Flight of the Phoenix | | Cast : | Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Miranda Otto | | Director : | John Moore | | Studio : | Fox Home Entertainme | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | December 17, 2004 | | DVD Released Date : | March 01, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 04, 2005 | | Summary | painfully bad, especially if you're a pilot or engineer | Content
 | The characters are all angry with each other, for no obvious reason, even before they manage to crash their airplane. If you know how to fly an airplane you will be amazed at how little effort the screenwriters put into making the cause of the crash plausible. The engineer who saves their butts by figuring out how to make a new airplane out of the remaining parts is cartoonishly unlikable.
[Note to flying nerds: At the end of the movie they are trying to get off the ground while being chased by angry Mongols on horseback. The horses are able to run nearly as fast as the plane, which is a rather small remnant of the C-119. So we're asked to believe that the plane, despite its Wright R-3350 engine (over 2000 horsepower), can't go faster than a horse and can't fly even in ground effect. Yet after it runs off the edge of the cliff it somehow manages to fly and develop a good climb rate in free air.]
The Namibian desert looks good, I will say that. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 01, 2005 | | Summary | Two hours wasted | Content
| This film falls under my personal category of "time wasted that you will never get back". It has the workings to be a good film, but as others have so eloquently stated, there is just too much going on and it is too predictable. If you are just looking for mindless entertainment, you found it. No offense to any of the actors, I feel they did the best job they could with the task they were given. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 30, 2005 | | Summary | Fantastic! Fantastic! Fantastic! | Content
| I don't know what other movie the reviewers of this film were watching, but this remake puts the original to shame! I'm very cynical about films, but this one had me grinning from ear to ear at the end! I don't have enough accolades for this film. FINALLY, Hollywood has produced a film that is worth watching. Instead of filling it with an all-star cast, they used only Dennis Quaid and put together a film in which the actors display real, human emotions instead of fabricated movie screen personas! I loved this film and I'd watch it over and over because it has the same human quality that one got from watching Apollo 13! If you only watch one film this year - see this one!
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| Rating | | | Date | July 14, 2005 | | Summary | Not as good as the Original | Content
| When an oil company shuts down drilling operations at a site in the Gobi desert, Frank Towns and his co-pilot A.J. are sent in to fly the remaining crew out. As the colorful cast of characters departs, they run into a massive sandstorm that causes them to crash. They soon find themselves stranded in the desert with little food and water, no hope of walking out, and no chance of rescue.
Despite the overwhelming odds, the mysterious engineer Elliot offers up a solution. He believes that they can build a flyable plane out of the remains of the wreckage. With the harsh environment, dwindling water supply, and marauding smugglers threatening their lives, the crew undertakes the seemingly impossible task. But will they tear each other apart first?
Flight of the Phoenix is a very good survival story. Flight has good Acting, Directing, Special Effects, and Ok Writing. I only have one complaint as much as I enjoyed portions of the soundtrack, other portions of it made me cringe. There's one scene in the film where they pop it the annoying song "Hey Ya!" by Outkast and start dancing around. It was so cheesy I almost had to close my eyes and cover my ears till it was over. Other than that I loved the movie.
Overall if you like Dennis Quaid or Tyrese you'll like this movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 14, 2005 | | Summary | A recycled story done right. | Content
| Flight of the Phoenix is a remake of the 1965 Jimmy Stewart classic which is actually an adaptation of the 1964 Elleston Trevor novel. But really, don't let the recycled story frighten you.
Frank Towns (Dennis Quaid) is a pilot stranded in the Gobi desert with his trusty copilot (Tyrese) and band of misfit oil drillers (Miranda Otto, Tony Curran, et al.) and an eccentric blonde (Giovanni Ribisi) after their transport plane crashes in a massive dust/electricity storm. Much drama ensues.
I don't want to give much away because the movie really is worth seeing for all of its antion-y, mysterious goodness, but really the story is simple. It's the acting and the effects that make this a great flick.
The acting is far above average, though not immeasurable amazing or anything. Miranda Otto and Giovanni Ribisi far outshine the rest of the cast. In fact, I was impressed by all of the more minor characters, while Dennis Quaid's role was built on the tough-guy stereotype. He played the role well, but it felt like a role rather than a character. Giovanni Ribisi's eccentric Elliot is absolutely flawless. If you've seen the original, Elliot's eccentricity, arrogance and extremely strange behavior touch on Hardy Krüger's 1965 version. Ribisi is one of my favorite actors and he shows such an intensity and actual range here that I forgot that he isn't our hero. I'd easily watch it again just so see him.
The story does get lost in some parts. There is no real sense of time and you don't really catch on to how long they have been in the desert. They jump suddenly from "Don't worry, we'll be rescued" to "How are we going to get out of here?" It feels almost like there are deleted scenes that should be in between. Maybe the DVD will shed some light on it. But overall, the jump didn't detract from the movie too much. It is an action flick after all.
There is some really amazing cinematography. There is the new-classic switch from old-fashioned celluloid to digital video for action sequences. It's not an original technique, but it works spectacularly in this because of the way that it changes the way fast action motion looks. They also used huge 360 degree crane shots to show the massive expanse of the desert and how small the survivors are in comparison. These are both techniques we have seen in John Moore's previous film Behind Enemy Lines.
The special effects are almost entirely flawless. Yes, as I've heard mentioned, the storm that brings the plane down is a little overdone, but it has a mythical/supernatural effect to it that really leaves you wondering what the hell is happening. There was quite a bit of blue screen work done for this movie and it doesn't come across AT ALL, which is a sign of really great effects work.
Really, the movie is your run of the mill action flick, but done well. The characters, while not well-developed, are intriguing and above all else the movie looks great. Plus it features the incredibly catchy Hey Ya by Outkast (used really effectively) and the addictive Angel by Massive Attack, which captures everything about the film for me. If you like action flicks see it, you'll like it, I promise. |
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