I was very reluctant to see this movie…until my Dad hit me over the head with a [metaphorical] 2 x 4, reminding me that the director is awesome…(An earlier flick “Bloody Sunday” is another brilliant piece.)

My dad went to it in the theater and recommended it at the time but I never got around to it.

A bunch of the air traffic controllers PLAY THEMSELVES in the movie. Hello, that fact alone should tell you how authentic it is. Really interesting to see how played things out / how the different air traffic centers had to try and piece together what was happening / how the military was trying to piece together what was happening / how the day slowly came together in people’s minds.

You’re ultra hyperly aware of the whole “hindsight being 20/20” thing the whole time you’re watching the film, of course, as knowing the outcome of that day makes even the most innocuous “random people making phone calls at the airport” scenes seem foreboding. Great use of background music in this flick; just enough to set you on edge.

Very powerful. Very moving. Not cheap. Not exploitive in the least. Highly recommended. But, yes, intense. Not for the faint of heart.