Flight Of The Phoenix | ||||
John Moore Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Giovanni Ribisi, Miranda Otto, Tony Curran, Kirk Jones, Jacob Vargas, Hugh Laurie 2004 |
They've remade the 1965 movie "The Flight of the Phoenix," which was an adventure vehicle based on Elleston Trevor's novel and starring that noble giant of the big screen Jimmy Stewart. In the original, hard-ass pilot Frank Towns (Stewart) crashes a plane carrying oil workers and military personnel in the Sahara during a sandstorm. Its mix of action and psychological drama is well regarded despite the improbable task undertaken by the story's crash survivors: rebuilding the plane from the wreckage in order to fly to safety. With gruff Dennis Quaid as Towns, the update relocates the crash site to the Gobi Desert, relies on occasionally transparent computer effects (a bogus digital sandstorm), and almost goes down in flames. There are continuity glitches, inexplicable behavior and unbelievable feats that erode suspension of disbelief. On the other hand, it's refreshing to watch the interaction of the remake's jumble of performers, who seem as randomly thrown together as the passengers on the film's ill-fated flight: Fly hip-hop artist/actor Tyrese Gibson ("Baby Boy") is Towns' co-pilot; earthy Aussie actress Miranda Otto ("The Lord of the Rings") is an oil-rig foreperson; British comedy stalwart Hugh Laurie (TV's "House") is an energy-company bean-counter; and quirky Giovanni Ribisi ("Cold Mountain") is a weirdo backpacker who amazingly possesses knowledge that could bring about everyone's salvation. | |||
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