January 30, 2006
Flight 93: The Movie on A&E
I just finished watching the movie Flight 93.
This should be required viewing for every citizen in America.
If a tragic event like this can be made into a movie tastefully, this movie fills the bill. There was no empathizing with the hijackers, no usual Hollywood gloss. Just a straightforward telling of the events, based upon phone calls by passengers, official records from the airlines and other official agencies, and eyewitness accounts. The acting was not overdone, but was so realistic it gave me goosebumps. It helps that there were no well-known actors taking away from the moment.
However, that doesn't mean there weren't plenty of tearjerking moments. I cried throughout the entire film. The most emotional moments were when passengers like Mark Bingham, Jeremy Glick and others said their last goodbyes to loved ones at home. Also, something I didn't realize, was that Todd Beamer of "let's roll" fame was on the phone with an operator at Verizon from the time that the passengers were herded to the back of the plane until it went down. He asked the operator, Lisa, to say the Lord's Prayer with him just before he and the others stormed the cockpit.
Some may think that making a movie about this event is wrong, that it's capitalizing on a tragedy. No, it's not. We need to remember what happened that day. We need to remember that although the passengers and crew of Flight 93 died, they died trying to make sure the lives of others weren't sacrificed as well.
There are some who want to sanitize the events of 9/11. Sanitizing them takes away their impact and only serves to make Americans complacent in the four plus years since then. That day was only the beginning of a long war, one that we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq today.
The only consolation we can take away from Flight 93 is that the terrorist bastards died too...and died short of their goal of crashing into the White House, Capitol building or whatever their final target was.
If you didn't see the movie, click on the link above to see the repeat schedule. Have a box of tissues handy.
If you are interested in contributing to the Flight 93 memorial, go to the website here.
Show Comments »
I want to watch it, but somehow can't bring myself to.
Posted by: Chris at January 31, 2006 07:59 AMI forced myself to watch it. I almost didn't. But as sad as it mzde me, I think it was worthwhile. We cannot afford to forget.
Posted by: Pam at January 31, 2006 10:56 AMI was the same as you guys, not sure I really wanted to go there, but it was a terrific production, very respectful of the passengers and in line with the information that has been uncovered.
The detail about Todd Beamer and the Verizon operator comes from an amazing Salon (yes, Salon!) article that came out a week or so after 9-11 where the slogan "Let's Roll" first appeared in print. I'll look around and link it to my review, as well as linking yours.
Posted by: Brainster at January 31, 2006 11:13 AMI watched the show.was there a flight 93?.that happend.then how so many people where allowed to make phone calls?.it was sad to here all thoughs people talking.and where did the plane go after it crashed did they finde it ever?.and how about the peoples bodies and did they finde there cell phones after the crash? there saying flight 93 never crashed,so whats going on with that i dont belive there was no hereos.because the hijackers wouldnt let them go near them.so tell me what realy happend.
Posted by: Melissa at February 20, 2006 01:53 AMYes Melissa, there really was a Flight 93. Why is it so hard for you to believe it? The phone calls have all been verified, as has the transmission made by the hijacker that was accidentally sent to the airport (the one where he said he was the captain). The hijackers at that point were probably confident that the people were too scared to do anything. The reason they are heroes is because they stopped the plane from hitting a target in Washington DC, probably the White House or the Capitol Building. Most of the plane disintegrated on hitting the ground. Look up Flight 93 online for further information. It's all true.
Thanks for stopping by.
Posted by: Pam at February 20, 2006 10:12 AMI was looking forward to this movie, and it had both good and bad points. The acting was quite good, you could feel the terror, and the movie interpersed well between scenes on the ground versus those aboard Flight 93. The movie's biggest drawback is its wimpy portrayal of the women aboard (and don't forget, I'm a man). I read Jere Longman's book "Among the Heroes," and there's no way the actresses in this movie reflected the real life women, who were pretty strong characters. At least several of the women would have been charging the cockpit, yet the movie gave the guys all the glory. In Longman's book, the guys tended to get more emotional than the women when making their final phone calls, but in the movie, Jeremy Glick doesn't cry and Todd Beamer doesn't sound particularly emotional. In this regard, the movie is not true to what really happened aboard that plane.
Posted by: Dave at February 20, 2006 12:19 PM
