Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

classicalsteve As remakes go, "Flight of the Phoenix" (aka "The Flight of the Phoenix") is not bad but unfortunately pails in comparison to the original film of 1965. While most of the important elements from the earlier classic are present in this "updated" offering, the script and acting had major problems. Certainly Dennis Quaid makes a decent Towns, but what made the original character as played by Jimmie Stewart fascinating was his lack of leadership and decisiveness, a bit like the aviator equivalent of the captain of the Titanic. In the original, Stewart is an excellent pilot but indecisive when it comes to leadership. Quaid exhibits some of that in this version, at first rather indifferent to the reality of the plight and reluctant to be a leader.For those who have seen neither film, the relatively simple plot is about an air-wreck in the desert, this time in China rather than the Sarah in the original. The survivors of the crash resolve to build a smaller plane from the wreckage to save themselves from the unforgiving desert. In this film, aboard the plane is a young man name of Elliot who has aviation designing experience. Through his knowledge, he designs and the men create a working plane from the one working engine of the wrecked plane.One of the most glaring problems of the this new offering are the characters and their lines. In the film of 1965, we learn about the little eccentricities and shortcomings of the many character-survivors. In the new film, I had trouble getting a handle on the characters. They seemed more caricatures than characters. In the original, there are several members of the British army, one a by-the-book captain and the other a self-interested Sergeant. In the present film, they are all 21st-century "guys" but little about them was very distinguishable, even the one female character (not present in the original) seemed a bit too predictable.The weakest character in terms of both script and acting was Elliot played by Giovanni Ribisi, the equivalent of Heinrich Dorfman, a German aviation engineer-designer. Elliot's script had many problems, at first acting shy and irresolute while at other times exploding unnecessarily. While Elliot's character could have worked with a better script, and you can't blame actor Giovanni Ribisi for all the problems, it's hard to beat the absolutely stellar performance by Hardy Krüger in the earlier film. In one of the most crucial scenes of the story, when it's revealed the true experience of the designer-engineer in terms of aviation, the present film played out like a scene from a soap opera. In the original, the scene gradually evolves. Also in the original, the scenes were in two parts whereas in the new version, the scene is one long drawn-out confrontation.The main saving grace of the present offering is the visuals which are certainly stronger than the original. The wreckage and the subsequent plane built by the survivors is a bit clearer. However, the visuals can't quite make up for the poor script and mediocre directing. The director was certainly excellent in terms of the visuals, but not great in terms of making his characters shine. Again, a decent viewing but probably a one-watch at best.

jb_campo It's always a risk with a remake of a successful film, but Phoenix succeeds with flying colors. Quaid as the Captain delivers just the right mix of toughness, compassion, and comedy, when needed. The cast of characters was well thought out, with a nice mix of thinkers, doers, and listeners. They even cast a woman in a lead role, which I think worked well. The plot takes you aboard this plane that has mechanical issues and crashes in the desert. OK, now what do we do, they ask. the question is interestingly played back and forth, with some results, until the inevitable hopelessness compels them to try the one impossible task to rebuild the plane. While the ending is somewhat predictable, the movie is quick moving, finely acted, has a good pace, with breathtaking cinematography. This kind of movie always inspires the question - what would you do if this were you? If you enjoy survival type movies against all odds, rent this movie. You will really like it. Enjoy.

bowmanblue Then again, I've never seen the original, so there's always going to be people out there who claim that the Dennis Quaid version doesn't compare. Maybe they're right, but, seeing as I never saw it, I can only say that this modern version is a pretty fun action/adventure romp.It's about a plane that crashes in the desert and there's no discernible help coming for them. Therefore they're left with the choices of just sitting there awaiting death, or rebuilding their stricken aircraft from scratch and flying out of there. Guess what… they choose the latter.However, it's not an easy task. Along with the natural lack of food and water, they have to contend with the elements, not to mention a tribe of gun-crazy nomads waiting to pick them off.There's a cast of about ten (including Dennis Quaid and Miranda Otto), so don't expect every one of them to be really fully-fleshed. A fair percentage are only there to find themselves lost in the desert or on the wrong end of a nomad's bullet. But, this isn't about character. Basically, the crew of 'stereotypes' are only there to fill a purpose, but so what – it's still fun! It's slightly longer than your average film (about an hour and forty minutes), but it never seems to drag. They crash pretty quickly and one disaster after the next moves the story along at a good pace.Okay, so when the history books are written about great action/adventure films, the remake of 'Flight of the Phoenix' will probably never be mentioned. However, that doesn't mean it's not a fun little ride if you're in the mood. Give it a go. If you find it on telly, or streaming for free on an online site its value is even greater.

drystyx Like the original, this is about plane crash survivors rebuilding their plane in the desert for a desperate escape plan.Like the original, the pilot has a conflict with the slide rule man who designs planes.Unlike the original, it is horribly written, horribly directed, and horribly acted.Three strikes, you're out.There just isn't anything going for this movie.First, it is horribly directed. We don't understand what is going on. The sound is so horrible, we can't understand what half the characters are saying, and surprisingly some of the minor character actors can enunciate, although few of the leads can.We are supposed to automatically know who everyone is, and what they're doing. This wouldn't be so bad, except the director indicates during the movie that we do know. Few things are more pathetic than having to explain your plot by having cronies in an audience do it for you. For example, the pilot walks after one man to bring him back (which was kind of silly in the original version, but at least explained by the fact that the first man had no water), and finds a dead man in a site visited by nomads, who is dead, and the man who walked off says he won a radio from him in a card game. No, it doesn't make any sense, you're right.Second, it is horribly acted. Quaid can't be blamed for lacking charisma, but he can be blamed for not being able to act. His cockpit lines sound like lines being read off a script. Very pathetic. In fact, all of the actors are very pathetic.But it isn't all their fault, because the third fault is horrible writing. These are all one dimensional stereotype characters we could care less about, and we even have the bigger cliché of the ones we care the least about being the survivors.I don't pan movies for being remakes, and try to be forgiving, but a remake should at least be as good as the original or offer something more. POSEIDON wasn't great, but it took some risks and tried a fresh approach. DESYAT NEGRITYAT was undeniably the greatest version of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, after at least 4 American movies of that title bombed out.However, too many remakes are simply pathetic. This is one of them.