studio: Universal Pictures Genre(s): Drama Rated:       (For language, and some intense sequences of terror and violence)    Buy From Amazon.com: DVD / DVD (Two-Disc) / Video on Demand / Soundtrack

CONSUMER ADVICE

Parents, though intense it serves as a good visual representation of what United 93 was lke on 9/11. No age recommendation, it's all on the parents.

Yesterday was a day I was looking forward to.  It was Tuesday, and it's new releases day at the video store.  But today was different, today was the day "United 93" was being released on DVD.  Now, the thing with "United 93" that you must understand before walking into the movie is that you're not supposed to enjoy it.  This movie was not made to entertain you.  Some people who have not seen this film are claiming that this is Hollywood's way of milking money off a tragedy, but it is really a tribute and love letter to the brave American's who took down a plane that was headed towards the White House with the full intention of crashing into it.  Since "United 93" is based off the event that changed the world just five years ago, there is no need to go into what the movie is about.

We all know how this thing begins, and we all know where it will end up, so I'm not going to discuss the (so-called) story.  Instead of being a movie, this ends up being an experience where we get some idea of what must have happened on that highjacked plane, and it gives us a chance to experience some of the emotions that the passengers might have felt while they were coming up with the plan to take back the plane.  "United 93" is not so much about the highjackings as it is about the people.  We know nothing of these people.  We follow them on the plane, watch in horror as the plane is highjacked, and we watch them with tears in our eyes and proudness in our hearts as they set out to do what they must do.

I've said several times that this will most likely be our next Best Picture winner, and I see no reason to back down on that now.  This is a very powerful and emotional film.  The most important piece of filmed history since "Schindler's List."  By the end of the movie you are filled with sadness at what the passengers had to go through, but you also feel proud that they did what they had to do, and saved more lives by taking down the plane then there would have been had they done nothing at all.  Though watching the movie again, I was amazed at how God set up little things to insure that this plane did not reach it's target.  United 93 was the plane that was intended to hit the White House.  But amazingly enough, the plane got delayed by thirty minutes.

This thirty minute delay was enough time so that when the plane did get highjacked, the people in the plane were able to find out what was going on when they called their family members, and found out enough information to realize that this was a suicide mission.  If the plane had left on time, who knows if the people on the plane would have had the opportunity to find out enough about the situation to realize what was going on.  If anything, this movie shows how God set up small things to help his children do what he intended them to do.  We also see Ben Sliney on his first day on the job at the airport.  Keep in mind, this is a guy who JUST got promoted as the head of the airliners, and one of the first things he did when he found out something wasn't right was to shut down the airport.

Considering that the airliners stood to lose millions of dollars on this call, we should be thankful that he was willing to take this chance.  What also strikes me as interesting is that this flight, the most important flight (for the terrorists anyway), had only four highjackers, where the rest had five.  If anything, this film proves that God was helping us out in small ways even in the middle of great tragedy.  But through all this, good does prevail, if even in a small way.  In the end, I think "United 93" is something I will be re-visiting on a yearly basis, come 9/11 every year.  This movie is a gift to the people who died on United 93, and their wonderful gift to us.  It's something I want to remember and honor forever, and this movie is just one of the ways I can.  If you haven't seen this movie yet, please do.  It will leave you breathless in ways you never thought possible.

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