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DVD The Flight of the Phoenix
Robert Aldrich's tense, 1965 drama about a plane crash in the Sahara is a unique psychological study of men in desperate circumstances. In this somewhat revisionist view of classic heroism, every character within the mixed lot is stretched to his limit, and individual efforts to brave the elements and hostile nomads are duly punished. What is left is collective will and ingenuity. One could call this an allegory for transcending Cold War madness, perhaps, but Aldrich (Kiss Me Deadly) makes this such a gritty, immediate experience that you can feel the desert sand in your teeth. Superb performances by James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Hardy Krüger, Peter Finch, and the rest. --Tom Keogh
A passenger plane is on its way to Benghazi. Jimmy Stewart is "Frank Towns", the pilot. A sandstorm is ahead, but Stewart is taking it easy. When his co-pilot (Richard Attenborough) realizes the good alternatives have passed them and the sandstorm is bigger than thought, Stewart decides to go to a higher altitude to see just how big this sandstorm really is. He is too much into the sandstorm. An engine goes. There is no choice, but to land this plane. It lands, but breaks in two atop a sand dune. Some passengers have died. The rest of the survivors with Jimmy Stewart must find a way to survive in the middle of nowhere or will they go crazy?
Also in the cast: George Montgomery, Ernest Borgnine, Peter Finch, Dan Duryea, Hardy Kruger, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Gabrielle Tinti, Alex Montoya, Peter Bravos, William Aldrich and Barrie Chase.
Flyer, Paul Mantz gave his life for this film.
Remade in 2004 with Dennis Quaid, Flight Of The Phoenix (2004).
Runs 2 hours, 21 min.
Classic survivor movie with great ensemble cast
The Flight of the Phoenix is a classic movie based on the novel of the same name by Elleston Trevor. Captain Frank Towns and his navigator Lew Moran are flying home a plane-full of oil riggers after their rig was shut down. During a huge sandstorm, the plane crashes in the middle of the Libyan desert. The survivors of the crash decide to sit tight and wait for their rescue until one of the passengers, a young aircraft designer, points out that they can build a new plane out of the wreckage and fly to safety. The survivors must band together to finish the plane as they battle the elements, lack of water, and eventually even each other. This is a great movie where everything comes together perfectly. Director Robert Aldrich tells a great story with characters the viewer really comes to know by the end of the movie. Overall, a great character study with plenty of tension and drama.
James Stewart gives an excellent performance as Captain Frank Towns, the doubting pilot who must try and fly a plane that he doesn't think will fly. Richard Attenborough stars as Lew Moran, Towns' navigator and friend with a troubled past. Peter Finch plays Captain Harris, the stiff-lipped British officer who plans to walk to safety. Hardy Kruger is perfect as Heinrich Dorfmann, the young aircraft designer who becomes obsessed with completing his plane. The excellent supporting cast includes Ernest Borgnine as Trucker Cobb, the "crazy" one, Ian Bannen as the sarcastic "Ratbags" Crow, Ronald Fraser as the cowardly Sgt. Watson, Christian Marquand as the noble Dr. Renaud, Dan Duryea as Standish, and George Kennedy as Bellamy. The DVD offers a cleaned up widescreen presentation and a theatrical trailer in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. For a classic, well-told story with a great cast, check out The Flight of the Phoenix!
A fine adventure film from the 60's.
"Flight of The Phoenix" is a terrific, old-fashioned action-adventure film, with an all-male (but for a mirage) cast led by James Stewart.
He plays a weathered pilot who crash lands a rickety plane, filled with the standard mixed-bag cast of characters, into the center of a vast Arabic desert.
As plots go, the plane happens to be filled with a killer set of tools AND an aerospace engineer.
These guys have to build a plane out of the wreckage, and fly out of the desert.
The cast is filled with great faces: Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Hardy Kruger, Ian Bannen, George Kennedy, Dan Duryea...
...and the opening has a nice bit of "24"-ish sudden death surprises.
The direction is brisk, with the occasional artistic indulgence; the screenplay is a bit weak...there's lots of plain, old, cringe-worthy lines, saved by the cast's formidable talent.
The transfer is probably as good as it's ever gonna get...the few flashes of color (like reds...) mixed in with the dreary desert palette pop off the screen.
No extras to speak of.
It's a great way to spend an afternoon, especially if, as I did, you have fond memories of this film from watching it on TV as a child.
As superfluous remakes go, Flight of the Phoenix could've been better, and could've been worse. It's a passable popcorn adventure, especially for those unfamiliar with the 1965 original, which starred James Stewart, made headlines for the crash-landing death of stunt-pilot Paul Mantz, and now stands as a minor classic of its era. This flashy remake stars Dennis Quaid in Stewart's role, adds a woman to the list of plane-crash survivors, and showcases Giovanni Ribisi, who gives a cleverly eccentric performance as the model-airplane designer who proposes to rebuild a crashed cargo plane into a single-engine escape from certain death in the remote Gobi desert. Both films are essentially identical, but this remake is somehow less believable (due to shortcuts in a haphazardly written... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Dennis Quaid - Giovanni Ribisi - Miranda Otto Director(s): John Moore DVD Release Date: Released the 01 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In The Enemy Below Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens are respectively captains of a U.S. destroyer and a German U-boat whose vessels come into conflict in the South Atlantic. Both are good men with a job to do, the script noting Jurgens' distaste for Hitler and the Nazis and engaging our sympathy with the German sailors almost as much as the Americans. Made at the height of the cold war of the 1950s, the film delivers a liberal message of co-operation wrapped inside some spectacular action scenes and a story which builds to a tense and exciting, moving finale. --Gary S. DalkinMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Robert Mitchum - Curd Jürgens Director(s): Dick Powell DVD Release Date: Released the 25 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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John Wayne personally produced many of his '50s films, which is why some of them have languished in corporate limbo following his death. The High and the Mighty was one of his most popular vehicles (no pun intended). This long, necessarily sedentary drama aboard an endangered airliner is a CinemaScope bridge between 1932's Grand Hotel and 1970s disaster movies. Despite Wayne's iconic presence as a pilot--now copilot--who survived the plane crash that wiped out his family, it's an ensemble movie with an impressive cast: Robert Stack sharing the cockpit, Oscar® nominees Claire Trevor and Jan Sterling, Laraine Day, Robert Newton, Paul Kelly, John Qualen, Regis Toomey, the ubiquitous Paul Fix, and director William A. Wellman's good-luck character actor Douglas Fowley.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Claire Trevor - Laraine Day Director(s): William A. Wellman DVD Release Date: Released the 02 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The Blue Max is highly unusual among Hollywood films, not just for being a large-scale drama set during the generally overlooked World War I, but in concentrating on air combat as seen entirely from the German point of view. The story focuses on a lower-class officer, Bruno Stachel (George Peppard), and his obsessive quest to win a Blue Max, a medal awarded for shooting down 20 enemy aircraft. Around this are subplots concerning a propaganda campaign by James Mason's pragmatic general, rivalry with a fellow officer (Jeremy Kemp), and a love affair with a decadent countess (Ursula Andress).
As directed by John Guillermin (who later made The Battle of Britain in 1969), the film's main assets are epic production values, great flying scenes, and stunning dogfights.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): George Peppard - James Mason - Ursula Andress Director(s): John Guillermin DVD Release Date: Released the 20 May 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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From Hollywood's legendary Cocoanut Grove to the pioneering conquest of the wild blue yonder, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator celebrates old-school filmmaking at its finest. We say "old school" only because Scorsese's love of golden-age Hollywood is evident in his approach to his subject--Howard Hughes in his prime (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his)--and especially in his technical mastery of the medium reflecting his love for classical filmmaking of the studio era. Even when he's using state-of-the-art digital trickery for the film's exciting flight scenes (including one of the most spectacular crashes ever filmed), Scorsese's meticulous attention to art direction... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Leonardo DiCaprio - Cate Blanchett - Kate Beckinsale Director(s): Martin Scorsese DVD Release Date: Released the 24 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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From Hollywood's legendary Cocoanut Grove to the pioneering conquest of the wild blue yonder, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator celebrates old-school filmmaking at its finest. We say "old school" only because Scorsese's love of golden-age Hollywood is evident in his approach to his subject--Howard Hughes in his prime (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his)--and especially in his technical mastery of the medium reflecting his love for classical filmmaking of the studio era. Even when he's using state-of-the-art digital trickery for the film's exciting flight scenes (including one of the most spectacular crashes ever filmed), Scorsese's meticulous attention to art direction...