United 93 [WS]

Director: Paul Greengrass Paul Greengrass

Overview

Bloody Sunday director Paul Greengrass marks the five-year anniversary on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States with this speculative meditation on the events that took place onboard the fourth hijacked plane, and the actions of the passengers who gave their lives to ensure the safety of others. Told in real time and acted out by a cast of unknowns who were provided with detailed studies of their real-life counterparts, United 93 attempts to reconstruct the airborne tragedy from the view of the ground and flight controllers, the passengers, and their nervous families awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones. As the terrified travelers and crew gradually become aware of the historical events taking place on the ground so far beneath them, the 90 minutes in which a random collection of strangers realized their fate and came together to confront an unthinkable threat are re-created.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/05/2006
UPC:	0025192657023
Original Release:	2006
Rating:	R
Source:	Universal Studios
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00
Sales rank:	41,386

Special Features

Closed Caption;United 93: The Families and the Film - discover the real-life stories behind the brave passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93 through interviews with their families; Feature commentary with director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, Bloody Sunday); Memorial Pages - the passengers and crew of United Flight 93 are remembered with 40 written biographies

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gary Commock	First Officer LeRoy Homer
J.J. Johnson	Captain Jason M. Dahl,Louis J. Nacke, II
Opal Alladin	CeeCee Lyles
Starla Benford	Wanda Anita Green
Trish Gates	Sandra Bradshaw
Nancy McDoniel	Lorraine G. Bay
David Alan Basche	Todd Beamer
Richard Bekins	William Joseph Cashman
Susan Blommaert	Jane Folger
Christian Clemenson	Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
Liza Colón-Zayas	Waleska Martinez
Lorna Dallas	Linda Gronlund
Ray Charleson	Joseph DeLuca
Denny Dillon	Colleen Fraser
Kate Jennings Grant	Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas
Tara Hugo	Kristin White Gould
Marceline Hugot	Georgine Rose Corrigan
Trieste Kelly Dunn	Deora Frances Bodley
Cheyenne Jackson	Mark Bingham
Joe Jamrog	John Talignani
Peter Hermann	Jeremy Glick
Masato Kamo	Toshiya Kuge
Becky London	Jean Hoadley Peterson
Peter Marinker	Andrew Garcia
Jodie Lynne McClintock	Marion R. Britton
David Rasche	Donald Freeman Greene
Erich Redman	Christian Adams
Michael J. Reynolds	Patrick Joseph Driscoll
John Rothman	Edward P. Felt
Daniel Sauli	Richard Guadagno
Libby Morris	Hilda Marcin
Rebecca Schull	Patricia Cushing
Chloe Sirene	Honor Elizabeth Wainio
Tom O'Rourke	Donald Peterson
Olivia Thirlby	Nicole Carol Miller
Simon Poland	Alan Anthony Beaven
Chip Zien	Mark Rothenberg
Leigh Zimmerman	Christine Snyder
Lewis Alsamari	Saeed Al Ghamdi
Omar Berdouni	Ahmed Al Haznawi
Jamie Harding	Ahmed Al Nami
John Moraitis	Supervisor
Amanda Boxer	Cleveland Supervisor
Khalid Abdalla	Ziad Jarrah
Morgan Deare	Cleveland Supervisor
Daniel Fraser	Cleveland Controller
Tobin Miller	Tobin Miller
Michael Bencal	Boston Controller
Tom Fitzgerald	Boston Controller
Bard Marques	Boston Controller
Michael Bofshever	John White
Scott Tourin	Boston Controller
Ben Sliney	Ben Sliney
Shawna Fox	Senior ID Tech,Major James Fox
Jeremy Powell	1st Lt. Jeremy Powell,Composer
Patrick St. Esprit	Major Kevin Nasypany
Rich Sullivan	Rich Sullivan
Gregg Henry	Col. Robert Marr
Tony Smith	Tony Smith
Carol Bento	Herndon Staff
Robert Serviss	Herndon Staff
Matt Siebert	Herndon Staff
Peter Wong	Herndon Staff
Rick Tepper	Rick Tepper
Alice Dinnean	Mary Robbins - Phone Operator (uncredited)
Karen Kirkpatrick	Major Dawne Deskins
Curt Applegate	Curt Applegate
Kevin Delaney	New York Controller
Martin Heathcote	Flight Controller (uncredited)
Bret Jones	Air Traffic Control Midnight Supervisor (uncredited)
John Kaplun	New York Controller
John E. Smith	New York Controller
Lordan Napoli	Mme. Featherbottom - Phone Operator (uncredited)
Peter Pellicane	Paul Thumser
Greg Callahan	Greg Callahan
Major James Fox	Major James Fox
Simon Shelton	Passport Official (uncredited)
Polly Adams	Deborah Welsh, Flight Attendant
Bill Walsh	Newark Supervisor
Rose Davidson	Judy Strayline - Chief Operator (uncredited)
Zoe Galvez	Helen Asner - Phone Operator Supervisor (uncredited)
Jeffrey Lipman	Missile Controller - N.E.A.D.S (uncredited)

Technical Credits

Paul Greengrass

Paul Greengrass	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Lloyd Levin	Producer
Tim Bevan	Producer
Eric Fellner	Producer
Debra Hayward	Executive Producer
Liza Chasin	Executive Producer
Bruce Toll	Executive Producer
Sig De Miguel	Casting
John Hubbard	Casting,Casting
Mike Prestwood-Smith	Sound/Sound Designer
Douglas Cooper	Sound/Sound Designer
Chris Munro	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

If nothing else, Paul Greengrass' docudrama United 93 details with journalistic precision exactly what happened on the ground during the events of September 11, 2001. The director effectively presents how air traffic controllers, the military, and the FAA all pieced together what was going on as the hijackers executed their plan. Greengrass achieves remarkable verisimilitude thanks to his relentlessly handheld camerawork, outstanding use of file footage combined with special effects, the use of no-name actors, and the casting of some of the real people playing themselves. The faux cinéma vérité style helps underscore the facts of the situation. However, when dealing with the events on the title flight, Greengrass' approach is somewhat problematic. Since every person aboard the plane perished, there is no way to truly figure out what happened and how it happened. To be sure, these sequences are as well-researched as the rest of the film, but the film's cinéma vérité style here is used not to enforce facts but to force the audience into an emotional corner. If Greengrass were pushing audience members' fear buttons in order to make a political point, if this were propaganda, that might be easier to accept. The film, however, is resolutely apolitical. This means that Greengrass' overriding concern during these sequences is to make the viewer experience the emotional horror of the passengers without giving any release to those feelings. The director simply wanted to show what happened, not to comment on it, and in this regard the film is an unquestionable success. However, one has the right to ask if showing horror devoid of catharsis accomplishes anything.