Flight of the Phoenix (* *)

We saw Flight of the Phoenix last night. This is a hard review to write because the movie was not what I expected and I had a hard time paying attention. In fact it was a little weird. I am giving the movie 2 stars because it wasn't too bad and I was entertained. I was tempted to give it 3, but there were just too many plot holes and weird scenes. This movie is a remake of a 1965 film under the same title.

As usual, if you haven't seen this movie, I am about to spoil it for you. Read on with caution.

The movie is about two airplane pilots who are sent out to the Mongolian desert to pick up a oil rig crew. The oil rig has not been producing for the company and is being shut down. After the crew is picked up and as they are flying to their next destination they are caught up in a severe desert sand storm. The plane eventually crash lands and the crew has to find a way to survive and escape the desert. After finding out one of the passengers, Elliott, has some knowledge about constructing planes they attempt to build a new plane from the wreckage. While trying to survive they ration the small supply of water they have and also get in some fights with smugglers that live and travel in the desert. Just before the plane is finished the crew finds out that Elliott isn't actually an engineer but a designer for a model plane company. There is a lack of confidence in his expertise in designing the plane, but after a large confrontation they decide to go on and finish the plane. It seems to be the only chance they have of survival. Once the plane is built they fly out of the desert narrowly escaping an attack by the smugglers.

In general the movie was pretty good, there was quite a bit of action and a few plot twists. By far the best part of the movie happens right at the beginning when the plane crashes into the desert. I thought that the crash sequence was really well done and exciting, I was at the edge of my seat. I didn't see it on the big screen, but the special effects looked pretty good and the visuals of the storm were really cool. From that point on, however the film does move a little bit slow. There were some issues I had with some events in the film, first of all the plane gets completely buried in sand at least twice in the film and there is not one scene of them digging it out. Obviously they did dig the plane out of the sand, but It was weird that one second all you could see was the plane barely sticking out of the sand and all of a sudden it is miraculously sand free. There is also one part where one of the crew takes off into the desert and it is assumed that he is going to brave the treacherous desert to go and get help. They argue about who is going to go get him and bring him back, eventually Dennis Quaid's character, Frank Towns goes to retrieve him. As I was watching it I was just thinking, "let him go", he left and why should anyone risk their lives and their precious water to bring him back. He might even make it and save them all, who knows. Then there is the fact that Elliott played by Giovanni Ribisi is a really creepy character. I understand that it was important he was singled out because he is the center of the plot twist, I just didn't see any reason he had to talk and act creepy. That was lame. Here is another problem with the movie, they crashed way off course and so the odds of anyone finding them is slim. Obviously they can only survive so long in the desert before they will run out of water and die. They argue over and over about whether to build the plane or just wait for someone to find them. Early on though there is just little hope anyone is going to find them, so either they sit there and die or build the plane, I don't see much of an argument there. Most people would do all they could do to survive. It just didn't seem like much of an issue to me and there was a lot of time spent on deciding if they were going to do it or not.

Despite the weirdness of the movie there was some good acting, Dennis Quiad is someone I have liked for a long time and it was nice to see him playing this part. I also liked Miranda Otto as the only woman in the entire film, she impressed me in the Lord of the Rings films and was not a disappointment here either. As with Giovanni Ribisi, despite the fact that his character was unnecessarily creepy, he did a good job. I have always liked him as an actor and he played the part well.

The Bottom Line... Flight of the Phoenix isn't bad, it is pretty fun to watch and it will entertain you. The crash sequence is the best part of the movie and the acting is good. But there is a lot of plot holes and weird scenes, too many for me to like it. The movie moves a little bit slow and the characters make some odd choices. It's rated PG-13 and has very little foul language, a little bit of violence, and there is a couple of disturbing death scenes. Overall it's not a bad movie to just sit back, relax and watch.