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Flight of the Phoenix
Directed by John Moore. Story: A remake of the 1965 desert plane crash movie. Running Time: 1hr 53 minutes. Certificate 12A.
Back in 1965, James Stewart and Richard Attenborough crashed into the Sahara desert. 40 years on, the Phoenix flies again, albeit into the Mongolian Gobi desert this time and with Dennis Quaid at the helm. The first 20 minutes is worth seeing for the C-119 crash, the rest is dreary and derivative nonsense.
The Flight of the Phoenix may have come from the ashes, but that doesn't make it fireproof. It's well-crafted and nicely put together, but the repetitive script and half-hearted plot ruin all the good work. A nice try, but I shan't be watching it again when it's released on DVD. I enjoyed this film: I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: We man. We make plane. To enjoy this film you should: be patient and forgiving.
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Cast: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Miranda Otto, Tyrese, Hugh Laurie, Tony Curran, Sticky Fingaz, Jacob Fargas.
The Flight of the Phoenix seems to be a plane crash with a story bolted on. The crash is extremely effective and
works spectacularly well, mixing computer graphics with genuine shots to create a truly epic sequence.
Having crashed, the stranded travellers find themselves in a bit of a pickle, being miles from anywhere with
no apparent method of communication with the outside world. However, from here on it gets a touch flaky.
They decide the sponsoring company won't come to rescue them because it's not cost-effective (er...?) and they can't
walk away from the plane because they'd get lost. Of course, that doesn't stop them walking miles away and back again
without getting lost -
maybe the scriptwriters didn't read each other's work. In fact, once the cast is in the sand and the scene is set,
the intensity is lost and it's difficult to give a toss whether they make it or not.
Things happen, but they're not very interesting. People fall out, but not in a particularly
believable way. Laws of physics are selectively ignored in order to increase the suspense. Ideas run out and
increasingly unlikely plot developments take over to pad the running time. Yawn.
It's not all bad news though. Giovanni Ribisi is becoming one of the most versatile actors around at the moment,
having come from Phoebe's dumb brother in Friends, through Boiler Room to the irritating nasal engineer here.
No-one else stands out as being particularly good or bad - Hugh Laurie is fine but seems out of place, Dennis Quaid
is adequate and the others are all forgettable and largely interchangeable. The cinematography is nice and the
soundtrack is excellent - it's just the plot and script (and rubbish ending) that let it down. I couldn't help but
be reminded of the A-Team making a tank from some bits of corrugated iron and double-sided sticky tape.
And why do film-makers seem to think blood is scarlet? Haven't they ever seen a boxing match?
