Robert J. Maxwell
A handful of Air Traffic Controllers in Phoenix manage a crowded sky and nurse an injured airliner back to earth. Kiefer Sutherland is an ace at the job, but he quit after one of his airplanes crashed. Now he's called back to help on a night full of tension.And there IS a lot of tension after the introductory period that walks us through the character and their equipment. It's one of those movies in which, if anything can go wrong, it goes wrong. The equipment blows out, a goose flies into the radar fan, conflicts between the ATCs emerge, and so forth. Brief spurts of Morse code add to the mystery behind all that technology, but only two letters are heard in Morse: "s" and "u". Actually it's a vast improvement over most airplane-in-jeopardy movies. First of all, we don't have a single airliner filled with diverse passengers whose back stories must be explored seriatim. Second, and most important, the ATC people are on the ground, where all human beings belong. Man was not meant to fly. I can't speak for women and children. In fact, all means of mass transport are suspect. I thought the driver on my last Greyhound bus looked a little odd.The narrative comes through neatly and cleanly. It begins in an exploratory mode and ends in crisis and triumph, accompanied by generic music. The performances are all decent, with perhaps the best acting laid on by Robert Sean Leonard as Cruise, the competent and low-keyed controller who becomes rattled by too much stress. Sutherland's role is the flashier of the two. Also notable in minor roles are Alex Wexo as a pilot and especially Drew Snyder as the avuncular pilot of a stricken airliner. It would be so easy to overact, but Snyder does a fine job. Knowing his airplane and its passengers are doomed, he languidly tells Phoenix, "Keep us away from a city." But in any case it's really an ensemble movie.The director does not indulge himself in razzle dazzle techniques. The film was shot on stilts, not by a hand-held camera wobbled around by a spazz. Even during the scenes of second-by-second action, the images remain steady.
Diane Ruth
An incredibly suspenseful, high-excitement motion picture that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Director Richard Howard has done a stunning job of bringing this marvelous film to the screen, capturing the stress, agony, and triumphs of air traffic controllers with cinematic eloquence. The tension is at times overwhelming as a burned-out traffic controller "plugs in" again after a horrific experience a few years previous. Played by Kiefer Sutherland, the character is one of true depth and touching humanity, a tortured soul who rises to the extreme challenges of one crisis filled night in the tower. It is one of Sutherland's greatest performances. In fact, an all-star cast give uniformly superb performances with stand-out work done by Henry Winkler and Robert Sean Leonard. Special mention should be made of the actor who plays the pilot of a troubled airliner,Drew Snyder , a familiar character actor who does what amounts to an Oscar worthy turn in his role. As the older flier who remains calm and courageous, the kind of man we all want in the cockpit, he is brilliant. Intense, intelligent, and terrifically produced, prepare yourself for a story of fragile humanity in extraordinary circumstances. That is the film Ground Control.
chrismulkeyisgod
After watching the final season of Lost I purchased Ground Control for 1/2 Lb. (this accounts for inflation, I think) from a small, local England shop. I was pleasantly surprised at how entertained I felt--keep in mind that most things do not entertain me anymore; I feel very grim most of the time. But surprisingly, despite myself not being an aviation buff of any kind I was able to follow along with most of the jargon which is normally an impediment with me (for example, if the movie is about a stock market I have a hard time following the lingo, especially if the film is American) But it all seemed very realistic to me and my husband. Who watched it with me. It makes me wonder about all the "close calls" that go by every day underneath our nose. Usually when I fly; which is pretty regularly, now; I don't pay any mind to all of the magic that goes on behind the scenes of the flight. Now I will pay attention. This is a great movie, especially if you love Keither Sutherland (and both me and my husband DO). I give this movie 8/10 stars--it could have used a more romantic subplot involving a woman and Keither Sutherland, and I saw the ending coming a mile away WITH or WITHOUT the help of ATC (lol!)
Jan Larsen
I wish just once film makers would stay consistent with their aircraft (it's not that hard, and very noticeable) a 747 was crashing at the beginning, but with L1011 wreckage. Then the 747 "Transgolf" turns into a 737 on the outside and a 727 on the inside, lovely. Plus, everything just goes wrong doesn't it. The "Transgolf" plane incident seems remarkably familiar to the United plane that crash-landed in Cedar Rapids, IA a few years back too.All in all it's somewhat fun to watch but you have to realize that it's so obviously stupid and these seemingly minor inconsistencies bring down the quality of the film so much.
AD
