Tuesday, January 23, 2007 ~ 5 Comments
Having cancelled our UGC/Cineworld monthly passes towards the end of last year, we’ve kind of fallen away from watching movies at all. However we are now getting to the point that the movies coming on TV (via Sky Movies) are ones that we missed at the cinema, starting with this one.
It’s the story of the final flight that was hijacked on September 11, 2001, the flight that didn’t hit the intended target. The passengers decided to fight back, and the plane crashed in a field. No-one survived.
Putting aside certain issues – at what point do movies like this cross the boundary from ‘faction’ into documentary – it’s a hugely engrossing and moving film. Shot in a very documentary like fashion, we see all sides of the story in real-time. The incredulity that quickly turns to a stunned fear on the part of the ‘officials’ involved at the FAA, and in the military, the spreading fear and anger that permeates the aircraft itself, and the determination and nervousness of the terrorists themselves.
Of course the movie is entirely made up of guesswork, most of which comes from the transcripts of calls made by people on the flight to their loved ones back home. However, by keeping the flight and it’s passengers central to the movie, you are never given any let up in the tension, and this leads to a hugely affecting movie. Despite knowing how it ends, I did begin to feel myself drawn in, to begin to hope that the passengers would be able to wrest control of the plane itself. The final moments are shattering.
This movie caused a lot of commotion when it was released, but I suggest it’s a movie that should have been made when it was, and one that should be watched.