User reviews

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 believe this film accomplished what it set out to do. No big stars, no big special effects, it focused just on the ordinary people that got caught up in this event. The film "United 93" is quite good but that is told in close to real time and includes several air traffic controllers where as this movie mainly comes from the communications the people on board had with people on the ground.

I have read some reviews that were based on the politics of the situation, I won't comment on those. If you read the reviews that talk to the actual movie I think you will get a better idea of the actual merits of the film itself.

The no name cast did quite well. As I said the focus is on the communications between people on the ground and those in the air who could see they were going to die. I think it's a movie that will be rated higher as we move away from the actual events. As far as the reviews go that say it's not realistic because everyone involved has blonde hair and or has a baby is on par with the reviewers who knocked the Lord of the Rings because so many of the main characters had blue eyes.

This is a very emotionally sirring movie. THat's really all there is to it. THe people on FLight 93 were courageous in their efforts to keep their plane from destroying another building and killing more people. THe poster before me criticised the movie for being faulty in dialogue, effects, etc., but without any first-hand accounts to go on concerning what happened on the plane, I think this film was excellent. As far as the effects go, it's a TV movie... What do you expect?? I feel for all people who lost someone that day, not only on Flight 93, but also in New York and in Washington. I pray that this movie does the victims and their families justice.

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 ****

On September, 11th 2001, four domestic flights are hijacked by terrorist in United States of America. After the collision of three against selected targets, the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 fight against four terrorists to take back the control of the airplane.

On the day that the world changed, about forty two passengers and crew of United Flight 93 become aware that the four terrorists that hijacked their plane are in a suicidal mission, after the collisions of three other airplanes. Through the testimony of their phone calls, this movie reconstitutes and dramatizes the moments of despair of some of them. The story is very sad and touching, since they are common people like you and me in a flight. It is impossible not projecting ourselves in the tragic situation that might have happened to either of us and feel a great sympathy for the victims. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Vôo 93 – O Fime" ("Flight 93 – The Movie")

It's September 11, 2001. United Airlines Flight 93 departs from Newark International Airport on its way to San Francisco. Almost at the same time, the first plane is crashed into the World Trade Center. Four hijackers take over United 93 as confusion reins back in the air and on the ground. The passengers calling from the plane surmises the hijackers' plan and try to retake the aircraft.

It's a made-for-TV movie on the A&E Network. It's relatively well-made movie with a few recognizable faces among the crowd. It is a lower level of production than United 93. The real life and death struggle still resonates. The battle for the plane is still intense despite the foregone conclusion. The calls home are as heart wrenching as ever. The intense real drama has not been diminished by this movie production.

Saw it on A&E last night and the only thing that drew me in was the curiosity of how much worse it might get. All the shots of innocent children playing were gratuitous and emotionally manipulative. The opening scenes of the baggage inspectors being so thorough was a bit contrived (apparently they were doing a better job back then than they do now). I got the sense that one of the goals of this film was to exculpate the federal government for its complacency, which after all is almost as much to blame for 9/11 as the hijackers. The hijackers were one-dimensional characters, almost like video game characters. There is no effort to show what their motives might have been, or to show that actual people did these things. I might be accused of sympathizing with the terrorists, but the fact is that they had a rationale (twisted as it was) for doing what they did, and if we are to end terrorism, we need to know and understand why it happens. I also couldn't identify with any of the passengers. Perhaps if the film makers spent less effort portraying the idyllic lives they lost (beautiful homes, beautiful children--did they really all live in tree-lined mansions in the countryside with angelic children) and spent more time on character development, it would have brought the pathos home. The Lord's Prayer sequence was particularly crass. If this wasn't based on a real event, it would simply have been an utterly forgettable B disaster movie not worth commenting on. As it is, this movie is a poor tribute to those who died that day, and a ghoulish attempt to satisfy our curiosity for what it might have been like to be on the plane that day rather than help us understand what happened and why.

This was very well done despite being on a small budget. I was shaking through most of it as I was reliving the experience through the actors and events. The acting and writing was excellent and though the real people surely looked different this movie put faces with the names. The characterizations were done very convincingly and I now want to see photos of the real people to see how well the casting was. I know I will never take for granted my next flight and will be aware of those around me and what they are doing. I found myself wondering during the movie, why hasn't more been done to avenge this day as I still have a empty feeling that those that would attack our country have not been hurt enough for what happened on this day so that they or their children won't attack again. There can be no secret of what happens in the end, but it was very interesting how they figured out what the overheard "Let's roll" quote was for. This movie did make me totally forget everything and I was glued to the television. The "I love you" scenes were nicely done. The movie was not boring, though it could have easily have been. But like the movie "Blackhawk Down" it's a very powerful emotional movie and seeing it more than once can be exhausting, but it's a valuable and enlightening movie and needs to be seen by those that can handle it.

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.

Its sad to read comments like " the government is to blame just like the terrorist or I mad because they were praying" People Americans die that day in the towers and in the planes. They were white, black, brown, yellow, Christians,Hindus, Jew's, Etc. This murders did not care about any one.

This movie showed us the courage that this people had and we should respect them for what the when thru. How dare you speak about this if you don't have a clue what this people when thru in their last hours on this earth.

We need to all respect this great hero's and their families and stop blaming others like our government. The guilty party was the terrorist!!!!!

Believe me when i say that i wish this was better. It wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't good. Im not sure what it is exactly that i didn't like about the movie, but to be perfectly honest, i watched it the day after seeing "UNITED 93" and that was most likely a major factor in my disappointment. I'll give some credit to the film makers for a couple of reasons; first of which is the most obvious. Being a made for T.V. movie, the budget was obviously very small and there were also obvious restrictions put on the making of the film (I.E. language, length...) and in this case, i believe it truly did have an effect on the quality. The nest is that I'm sure if the film makers wanted to make it a feature film they could have but i hope that they had chosen not to in order not to profit from the movie (might be wishful thinking, might not be). Lastly, my biggest complaint is the fact that the mood of the film was consistently ruined by commercial breaks. it bugged the hell out of me and frankly, it ruined the entire experience for me.

I am currently watching this film as we speak. It has a very trivial plot line. The whole film involves 4 terrorists, who look like fashion models sitting in the cockpit of the plane with Ninja Turtle like scarfs on their foreheads. The whole film is nothing but the victims calling their families over and over. Nothing more. It is very poorly constructed and directed. I am going to view the film version and then formulate an opinion. I just didn't enjoy this film very much. The filming quality even is mediocre because it looks like it was shot in the 1980s. It confused my husband and myself into believing that this was the actual film version. It is not. I did not like how they made it seem like they were using cell phones in mid-air. Everyone knows that this is not at all possible.

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.

I've been reading through the different opinions regarding this movie. I agree with the consensus that Flight 93 succeeds more than it fails. I generally find those whose opinions were negative to either hate the U.S. as a country, a people, or a government.

Flight 93 hypothesizes what may actually have happened from immediately prior to take-off to the final moments inside the fuselage of this tragic flight. It does so based on known phone calls, radio transmissions, and, finally, eye witness accounts.

Real human drama is more about acting. For Flight 93 the props and effects are adequate and I think they are purposely kept in check in order to allow the story to stand on it's own. The acting is certainly believable as the passengers were everyday people like ourselves. In fact, I think it helps not to cast jaded a-list pros when stories of true everyday humanity are recounted.

Finally, I believe Flight 93 is a success because it really doesn't grandstand. Yes most people do have children and family and yes these folk's lives are going to be impacted every waking minute of every day they breathe on the earth. I think it said this without beating me over the head with sentimentality.

The emptiness, depravity, and skewed morality of the Middle East came to an almost unbelievable critical mass on 9-11. Everything we thought about being safe changed that day causing us to finally go pro-active in the fight. I recommend viewing Flight 93 because it is a powerful reminder as to why we're different as well as a memorial for the passengers that likely saved many more lives.

awful, i was forced to watch this unrealistic account of the events of 9/11 for part of my media course and by the end, i wanted to quit my media course and move to Tibet to become a Buddhist monk leaving behind what i believe to be the end of Western Civilization. The characters are unbelievably patriotic and wooden. Especially the man who tried to stand up to the terrorists in his unrealistic, calm, America idealistic manner and in return got stabbed, if i was on that plane and witnessed that, it wouldn't be the terrorists stabbing him, it would be me. Now in the real events i have researched what happened and found that poor man was stabbed without knowing what was going on. Now being an American production they felt the unnecessary need of presenting him as an American hero that stood up to the terrorists. It's pathetic, Americans once again trying to rewrite history so its looks as though they have gained a victory from the tragic events, you lost, accept it as a tragedy please.

This is a movie that is hard to watch because you know how it's going to end. Seeing this movie just brings back emotions about 9/11.

I was very impressed with this movie. We see the hijacking of flight 93 thru the passenger eyes. We see and feel the hell that they were going through on that fatal flight. We also happen to witness the families pain! In case you didn't know many passengers were able to call on the airplane phones during that flight.

This movie is not only a history lesson but its a very emotional experience. I am sure that the producers took some liberties but most films based on true stories do.

I highly recommend this. I can't see a better being made about these heroes of "Flight 93"

Its also a reminder how the events of 9/11 has re-shaped the United States and the middle east