Flight of the Phoenix (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
A small group of air crash survivors are stranded in a Mongolian Desert in 'The Flight of the Phoenix', an action/adventure flick directed by John Moore. Facing mother nature, being short on supplies, and dealing with some desert smugglers, the group realizes their only hope is to build a new aircraft from the remains of the wrecked plane. The plentiful, exciting action sequences in this film saves it from itself (the opening crash is spectacular). The actors are stellar, but the screenplay lets them down a bit. It may not be as good as the original (from 1965), but it tries hard to be an entertaining remake.
An oil rig in the Gobi Desert is shut-down, giving Capt. Frank Towns (Dennis Quaid) and Co-pilot A.J. (Tyrese Gibson) an opportunity to shut-down the operation and retrieve the American workers back home to Atlanta, Georgia. However, en route, the plane faces a heavy dust storm & their C-119 Flying Boxcar crashes in the middle of nowhere. Due to the crash, several crewmembers die instantly. And other members are dying in the brutal desert conditions. So, for the surviving members, & one mysterious drifter, Elliot (Giovanni Ribisi), a debate over whether to 'wait for rescue', or 'fix the plane' becomes heated. Over the next few weeks they battle nomad attacks, heavy sand storms, & a severe lack of food & water.
Elliot claims that with help from the other survivors (played by the likes of Tony Curran, Miranda Otto & Hugh Laurie), he's just the man who knows how to retool the plane. Just how efficient is he? Is he aiming to aid or destroy these crewmembers? Can they build a new plane from the old one?; essentially rising from the ashes like a Phoenix, the legendary bird. They name the new plane 'Phoenix', though, will they be able to build it, fly it, & escape certain death in time?
This is the kind of movie that will have you bent over in twisted pain from the tension (near misses, narrow escapes, probable deaths, escalated arguments, etc.). The action is good, the musical score excites, some characters offer more than 1-dimension. The film prospers by not allowing you to guess just who will die & who will survive. Who has the will, the spirit, & the belief ... and who lacks those qualities? My problem with the film is that it's very vanilla. It's old-fashioned, generic, lacking a true grit (which you think there'd be more of in the desert setting). Still, it's one of these 'I know I shouldn't like this ... but I do' movies.
An oil rig in the Gobi Desert is shut-down, giving Capt. Frank Towns (Dennis Quaid) and Co-pilot A.J. (Tyrese Gibson) an opportunity to shut-down the operation and retrieve the American workers back home to Atlanta, Georgia. However, en route, the plane faces a heavy dust storm & their C-119 Flying Boxcar crashes in the middle of nowhere. Due to the crash, several crewmembers die instantly. And other members are dying in the brutal desert conditions. So, for the surviving members, & one mysterious drifter, Elliot (Giovanni Ribisi), a debate over whether to 'wait for rescue', or 'fix the plane' becomes heated. Over the next few weeks they battle nomad attacks, heavy sand storms, & a severe lack of food & water.
Elliot claims that with help from the other survivors (played by the likes of Tony Curran, Miranda Otto & Hugh Laurie), he's just the man who knows how to retool the plane. Just how efficient is he? Is he aiming to aid or destroy these crewmembers? Can they build a new plane from the old one?; essentially rising from the ashes like a Phoenix, the legendary bird. They name the new plane 'Phoenix', though, will they be able to build it, fly it, & escape certain death in time?
This is the kind of movie that will have you bent over in twisted pain from the tension (near misses, narrow escapes, probable deaths, escalated arguments, etc.). The action is good, the musical score excites, some characters offer more than 1-dimension. The film prospers by not allowing you to guess just who will die & who will survive. Who has the will, the spirit, & the belief ... and who lacks those qualities? My problem with the film is that it's very vanilla. It's old-fashioned, generic, lacking a true grit (which you think there'd be more of in the desert setting). Still, it's one of these 'I know I shouldn't like this ... but I do' movies.