Sightlines · reception
How United 93 was received
2006 · Paul Greengrass · United 93 on Sightlines
The arc
Released just four and a half years after 9/11 to cries of 'too soon' — a Manhattan theater famously pulled the trailer after audience complaints — it's now widely regarded as the definitive film about that day and one of the best-reviewed films of the 2000s, earning Greengrass a Best Director Oscar nomination.
What’s debated
The perennial debate: is it a vital act of memorial or an ordeal no one should have to sit through — the film everyone calls a masterpiece while admitting they can never watch it again?
Its footprint
It became the reference point for the whole 'too soon?' conversation about dramatizing real tragedy, and its real-time, handheld docudrama approach became the template imitators reach for when filming recent history.
Where it stands
A fixture of best-of-the-2000s lists and the standard answer to 'greatest film you'll only ever watch once.'
Did you know? Ben Sliney, the FAA's National Operations Manager who ordered all U.S. air traffic grounded on 9/11 — his first day in that job — plays himself in the film, as do a number of real air traffic controllers and military personnel.