Flight of the Phoenix (2004)

Get The Original

Who needs character development when you can have special effects. Besides, character development takes time and requires a little attention span. I suspect the director plays a lot of computer games and is heavily influenced by such great works as Grand Theft Auto. May 5, 2008

RISING FROM THE ORIGINAL'S ASHES

Hollywood is far from done using the long dead bodies of old movies to recreate them into something original and different yet using the same story as before. The remake fever is upon them! In an effort to draw back movie goers who are flocking from theaters, Hollywood regurgitates movies they hope people will at least remember the title of. It works some times, and other not. This one does.

Dennis Quaid highlights the cast as a rough and ready pilot who works for hire. On a routine flight taking the crew and executives from an oil drilling that didn't offer what was expected, they encounter a freak sandstorm. Doing his best to avoid the storm at all costs, luck doesn't ride with the group. Major damage happens and the plane crashes in the middle of the desert.

At first the group hopes for the best, salvaging what they can and making the best of their situation. But knowing that the antenna was the first thing to be damaged and with no distress call making its way, they come to realize that their chances of being rescued are slim. One by one the effects of the heart and fear work at each member that has survived.

But one select (Giovanni Ribisi) member feels that there is a chance if only everyone else will listen to him. Explaining that he has worked on designing planes, he sees hope in the wreckage of the cargo plane, a way to give it new life and to fly them home to safety. His biggest detractor is the pilot himself, Quaid.

Maintaining not only sanity but safety in the desert under the hot sun is not something easily done. And when one of the group wanders off in search of help, Quaid sets out to find him. This he does but not before they come across the body of a passenger sucked out during the crash. Not only do they find themselves having to contend with a sickening sight, they discover that his body has been ransacked. The only explanation? Raiders from the desert.

Making their way back to the plane, Quaid agrees to the possible solution. Now the group must work together to try and raise the plane back to life, the phoenix of the title back from the ashes. And while they do so, they must also find a way to insure that these desert raiders do not discover and annihilate them.

The minutes count down, the plane reconstruction has its ups and downs and the groups also finds that they have to contend with dissension or thieves in their midst. But through it all, the sense of hope inspires them to work hard and find a solution to their problem. Even if the not quite finished task at hand draws in attention of the raiders as the seconds count down to a climactic finish.

Few people remember the original film remade here. Starring James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine and Hardy Kruger among others, it was considered a classic. But this film does that one justice while making it on its own. You can feel the heat. You can almost smell the sweat. And you can sense the fear of a group of people thrown in together knowing that sure death awaits them if they do nothing. This is one solid movie that deserves to be watched and enjoyed. Don't forget the original. Just enjoy this one and then seek the other out.
March 13, 2008

Flight of the Phoenix

This is the WORST remake of any movie I've seen in my life. The original movie had SUPERIOR actors and paid close attention to ALL details pertaining to what life would really be like if this indeed happened. This remake includes wimps,stupidity and a list of ridiculous ideas and total ignorance of what it would be like trapped in a desert in conditions that are beyond most imaginations. I'm going to burn this DVD in my outdoor firepit first chance I get. You really need to see the original to understand just how bad todays movies are!!! January 9, 2008

Trash,....rubbish ...what more can be said...

Save your money...or better still buy the original 1965 version thats great!!
This is a case of the re-make being by far the worse of the two. The new film has all the hallmarks of a film to please the masses... its politically correct.... its got people with attitude...and don't try to take on the Americans...cause they will kick your a**...Appalling rubbish and quite painful to watch. And if you know anything about aviation your going to laugh at how bad it is...
December 25, 2007

Quaid - 3 stars; Stewart - 4; Book - 5

While I had a great time in the theater watching the Quaid version of Flight of the Phoenix (I'm a sucker for Quaid & it was a joy to see Hugh Laurie), this movie is much more fragmented and has less character development than the Jimmy Stewart version.

Both movies, however, pale in comparison to the book by Elleston Trevor. Darker and more intense than the movies, the first sentence sets the tone: "The wind had flung the sand thirty thousand feet into the sky above the desert in a blinding cloud from the Niger to the Nile, and somewhere in it was the airplane." Even if you're reading this book in the middle of the winter or in a torrential downpour of rain, by the time you're half way through it you'll be parched and on the edge of your seat. Plan to go through several bottles of water reading it.

Originally released in 1964, the book was reissued in 2004 in mass market paperback. August 3, 2007

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