united 93

Watched the advance screening of the movie, United 93 at Glorietta 4 last night. Here's some of the reviews and synopsis I had read in the Internet:

United 93 tells the story of the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, the fourth plane hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001. It begins with a scene of a man praying softly in Arabic. It ends in the chaos of a falling airliner, with the ground spinning up as passengers fight for control with hijackers.

The scenes take us in real time from takeoff to the hijacking to the realization by those on-board that their plane was part of a coordinated attack against the United States. The previous three planes had already hit their targets, the two World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. United 93 was aimed for the Nation's Capital in Washington, but before the target was reached, the passengers aboard learned what had already been happening on the ground through use of cell and air phones. Realizing they had only one chance to survive or, at the very least, stop the terrorists from achieving their goal, these passengers rose up and attacked the terrorists, causing the plane to crash and avoid further destruction.

We see the pilots stroll casually to work, checking the controls, chatting amiably. Capt. Jason M. Dahl (actual United pilot JJ Johnson) plans to take his wife to London for their anniversary. First officer Leroy Horner (pilot Gary Commock) has an 11-month-old baby just beginning to sleep through the night. We listen to the flight attendants gossip ("She's got a crush on that maintenance man") and overhear the passengers make small talk ("I've got three kids at home").

People on board are ordinary travelers on the flight headed for San Francisco. Using airphones and cell phones, they learn of the attacks on the twin towers, and realize that they must act, not only for themselves, but for the sake of innocent people on the ground. there is one terrorists who have been the pilot, waited and seemed reluctant, but then he's willing to die. if it had not been for the 30minutes delay, they must have reached their target. The famous cry, “let’s roll” is spoken, not as a battle cry, but as a resolute statement, when there is no choice but to act. Later in the film, the passengers pray in the face of danger. In an ironic way, terrorists and passengers are united in prayer. Regardless of our faith tradition, we turn to prayer.

British filmmaker Paul Greengrass has done an admirable job bringing this sensitive story to the screen. It is a fitting tribute to ordinary people caught up in a tragedy they could never have predicted. It focus on our common humanity, and the heroic courage of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances . It does not try to explain or condemn. It is designed as a tale of heroism, but we understand it as a tale of terror.

http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20011028flt93mainstoryp7.asp
http://unitedheroes.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_93

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/thepilot/note.html

I have read and learned more about the September 11, 2201 incident, biographies of those in flight 93, the terrorists and the three planes that have reached their target. I could say that this is a heartbreaking yet remarkable film. The people in the flight had gained my respect.