Le vol 93

This was a decent film that might actually have portrayed the events on United Flight 93 on September 11. I think that it is comparable to United 93, the other film about the same subject, and I liked both movies about the same. This film captured the obvious fear the passengers felt on that day, and goes into more detail with the phone calls they made to their loved ones telling them what was happening. The suspense in the movie was kept high despite the fact that you knew what was going to happen. The cockpit-charging scene was the highlight of the film, in my opinion. You learn a little bit more about some of the passengers than in the other movie. If you have an interest in 9/11 and would like to see a movie about the heroes on that day, this movie might be for you.

**1/2 out of ****

While this film does get a few bonus points for the shots it captured in comparison to United, as well as showing the exterior of the plane better documenting its journey, I've watched both films and I believe United is the better one to watch over Flight. United emphasizes the heroism and cooperation between the passengers as a whole by portraying them collectively, and referring to none of them by name; whereas Flight portrays the passengers individually, and I feel that it places so much emphasis on the passengers and their families, especially after the plane crashes, that it's easy to overlook WHY it crashed there instead of the Capitol. I feel that this is just more sad than dramatic, and when that young girl hung up her mother, I found it quite difficult to handle.

Additionally, the real-time aspect of the film is far off; after boarding, it goes straight into takeoff (which was delayed by 40 odd minutes) and the hijacking (which waited another 40 odd minutes.) The hijacking and the crash were half an hour apart, whereas the film spends so much time on the passengers and their families that this bit extents to 52 minutes. United better portrays the air traffic control, additionally, as they experience the attacks unfolding. United better emphasizes the prior attacks on the World Trade Center, also, adding suspense to the build up of the hijacking, which happens in the middle of the film.

The made-for-TV "Flight 93" was on A&E last night, so I watched it having recently been pleasantly impressed by the (similar/same) story of "United 93", which I rented on DVD just a few weeks ago.

Perhaps my opinion of "Flight" would be different if I had not seen "United" first, but I just didn't feel the power, emotion and anger that I'd felt while watching "United". "Flight" felt detached, poorly-acted and strangely 'calm', whereas "United" portrayed well the sense of in-credulousness of the situation as it unfolded and brought back the sick feeling we all had that day when it was realized what was actually going on. The air traffic controllers/airline people on the ground in "Flight" however seemed content to sit there serenely and simply wait for another opportunity to say, "There goes another one". And when one of the hijacked passengers uses his cell phone to give a sad farewell to his wife, she hangs up without even saying so much as "I love you".

Perhaps though my main problem with "Flight" is that it merely recreates what (is believed) to have happened, while "United" does the same while reminding us that procedures, organization & interaction on the ground were inexcusably poor, and that there are valuable lessons to be learned from this tragedy. By glossing over that aspect of the fateful day, "Flight 93" falls flat.

So if you've seen "United 93" already, don't waste your time with "Flight 93" - and if you haven't seen either but are interested in the story, make it "United".

I guess I don't know what I was expecting, but this movie went above and beyond what I thought it was going to be. I am not very good when it comes to actually judging how good or bad a movie is, but I gave this movie a 9 because it absolutely broke my heart. On Sept. 11 2001, I was in high school watching everything happen on TV and I guess I didn't cry then or at all because I was so shocked and didn't understand. This movie made me realize how terrible this event really was, and for the first time, I shed tears. This movie was a good movie to give you an idea of what it was really like for those people and what their families went through and what they knew. I am truly sorry that people feel that they need to do this and this movie has made me feel awful, but it did a very good job of making you feel the way you should feel when you think about these types of things.

Flight 93

Last month, in recognition of the 8th anniversary of 9/11, I reviewed the film United 93. As good as that film is, it's not the only movie about that fateful flight, nor in my opinion, is it the best.

These days it seems that the best crews are actually working in television, and the made for TV movie Flight 93, a joint production of A&E and FOX is a good example. It tells the exact same story as United 93 taken from the same sources, and also told in a dramatic narrative style, but with a bit more impact. It's a shame that far fewer people have actually seen this TV version of the story.

As I've said, both are good "films", but Flight 93, which is technically not a film because it was shot on HD Video instead of 35mm Film like United 93, has more dynamic camera work. Perhaps it's the size difference between the film camera and the HD camera, but even though both were shot primarily hand held, the angles, tight shots and pans are more daring and interesting in Flight.

Additionally creative choices and edits were a bit sharper with Flight. For example, within the first few minutes of the film we know the names of the hijackers, and most of the key passengers, thanks to the great idea to include a series of tight shots on the boarding passes as passengers boarded the plane.

Flight 93 also includes lots of details throughout that weren't shown in United 93, including some that were perhaps whitewashed from United (whether this was intentional to avoid controversy, lawsuit, for creative reasons, or to lionize all the innocents, or just an accident of choice in the editing room, it still has an impact) for example, the fact that the pilots of the commercial aircraft had received a warning against possible cockpit intrusion, but chose to open the door anyway.

While none of these little things – a shot here, a detail there – makes much of a difference on it's own, taken together, they add up to a more dramatic story.

If you're the type that views only movies shot on film as "quality", and eschew anything video – yeah, you'll probably like United 93 better. But if you can enjoy HD video just as much (and with a story this engaging, how couldn't you?) I'd recommend Flight 93 between the two.