Flight of the Phoenix (2004)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

John Moore

Writers (WGA):

Lukas Heller (1965 screenplay)
Scott Frank (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The only way out is up

Plot:

Survivors of a plane crash in the Mongolian desert work together to build a new plane.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Stranded | Remake | Airplane Accident | Sandstorm

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Frank Towns
Tyrese Gibson	...	A.J.
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Elliott
Miranda Otto	...	Kelly Johnson
Tony Curran	...	Alex Rodney
Sticky Fingaz	...	Jeremy (as Kirk Jones)
Jacob Vargas	...	Sammi
Hugh Laurie	...	Ian
Scott Michael Campbell	...	James Liddle
Kevork Malikyan	...	Rady
Jared Padalecki	...	John Davis
Paul Ditchfield	...	Dr. Gerber
Martin Hindy	...	Newman (as Martin 'Mako' Hindy)
Bob Brown	...	Kyle
Anthony Wong	...	Lead Smuggler

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some language, action and violence.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | UK:12A (original rating) | Canada:14A (DVD rating) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41095) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Norway:11 | Iceland:14 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Germany:12 | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M (DVD rating) | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Greece:K-13 | Peru:14 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Africa

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Miranda Otto's character was not in the original version of the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the crash, the crew poke a hole in the top of the plane to let in some air because the plane is totally covered by sand. Yet during the burial in the next scene the plane is mostly uncovered.

Quotes:

Davis: [while urinating, laughs] Maybe I should save this.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Getaway: (#17.5)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Night Train

The Flight of the Repeat

Comparing this new version to the original would be comparing a farm horse to a thoroughbred from the Kentucky Derby. This version has new actors filling the shoes of established characters, and yet none have the quality to hold the story on course, causing it to crash like their airplane. The original had James Stewart and Richard Attenborough, both with performances worthy of academy awards and established the foundations of a true classic. In addition, the rest of the cast stood of themselves and even Ronald Fraser gave a most stirring performance as Sgt. Watson. Superior veteran actors like Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea and George Kennedy, all gave the original solid star power and allowed the Phonix to rise from the screen into the memory of it's viewers. This new version has Dennis Quaid as Frank Townes, sympathetic enough, but far less convincing of his character. All in all, the new version falls, like most remakes, well short of the original. Sorry, but this film should have been left in the desert with the remains of the fallen airplane. **