Hitchcoc
I sometimes forget how much we miss Jimmy Stewart. He is the glue that holds this film together. It has everything one could want in an adventure/survival film. You have a group of desperate men, facing death by dehydration, water supplies almost nil. These people have a multitude of personality traits that are bound to clash. Of course there is the saint and the sinner. There is also the mysterious guy who hatches the plot to take apart a plane and rebuild it as a much smaller flying machine. Because he claims to be an aeronautical designer, everyone listens to him until he reveals that he has only worked with model planes. What starts out as hope begins to dwindle, even though he assures them that the science of aeronautics applies to all flying machines. Stewart is not perfect, but he has the bull-headedness and the respect of most of the crew members and when it comes to desperation, he is going to make it work or die trying. There is a terrific scene at the end where they must decide whether to use one of the only starter cartridge to clean the carbon out, limiting the possibility of starting the engine. It will have you on the edge of your seat. I first saw this in 1965 and remember it like it was yesterday.
pronker pronker
I saw this upon first release at least twice, and so am not unbiased due to the appeal of nostalgia. That said, if you are looking for Stewart to show his mean streak (and he had a whopper, just look at Rear Window when he talks to his fiancée!) you have come to the right movie. He's stuck with his past becoming more appealing than his present and future, and what middle-aged person has not had that feeling? The plot moves along with a satisfying pace; the work that is being accomplished to make a derelict flyable is actually shown. The characters work, and argue, and have understandable power struggles. The stakes are life and death, after all. Be prepared for one shocking reveal, shocking deaths, and a reasonable look back by at least one of the survivors, as he sees from his rescue plane just what hell he has been living in for miserable days on end.
ducatimatz28
When I see popular films remade and then expect them to be as good or better than the original;then you realize that the original couldn't have been improved on and the remake was forgettable.This is the case of 1965's "Flight of the Phoenix". Simple plot of diverse characters aboard an Oil Company owned airplane caught up in a sandstorm that forces them to crash in the desert.My favorite character is the arrogant German Model Plane designer DORFMANN who comes up with the plan of turning the Twin engine aircraft into a single engine plane that will fly the remaining survivors back home.His arrogance and superior feeling over the other stranded passengers made you have a Love/Hate relationship with him.Even Stewart's character who really couldn't stand the man, knew he was their only real hope of survival so he had to humble himself to the wishes of Dorfmann...The film's cinematography was spectacular despite being just desert and a wrecked airplane.The diverse passenger characters all gave good performances especially the mentally challenged BORGNINE character "Trucker Cobb"...The only disappoint of the film is the ending.Veteran Aerial Stunt Pilot Paul Mantz who had done Aerial stunt work in movies going back to the 30's;was fatally injured toward the end of shooting and crashed the remade Phoenix Airplane. The last shot you see of the plane is in the air after passing over an oil crew below.You never see the plane landing because it had been destroyed upon Mantz's Crash.The final scene is the survivors walking/running to the water spring they had passed over...Although it was never really brought out Mantz was a known Drinker and had flown stunts under the influence more than once.No one really knows if it was pilot error or aircraft malfunction or Mantz may have even had a heart attack. However he still goes down in history as one of the Greatest aviator stunt pilots in Cinema History.EXCELLENT FILM!...s.m.
DKosty123
It is not just because of Robert Aldrich Directing that this movie is a must see. James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, George Kennedy, and a fine cast have a lot to do with it. The solid material and script the film is based on has a lot to say for the film.This plane crash film tells the story of humans surviving and then trying to pick themselves up after a plane crash in the desert. Stewart plays the pilot and the hero but in an Aldrich type of scenario he is the anti-hero. He admits his error causes the plane to crash. As it is obviously an old plane there is some conjecture to it all being his fault but he takes the blame anyhow.The cast and direction here are excellent. It is great that Turner Classic Movies has started running this as I have to admit this is a film I had not seen. The film is a bit long though when you consider rebuilding a wrecked plane, you have to factor that in. The movie avoids the drag of length with sold performances and a good script.
AD
