The controversy that surrounded the release of this film was understandable, and indeed relatively tempered when you think about the subject matter. The final hours of the eponymous Flight 93 on September 11th 2001, the plane that crashed into a field in Pennsylvania amid much confusion, killing all those onboard.

Although the film is clearly a showcase of the heroism of the men and women who tried to regain control of the plane, the actual story is superbly delivered without venturing into contextualization. This is the films strongest point, and not as some have stated, the weakness of the film. If you want to know the 'whys and wherefores,' then films like the astounding 'Syriana' have that covered. That film went into painstaking detail to place modern and historical issues that lead to terrorism and global tension. This film instead places you on the plane itself. For those two hours after the first plane hit the World Trade Centre, no one was thinking about these issues (except maybe the most hawkish of politicians in the Whitehouse).

Filmmaker Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy and Bloody Sunday) is probably the only director who could have done this without it becoming a flag waving exercise in 'American values'. The frailties of human nature as well as those of big corporate entities are paralleled with the strengths of individuals in impossible situations. Of course as the director himself points out, one of the main reasons that Flight 93 and this story have such an emotional place in people's imaginations is precisely because we don't and probably never will know what exactly happened onboard that plane. What we do have however and what much of the film is based on, is the unquestionable documented evidence such as phone calls made to love ones and communications to and from the cockpit via ground control.

The trailer, which caused an unprecedented reaction from audiences, does what the film avoids throughout its runtime. There is no obtrusive and over sentimental music, and there is a particular lack of slow motion framing and lingering establishing shots, it feels very much like a documentary, just like Greengrass's earlier work in Bloody Sunday. The filmmaker deserves credit for the script as well as for the subtle directions. Weaving in actors and in some cases the real life versions of the people on screen, this is no flashy 'tour de force', but the best way to tell the story.

Conspiracy theorists will find little to prove some of the more outlandish theories, but that is not to say that the film is a glowing reference to the military, or indeed the government agencies involved. The panic and confusion of the day is expertly played out, whilst the horrifying realisation of the passengers is also detailed with the same attention. It's worth noting that whilst all this was happening President George W Bush was sat in a classroom reading about farmyard animals thinking about what to do next. He of course was subsequently ferried around the country under armed guard; the passengers on Flight 93 were not.

I for one have never witnessed a preview audience stunned into complete silence by a films ending. It's all the more telling when you consider that everyone who watches the film will know the outcome, and yet will be taken aback by the bravery of not just the people on board the flight, but of the film itself. A fitting and monumental tribute to 'Flight 93.'