The Flight of the Phoenix

Amazon.com

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

Description

James Stewart stars as the captain of a plane that has crashed in the desert and must be fixed on the double before all crew members die.

Customer Reviews:

Flight of the Phoenix - 1965, James Stewart version.......2007-09-05

Well...it possesses all that I wanted from a DVD.
Considering the the first "video tape" of the film cost sixty-six dollars and this DVD was a tiny fraction of that... it was a bargain. How times have changed!

James Stewart.......2007-08-16

I had never had this video but I had seen it was greatly surprized that I could order it and get the VHS promptly. This service is great.

The Flight of the Phoenix.......2007-06-27

A gripping survival film headed by a superlative cast, Aldrich's gritty "Phoenix" pits Stewart's irascible, old-school aviator against Krüger's smug, ultra-rational scientist, a tense war of wills that anchors Lukas Heller's intelligent storyline. Addressing issues of cowardice and bravery, as well as the antagonisms that divide civilization from the rule of anarchy, Aldrich gets a lot of mileage out of the scorching setting. Attenborough, Finch, Borgnine, and Dan Duryea add a colorful mix of madness and insight to the crew's efforts in fine support roles. For a manly take on desperation and its discontents, "Phoenix" is one hell of a good ride.

This one flies!.......2007-05-20

Offering the last really gritty role for Stewart before he settled into his `loveable gramps' era, 1965's The Flight of the Phoenix may run some 36 minutes longer than the disappointingly tame 2004 remake, but it feels half as long thanks to an engrossing script and a take-no-prisoners attitude from director Robert Aldrich that's a million miles away from the feelgood approach the studio took second time round. Rather than pulling together, as it becomes increasingly clear that the survivors of a plane crash in the North African desert are not going to be rescued, Aldrich sets his flawed protagonists at each others throats in a hostile environment that is driving them mad, with even his nominal hero increasingly turning his guilt at crashing off-course into anger at his passengers. The result is a compelling adventure drama with the gloves off.

Stuck in a place where even nepotism can't save you - the director's son William Aldrich and son-in-law Peter Bravos don't even make it past the credits sequence - Stewart's old-school pilot who has remembered everything and learned nothing soon finds himself at odds with Hardy Kruger's aircraft designer who comes up with the idea of building a new plane out of the parts of the old one. One making virtue out of stupidity while the other makes it a science, their clash of egos becomes far more important to each man than their possible survival. That it works is largely down to the contrast between Stewart's bitterness and Hardy Kruger's superb performance as the utterly ruthless, almost Nazi-like designer who calculates who will live and who will die and who unfortunately is all the more grating a personality for always being right. As Stewart points out, he's not concerned with getting out or saving lives, merely with proving his design will fly. And even if you already know it, the big revelation about his character in the last act is still one hell of a sucker punch.

Although the two men gradually occupy center-stage, there's an impressive supporting cast, with fine performances from Richard Attenborough's co-pilot, Peter Finch's by the book British Army officer and Christian Marquand's doctor, as well as solid turns from Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy (getting in some practice for all those Airport movies), although Dan Duryea, reunited with his old Anthony Mann Western sparring partner Stewart, gets the short end of the stick as the timid accountant who names the plane (though the two men did engage on a series of escalating practical jokes on the set). Amusingly Aldrich goes where Ken Hyman and Sidney Lumet refused in The Hill and adds a hallucination of an Arab dancing girl and a memorable love theme (Senza Fine, reused by Billy Wilder in Avanti) to help sell his testosterone-heavy tale as a love story in the trailers! A terrific movie, the only downside is that stunt pilot Paul Mantz died filming the film's finale.

Boasting a good 1.85:1 widescreen transfer, the only extra is the original trailer (as well as its Spanish and Portuguese versions).

An outstanding classic!.......2007-05-09

This film, like many others made in the 60's, has enduring appeal, and doesn't seem old-fashioned the way many 50's movies do. The ensemble cast is superb, led by James Stewart, who starts out as his usual "aw, shucks" character, but gets deeper and darker as the story unfolds. My favorite is Peter Finch as a stiff-upper-lip, proper British military officer paired with a dirtball sergeant.

Stewart is the pilot of an older plane that goes down in a storm in the Sahara. The survivors must eventually decide to just wait for help, or go along with a much more audacious plan to rebuild the plane. High drama, excellent casting, and a great story with a top-notch screenplay combine to create an action/adventure movie that far outlives its era.

Flight of the Phoenix (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Quaid - 3 stars; Stewart - 4; Book - 5
Movie is good, DVD not so much
Great extras, mediocre film
Large mediocre with cheese
Alright movie

Flight of the Phoenix (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Dennis Quaid , Tyrese Gibson , Giovanni Ribisi , Miranda Otto , and Tony Curran
Director: John Moore
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007KIFI2
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Amazon.com

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 screenplay) and much more spectacular, owing to the advantage of impressive special effects. Otherwise it's a routine dose of survivalist entertainment from the director of Behind Enemy Lines, never convincing enough to be genuinely compelling, but certainly never boring. --Jeff Shannon

Description

An action-adventure in which a group of air crash survivors - cast-offs from society who will never be missed - are stranded in the Mongolian desert with no hope of rescue. As they attempt to build a new plane from the wreckage of the old one, in hopes of flying back to civilization, they experience a rebirth of their own.

Customer Reviews:

Quaid - 3 stars; Stewart - 4; Book - 5 .......2007-08-04

While I had a great time in the theater watching the Quaid version of Flight of the Phoenix (I'm a sucker for Quaid & it was a joy to see Hugh Laurie), this movie is much more fragmented and has less character development than the Jimmy Stewart version.

Both movies, however, pale in comparison to the book by Elleston Trevor. Darker and more intense than the movies, the first sentence sets the tone: "The wind had flung the sand thirty thousand feet into the sky above the desert in a blinding cloud from the Niger to the Nile, and somewhere in it was the airplane." Even if you're reading this book in the middle of the winter or in a torrential downpour of rain, by the time you're half way through it you'll be parched and on the edge of your seat. Plan to go through several bottles of water reading it.

Originally released in 1964, the book was reissued in 2004 in mass market paperback.

Movie is good, DVD not so much.......2007-08-01

I am not going to talk much about the movie. For the most part I am betting that 90% of the people that read this review already have seen the movie and are wondering if they should add the DVD to their collection. I will just make one note to the commentary featured for the film (the rest of the DVD is what you'd expect).

The director's commentary is supposed to improve the film experience and give insight into either how the film was made or how the story was told or something interesting. The commentary on this DVD has to be some of the worst commentary ever recorded. I can't listen to the Director and his Producers ramble on and on amongst themselves as if they are in a loud, noisy bar. They aren't making any sense, there is no order or purpose to what they are saying. They can't speak in full sentences and they interrupt each other constantly. I literally had to turn off the commentary in order to enjoy the movie. Once it was off, it was an awesome movie.

I wish I had turned it back on during my favorite scene in the movie that takes place at dawn when they encounter the roving band of smugglers or whatever. The background music is perfect (Angel by Massive Attack) and the lighting is perfect. But the commentary was so bad 40 minutes into the film that I could not take it any longer. So just beware about that. Still a great transfer to DVD and if you spent money on a home theater system... this movie will sound great.

Great extras, mediocre film.......2007-06-17

Sadly, Flight of the Phoenix is just another duff remake. Despite massive advances in special effects and a moderately exciting last two minutes, this feels even longer than Robert Aldrich's much longer original, and the reason is pretty elementary: lack of characterisation and drama. Where Aldrich typically set his flawed protagonists at each others throats in a hostile environment that was driving them mad and dealt with the way the pilot who crashes off-course in the desert turns his guilt into anger at his passengers, this is mostly feel-good stuff, full of life lessons, spiritual slogans and far too much high fiving for any self respecting survival drama - at one point they even get down and boogie. A modicum of drama is thrown in at the last minute in the wake of the key revelation about the new plane's designer, but it's so little and so late that it totters on the edge of laughable. As a result, some good actors and Giovanni Ribisi (horribly overacting the old Hardy Kruger part minus the Nazi undertones) are stranded by committee filmmaking rather than the elements and poor piloting.

Strangely, for such a bland film, the making of documentary is surprisingly gloves off, showing director John Moore in full effing and blinding mode as he throws several fits (and he's not the only one). At least one of the extended scenes (involving a biplane) was good enough to be in the feature, and the commentary throws up the odd interesting fact amid the mutual back slapping. The result is a modest extras package that easily outshines the film.

Large mediocre with cheese.......2007-04-01

Usually, movies with actors as good as those in Flight of the Phoenix guarantee that the movie will be good. Not so here. The movie is basically sound but it fails to provide real suspense. F-bombs and s-words are dropped like loose change, and there is slight innuendo. The ONLY bright spot is the acting, which cannot be faulted.

Alright movie.......2007-01-03

I got it cause it had Hugh Laurie in it.. watched it like 2 x's and then sold it on Ebay...

Average customer rating:

Quaid - 3 stars; Stewart - 4; Book - 5
Movie is good, DVD not so much
Great extras, mediocre film
Large mediocre with cheese
Alright movie

Flight of the Phoenix [Blu-ray]
Starring: Dennis Quaid
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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ASIN: B000JSI7AS
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

Quaid - 3 stars; Stewart - 4; Book - 5 .......2007-08-04

Movie is good, DVD not so much.......2007-08-01

Great extras, mediocre film.......2007-06-17

Large mediocre with cheese.......2007-04-01

Alright movie.......2007-01-03

I got it cause it had Hugh Laurie in it.. watched it like 2 x's and then sold it on Ebay...

Flight of the Phoenix (Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Quaid - 3 stars; Stewart - 4; Book - 5
Movie is good, DVD not so much
Great extras, mediocre film
Large mediocre with cheese
Alright movie

Flight of the Phoenix (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Dennis Quaid , Tyrese Gibson , Giovanni Ribisi , Miranda Otto , and Tony Curran
Director: John Moore
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Disaster Films | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0007KIFIC
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

Quaid - 3 stars; Stewart - 4; Book - 5 .......2007-08-04

Movie is good, DVD not so much.......2007-08-01

Great extras, mediocre film.......2007-06-17

Large mediocre with cheese.......2007-04-01

Alright movie.......2007-01-03

I got it cause it had Hugh Laurie in it.. watched it like 2 x's and then sold it on Ebay...

Flight of the Phoenix/Behind Enemy Lines

Average customer rating:

Collection of Mixed Action

Flight of the Phoenix/Behind Enemy Lines
Starring: Owen Wilson , Gene Hackman , Gabriel Macht , Charles Malik Whitfield , and David Keith
Director: John Moore
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000BCE986
Release Date: 2005-12-13

Description

Flight of the Phoenix - An action-adventure in which a group of air crash survivors - cast-offs from society who will never be missed - are stranded in the Mongolian desert with no hope of rescue. As they attempt to build a new plane from the wreckage of the old one, in hopes of flying back to civilization, they experience a rebirth of their own. Behind Enemy Lines -Fighter navigator Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) wants out of the Navy: he was looking for something more than boring recon missions he's been flying. He finds himself the lone Christmas day mission over war-torn Bosnia.

Customer Reviews:

Collection of Mixed Action.......2006-01-08

This collection of movies combines one I thought was unnecessary with one that has good, though unbelievable, action. Unless you know you will like both movies or you find the combined price to be unavoidably attractive, I would buy only what you actually want to have in your collection.

The first movie, "Flight of the Phoenix," is a mediocre remake of the James Stewart classic. If you rate this movie as an adventure film, it is purely run-of-the-mill. The characters are, as these movies go, shallow with motivations that are paper thin. The characters behave with the usual stupidity of such characters. For example, when you are in the desert, why would you go running up to a group of men (there appeared to be no women) dressed in dark clothing? The lack of women and the isolation of the men should have been clues to the survivors of a plane crash that they should observe the men for a while before running up to them.

This movie is a nearly identical copy of the original, with a few minor exceptions. A group of men are on their way to a desert outpost when their plane crashes. The men, oops, one of the minor differences with the original is that this movie includes a woman on the flight, decide that they can rebuild the plane and escape the desert. Another difference in this movie from the original is the addition of a group of sinister nomads with guns. The movie never explains the sinister nomads, and why the sinister nomads would go chasing after a plane as it begins to take off (the plane is leaving, the men are mobile and on horseback; once the plane is gone there is virtually no threat to the sinister men without motive).

Two areas of excellence for this movie are the action and the special effects. However, both are required to make up for the lack of believable plot. As long as the audience is not thinking about the movie they will have insufficient time to analyze what is happening and the implausibility of some of the activity.

In the original 1965 version of the movie the focus of the movie was the battle of the men against the desert and against themselves, ultimately triumphing over the desert and learning to work as a team. This movie still has the desert, but the skillful development of characters is thrown out the window in favor of special visual effects and pointless action. If you prefer video games to plot, then you might like this movie. If you want to see a movie with intelligence and character development, watch the original.

The second movie is "Behind Enemy Lines." This movie is also somewhat unbelievable, but it was sufficiently original and full of action that I enjoyed it.

I was concerned that either the continued backlash from Viet Nam or an over-the-top unbelievable plot would be important influences in this movie. I was pleased that the movie combined a bit of political intrigue with generally realistic military action to yield a very enjoyable movie. There are a few moments where the movie is unbelievable, but those moments are few enough to get you to the end.

Lt. Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) and his friend and partner Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht) are flying a routine mission over Bosnia. They fly into territory into which they are not permitted. During their flight they see something on the ground that causes them to take a closer look. Using their new digital image recording system they take high-speed pictures of an area that incriminates Serbians in aggression towards Bosnians. The Serbians shoot down the F-18 with SAMs, later blaming the incident on rebel Bosnians.

Once the plane is shot down, Serbian forces find the two vulnerable pilots. The Serbians quickly execute Stackhouse, causing Burnett to yell in anguish and anger, which of course was a serious mistake because Stackhouse's executioner hears Burnett, and the chase is on.

This movie is all about the chase. Burnett runs for his life, trying to reach an extraction point. The Serbian executioner that murdered Stackhouse chases Burnett almost to the end of the film. A number of the chase elements were very creative, though incredible in their coincidence. One example is when Burnett has a large group of Serbians on his heels. Personnel from Burnett's aircraft carrier, the Carl Vinson, are watching the chase. When Burnett trips and falls according to the infrared image, the anxious crew of the Carl Vinson are sure he is dead, yet the chasing Serbians miraculously do not find him. You'll have to watch the movie to see why.

Burnett continually tries to make his way to the rendezvous point for extraction, and is continuously stymied. Eventually the Serbians convince NATO that rebels have killed Burnett and the Carl Vinson prepares to head for home. But, as we all know, Burnett is still trying to get out. I'll not spoil the ending, which is the one portion of the movie that is really over-the-top, more reminiscent of James Bond than the military.

While the movie contains flaws in how the action is portrayed, for entertainment and patriotism it is a good bet, particularly if you enjoy military action movies.

Average customer rating:

Flight of the Phoenix - 1965, James Stewart version
James Stewart
The Flight of the Phoenix
This one flies!
An outstanding classic!

The Flight of the Phoenix [Region 2]
Starring: James Stewart , Richard Attenborough , Peter Finch , Hardy Krüger , and Ernest Borgnine
Director: Robert Aldrich
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001NIZ2G

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Flight of the Phoenix - 1965, James Stewart version.......2007-09-05

James Stewart.......2007-08-16

I had never had this video but I had seen it was greatly surprized that I could order it and get the VHS promptly. This service is great.

The Flight of the Phoenix.......2007-06-27

This one flies!.......2007-05-20

An outstanding classic!.......2007-05-09

Average customer rating:

Flight of the Phoenix/Cast Away
Starring: Paul Sanchez (II) , Lari White , Leonid Citer , David Allen Brooks , and Jelena Papovic
Director: Robert Zemeckis , and John Moore
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0009IW9T8
Release Date: 2005-06-28

Flight of the Phoenix 2 Hit DVDs 1 Low Price

Average customer rating:

Flight of the Phoenix 2 Hit DVDs 1 Low Price

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
Product Features:

Widescreen

ASIN: B000MFH27W

Product Description

Original version starring James Stewart and Richard Atenborough New version starring Dennis Quaid and Tyrese Gibson

The Day After Tomorrow/Flight of the Phoenix

Average customer rating:

The Day After Tomorrow/Flight of the Phoenix
Starring: Dennis Quaid , Jake Gyllenhaal , Emmy Rossum , Dash Mihok , and Jay O. Sanders
Director: Roland Emmerich , and John Moore
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000BCE8XW
Release Date: 2005-12-13

Description

Day After Tomorrow - When global warming triggers the onset of a new Ice Age, tornadoes flatten Los Angeles, a tidal wave engulfs New York City and the entire Northern Hemisphere begins to freeze solid. Now, climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), his son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) and a small band of survivors must ride out the growing superstorm and stay alive in the face of an enemy more powerful and relentless than any they've ever encountered: Mother Nature! Flight of the Phoenix - An action-adventure in which a group of air crash survivors - cast-offs from society who will never be missed - are stranded in the Mongolian desert with no hope of rescue. As they attempt to build a new plane from the wreckage of the old one, in hopes of flying back to civilization, they experience a rebirth of their own

DVD:

DVD

DVD