Flight 93 - More4

Friday 4th September 2009 … 9.00-10.50pm / 11.50-1.40am







Flight 93 (2006) is a devastatingly powerful, incredibly affecting and poignant Emmy nominated made-for-television film of the fateful 9/11 flight upon which the passengers and crew fought back … I think Flight 93, is even better than Paul Greengrass’s superb Academy Award nominated United 93 (2006) which is showing on ITV1 Sunday 6th September, 2009 10.15-12.05am



Flight 93 tells the tale of the courageous passengers and crew aboard hijacked United Airlines' Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. After learning of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, these ordinary civilians chose to fight back against the terrorists.



Director Peter Markle and screenplay writer Nevin Schreiner were both Emmy-nominated for this superior made-for-television film. It tells the true story of Flight 93, the hijacked 9/11 flight which saw the passengers fight back to stop it reaching its target but paid with their own lives when it crashed in rural Pennysylvania.



The heroic revolt ultimately led to the deadly crash in a Shanksville, Pennsylvania field, just 20 air minutes from Washington. The passengers' actions likely prevented the plane from being used as a guided missile to destroy the U.S. Capitol or the White House.



Based on fully annotated facts from the public record, this heart-pounding movie includes the extraordinary communications that took place between the doomed passengers and their loved ones on the ground. It covers the horrifying scenarios discussed by US military and government officials as they prepared to shoot down the plane, if necessary. And it reveals the helpless efforts of other pilots in the air and air traffic controllers as everyone scrambled to understand events and react.



Flight 93 stars Jeffrey Nordling as Tom Burnett, Ty Olsson as Mark Bingham, Brennan Elliott as Todd Beamer, Colin Glazer as Jeremy Glick and Kendall Cross as Deena Burnett.



Four-time Emmy nominee David Gerber, a veteran of more than 50 made-for-TV movies and dramas, is executive producer of the movie.



Amazon.co.uk Review ...

Three months before the much-publicized theatrical release of United 93, the same true-life tragedy was faithfully dramatized in Flight 93, an equally praiseworthy TV movie that was originally broadcast on the A&E network in the US on January 30, 2006. The fourth plane to be hijacked on September 11th, 2001 ... and the only plane that didn't reach its intended terrorist target ... s the riveting subject of this film, which unfolds in real-time (similar but not identical to United 93), beginning with the terrorists' preparations and boarding of the ill-fated flight.



We then follow the notorious events as they unfold, and from that moment on, it's nearly impossible to take your eyes off the screen. The intense drama focuses on the passengers who ultimately thwarted the terrorists--they include Tom Burnett (Jeffrey Nordling), Todd Beamer (Brennan Elliot), and Mark Bingham (Ty Olsson) ... but as their counter-attack plans are being made, the action also reveals the chaotic nature of the ground response, from the White House bunker (where Vice President Cheney was moved for security) to Offices of the Federal Aviation Agency, Verizon headquarters (where in-flight calls were monitored), and United Airlines flight control, where pilots and terrorists alike could be heard throughout the terrible ordeal of the hijacking.



To his credit, director Peter Markle steers clear from any sense of exploitation (it helps that there was a five-year gap between the 9/11 tragedy and this respectable film); furthermore, both Markle and screenwriter Nevin Schreiner avoid the pitfalls of melodrama by keeping the action rooted in the facts as we know them. Speculation is necessary for some of the dramatic details, but Flight 93 benefits from a well-chosen cast of unknowns, which enhances our belief in them as ordinary citizens under extraordinary circumstances.



As you might expect, several scenes are inherently unforgettable (up to and including the now heroic phrase "Let's roll!" as the counter-attack begins), and the authentically played emotions are further intensified by realistic special effects by Gary Gutierrez, who performed similarly laudable duties on The Right Stuff 23 years earlier, at the start of his visual effects career. Produced with the cooperation of surviving family members of those who perished on Flight 93, this well-made TV film handles difficult material with grace under pressure, and that alone serves as an admirable tribute to those brave passengers who gave their lives so that others could be saved.

Jeff Shannon ... Amazon UK



Sources: Flight 93 A&E website/Amazon review/IMDb