The Flight of the Phoenix Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)December 16th, 2004
FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, a remake of the 1965 film of the same name, is good, old fashioned, escapist entertainment. The script adaptation appears to lean heavily on the original script, causing some of the lines to creak a bit. You'll have a good time so long as you aren't so foolish as to think too hard about the characters' actions. I mean, would you stand and talk in the hot desert sun if you were running out of water and an airplane wing nearby provided plenty of cooling shade? But there I go doing exactly what I warned you to avoid, which is to approach the movie sensibly. Just sit back and go with the flow.
In the Jimmy Stewart role, Dennis Quaid, as Captain Frank Towns, plays a daring pilot of an old bucket of bolts who miscalculates the intensity of a storm against the weight of his plane, causing a harrowing crash into the desert sand dunes in the middle of nowhere in the Gobi. Not one for rah-rah speeches, Frank tells his passengers little other than that his plan for their survival is to do absolutely nothing in the ridiculously optimistic hope that someone will find them. He estimates their chances of being located at five percent, and he isn't convincing that the number is anywhere near that high.
An oil field crew, led by a taciturn woman named Kelly (Miranda Otto), makes up the entire passenger roster, other than a mysterious and quietly obnoxious man named Elliott, who turns out to be the group's salvation. Playing this self-righteous prick, Giovanni Ribisi delivers the only interesting performance in a movie staffed exclusively with one-dimensional characters.
The special effects of the desert storm are quite scary and believable. And the cinematography and landscapes are uniformly breathtaking. Will they devise a plan to get themselves out alive? The movie's title proclaims the obvious answer. Between the plane's dramatic demise and its inspirational rebirth, the story offers plenty of clichéd but fun little moments of adventure.
THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX runs a little long at 1:52. It is rated PG-13 for "some language, action and violence" and would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, December 17, 2004. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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