>>Spoiler Alert!!  Immediately following is a detailed discussion of the movie United 93, if you don’t want to see anything detailed about the movie before you see it then stop reading NOW.

I just got back from seeing the movie United 93.  The movie is based on the events of Sept. 11th 2001 and focuses specifically on United Airlines Flight 93 which was the only hijacked airplane that day that did not hit the target the terrorists planned.  United 93 didn’t hit any target at all because the passengers, average people like you and me, found out what was happening and were taking the plane back over from the hijackers until the terrorist pilot crashed it into the ground.

We all knew this years ago, and if you didn’t you should have.  Its one thing to know it as a matter reported somberly on the news, but something altogether different to see a plausible reconstruction of it happen on film.

It was quiet in the theatre.  In these days of big screen TV’s and home movie watching there’s an increasing problem of people talking during a movie because they are so used to it at home.  That wasn’t a problem during this film.  At the theatre where I saw the movie there were no previews, no distractions, and as the film started promptly on time everybody just shut up and watched.

There’s no hype in United 93.  There’s some music here and there but it is never overpowering or heavy handed, just a slight accent to what’s happening on screen.  The actors involved aren’t Arnold or Denzel or Rambo or Jackie or any other recognizable Hollywood action hero type.  They’re just people, all of them look and act like people just like us.  They look and act like everyone you live and work with.

The movie is well directed and acted, and once it begins it moves quickly and horrifyingly to the end you know is coming before you step in the theatre.  There aren’t any extra scenes or any real character development, because that’s not the point.  For the duration of the film you are just watching as all these separate people deal with the events of that day in their own way.  As the Air Traffic Controllers and the Air Force slowly realize what is happening and take the first faltering steps to try to do something about it.  As the passengers and crew of United 93 board the airplane, are hijacked, realize they have been hijacked, and then learn that planes are being flown into buildings like the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.  As some of the passengers realize what they must do before they join the other planes slamming into a building.  As they charge up the center aisle of the plane and fight a truly desperate and nasty hand to hand fight against the terrorists.  As they fail to regain control of the plane before the terrorist pilot slams it into the ground.  No speeches.  No extra drama or heroic dialog.  No special effects.

And then it ends.  Like that.  A few spare words telling a few facts about that day, and then the credits roll.

A few scattered people applauded when the text came up at the end saying that United 93 was the only plane that didn’t reach its intended target, as tribute to those brave people I think, but mostly dead silence.  A few voices in the darkness after the credits rolled speaking into the total silence saying "never forget….never forget!"  And very little after that, almost none of the usual chatting as people walked out of the theatre.

The theatre was about 2/3 full at the first showing of the day, 11:15am.  People filed silently out of the theatre afterwards in a quiet somber mood, very much like in an atmosphere like that at a funeral.  The air was heavy with silence and people were lost in their own thoughts, clearly thinking it inappropriate to speak yet.

Its a bracing experience.  To see what others saw that day, to relive in our own minds what it was like, to experience the incomprehension and horror once again as the planes crash into the Twin Towers.  To watch a recreation of what could at any moment be you or me fighting for our lives on a plane, as ruthless fanatic killers murder some and the rest die fighting literally to the end in the crash.

Never forget.  You know who said those words in the theatre?  I could see them.  A few WWII generation men, men who remember Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust.  Never forget.  But we have forgotten haven’t we?  As a people, as a civilization, we have forgotten.  Much of America has already forgotten that horrifying day just a few years ago of September 11th, 2001.  Forget about Pear Harbor, or the Holocaust.  Those are ancient history now and demagogues are only too happy to play for political advantage on the ignorance of the average voter.  The United Nations was formed with the specific charter to "never forget", with the goal to make sure than "never again" would we allow a genocide to happen.  The U.N. can barely gather itself together enough to write the words for a few harsh sounding declarations about ongoing genocide going on right now, much less actually do anything about it.

Never forget.  Its a duty we owe those who died that day.  For the people that knew them, not to forget them as people, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, husbands and wives.  Not to forget that a very real enemy struck us all that day and killed almost three thousand of our fellow citizens.  Not to forget that that those people are still out there today as much or more determined to kill as many of us as possible and destroy our nation if they can.  Not to forget our duty to see them soundly defeated so that our children might live in peace and safety some day again.

This is all highly personal.  It isn’t some sort of broad distant thing.  Its about you, me, and whether we individually choose to accept that duty, to remember and act accordingly.  If you haven’t already, then go see United 93.  Never forget.

Update:  for a selection of other blogger reviews of United 93 click on this link .