Mike Cloud
TV regularly questioned the ethics of building bigger and more deadly weapons during the 50s and 60s. The Twlight Zone seemed to tackle this subject best. This movie could have benefited greatly from a rewrite from Rod Serling.Though released in 1961, the film has more of a mid-50s feel to it. The acting is B level but adequate. The message has a "preacher" feel to it but makes it's point. At first the movie looked like the entire story was a dream of one passenger but events following the plane landing proved that it actually happened.Growing up in the 50s and 60s, we all lived with possibility of nuclear destruction. The US and USSR were in a contest to build and test larger and larger bombs. The year after the release of this film, the Cuban Missle Crisis brought us unbelievably close to nuclear war. Some forward writers tried to warn us of the dangers. The Flight That Disappeared isn't the best of this genre but it's far from the worst.
nightwing60
This movie is more of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits Episode than a Full Length. But Overall its a Good/Decent Movie for a movie on a Low Budget 60's Movie. What gets me is other reviews who the movie is Extreme when it comes to Morals. Really? I would hope if a weapon that is easily assessable that could destroy the whole world. That maybe, Just Maybe Morals and Ethics would be talked about. Otherwise the nihilist should just resurrect Hitler and get It over with. Sci-Fi has always been used to talk about situation humanity might find themselves in and how they should handle those situations. That is why Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and Star Trek are great shows and why The Day the Earth Stood Still and Jurassic Park are great movie. Was this kind of plot used all the time in the 50 and 60. Yeah but it was also because we just drop to Nuclear Bombs in Japan. And if anyone Notice. But that was damn horrible. Maybe the reason they used these kind of plot. Was Because they were honestly worried about the future. Anyways don't listen to the Naysayers. For a Low Budget Movie is one of the better movies with the "Will Humanity Survive" of plots
Michael_Elliott
The Flight That Disappeared (1961) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Low-budget but very interesting fantasy/drama about a plane that keeps going higher and higher into the sky but no one on the ground or on-board understands why. I could tell a little more about the plot but that would take away from one's entertainment. This certainly isn't a perfect movie or even a good one but it's got an interesting idea that makes for an entertaining movie. There's no doubt that this isn't going to win any awards but I think fans of the bizarre should have a good time. This thing really plays out like an episode of The Twilight Zone but instead of going into a different galaxy, the plane here just keeps going further up in the sky. I'm not going to spoil why all of this happening but I will say that the final twenty-minutes are the weakest of the film. Considering the small budget, the majority of the running time deals with the variety of passengers and we spend most of the time listening to them talk. We hear about their personal lives, the business their in and of course issues dealing with the atomic bomb, which was a hot subject during this period. The movie's screenplay really does a pretty good job at building up the fantasy elements because you're never fully understanding what's going on or how the plane is going higher. Sure, if you start to think about logics then you can rip the film apart so it's really best that you turn your brain off, sit back and just enjoy. None of the actor's are going to be familiar faces but I thought each of them did fine with their roles. There's certainly nothing too demanding here but the actors fit their parts nicely and manages to make you believe what's going on with their characters. THE FLIGHT THAT DISAPPEARED probably could have benefited from another rewrite and again I think the final twenty-minutes are rather weak. Still, considering what they had to deal with you can't help but feel that the filmmakers did a pretty good job and delivered an entertaining film.
gavin6942
A cross-country airliner, whose passengers include a nuclear physicist, a rocket expert, and a mathematical genius, is drawn beyond radar range by an unknown, unbreakable force.Others have compared this film to "The Twilight Zone", and rightly so. I am almost surprised no one from the show was involved in this film, because the plot and political point of view is exactly the same. The only difference is that this is much longer (and maybe not necessarily so -- I can see this story being told in 25 minutes).If the film has any real flaw, it is that the morality is a bit over the top and extreme. The message is a good one, and one that hardly anyone could disagree with. But it comes off almost preachy and condescending because there is not one ounce of subtlety in it at all. (I am being vague here so as not to spoil anything, though the plot is about as obvious as possible.)
AD
