United 93Movie Reviews

Poster art for "United 93."

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Must Go!
Avg. Critic Score: 90 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Greengrass has made not only a thoroughly fact-checked film but a film that uncontrovertibly comes from the heart. Read full review

  • 100
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Far from being exploitive, the effect is inspiring: This is the best of us. Read full review

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    This is a masterful and heartbreaking film, and it does honor to the memory of the victims. Read full review

  • 100
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    An unflinching, powerfully visceral and haunting portrait of the tragic events aboard one of the terrorist-commandeered flights on the fateful morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Read full review

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Pulling the bandage of sentiment cleanly away from oozing concepts like ''heroism'' and ''our nation's war on terror'' in the aftermath of recent wounds, here's a drama about the most politically charged crisis of our time that grants the dignity of autonomy to every soul involved. Read full review

  • 90
    Variety | Brian Lowry

    The result is a tense, documentary-style drama that methodically builds a sense of dread despite the preordained outcome. Read full review

  • 90
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    United 93 unfolds with the terrible inevitability of a modern-day "Battle of Algiers," with Greengrass exerting superb control of tone, structure and pace...United 93 may be the best movie I ever hated. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Intellectually, we know we should applaud the marvels United 93 has accomplished, and we do. But it is a film envisioned as a monument, a memorial tribute, and in our hearts we want something more. United 93 should have been made now, when memories and passions are still fresh, but it may play better in the future. If we have one. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    There's just nothing artful about it, and it's Greengrass who deserves the credit. These nonactors don't act the way most people do when playing themselves. They act the way people do when they're being themselves. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Its focus is purposely narrow. But that narrow focus, along with the lack of fully realized characters, and the absence of any historical or political context, raises the question of why, notwithstanding the usual (if shaky) commercial imperative, this particular movie was made. Read full review

View more reviews for United 93 on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Story of 9/11 hijacking: harrowing, not for kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this film isn't for younger kids. Upsetting and provocative, it raises sophisticated questions about the construction of history and uses of memory. The movie includes frequent cuts that create tension and link scenes in the jet and air traffic control, military, and the FAA centers. The hijackers betray nervousness but remain resolute in pursuing what they see as their destiny. Television images of the second plane hitting the WTC recall 9/11 as most viewers experienced it. The final assault by passengers on the hijackers is particularly grim and violent, with ragged images and blood splattering on a wall. Some strong language.
  • Families can talk about the uses of representing such tragedy and trauma: How do stories and images help us work through emotional wounds? How important is historical accuracy in a fictionalized feature film? How does the movie portray the hijackers, so that you see their nervousness and dedication, and not just cartoonish, one-dimensional "evil"? How do the many, mostly nameless, passengers appear heroic in ways that challenge movie conventions?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Crew members and passengers are smart and heroic.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: CNN's footage of the WTC burning, and the second plane hitting the second tower, approximates characters' perspectives, at once horrifying and unbelievable (again); hijackers carry knives and fake bomb; throats/shoulders slashed, stabbing, and an assault by passengers on the hijackers that occurs mostly offscreen, but shows blood splatted on the wall from a skull crushed by a fire extinguisher; last images are harrowing, blurry and rushed and fragmented, until the plane crashes and the screen goes black.
  • sex false0 Sex: Not an issue
  • language false5 Language: Language escalates as the action, frustration, and dread build; includes "damn," f-words, s-words, and "hell."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Mention of drinks at start, during cabin service.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

4.5

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… deeply upsetting … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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