Flight of the Phoenix is further proof of Hollywood's inexorable decline from greatness.
Flight of the Phoenix (2004)
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Reviews Counted:113
Fresh:33
Rotten:80
Average Rating:4.8/10
Consensus: What this update lacks in tension, it makes up for with generic action.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some language, action and violence.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Dec 17, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $20,900,803
Synopsis: Originally a 1965 Jimmy Stewart vehicle, this FLIGHT gets a rough and ready updating for the new century, with the stalwart Dennis Quaid now inhabiting the title role. He's a pilot on a routine... Originally a 1965 Jimmy Stewart vehicle, this FLIGHT gets a rough and ready updating for the new century, with the stalwart Dennis Quaid now inhabiting the title role. He's a pilot on a routine trip out to investigate some remote oil rigs in the Gobi Desert, but things go wrong and he makes a crash landing in the middle of nowhere. For him, and the men along for the ride, a slow, tortured, thirsty death seems certain, unless the plucky mechanic in the crew (Giovanni Ribisi) can design a whole new plane from the wreckage. As with the original, this is a manly adventure of rugged survival and mechanical ingenuity, only this time there's a woman on board, Kelly (Miranda Otto) who generates some romantic sparks. Some of the other survivors are played by: Tyrese Gibson, Sticky Fingaz, Bob Brown and Kirk Jones. The men and one woman have to tangle with murderous desert raiders and numerous sandstorms in addition to the frequent squabbling amongst themselves. Director John Moore gets a lot of mileage out of the desert backdrop and Ribisi is solid as the mechanic with a troubled past. It was produced by William Aldrich, whose dad Robert directed the Stewart original. Edward Burns (THE BROTHERS McMULLEN) co-wrote the new screenplay. [More]
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Tyrese Gibson, Miranda Otto
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Tyrese Gibson, Miranda Otto, Hugh Laurie, Kirk Jones, Bob Brown, Sticky Fingaz
Director: John Moore
Director: John Moore
Screenwriter: Scott Frank, Edward Burns
Producer: William Aldrich, John Davis
Composer: Marco Beltrami
Studio: 20th Century Fox
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Reviews for Flight of the Phoenix
If the praise seems faint, it's nevertheless praise -- this Flight of the Phoenix may not soar, but it manages to get itself airborne.
All that happened in the original, but with the temperature down several thousand degrees.
It’s a serviceable adventure film that does the job in less time than the original film.
In the end, it may be that man against sand isn't as thrilling as it was back in the day.
If there's one thing you can be sure of, modern remakes of older movies always have better crashes.
That faint scraping sound you hear coming from the floor is Robert Aldrich rolling in his grave.
By film's end the adventure appears less a matter of base survival than a beach barbecue gone slightly sour.
This isn’t necessarily a contender for worst movie of the year, but good heavens--how can you make a movie about a plane crash so boring?
The wonderful character actors in the original ... are succeeded by a fairly anonymous bunch.
A movie about people sitting around the desert with nothing to do runs a high risk of being dull, but Phoenix has enough wit, energy and charisma to keep soaring.
Other than Dennis Quaid, none of these characters leaves so much as a footprint in the sand. We don't know them. We don't care about them.
It is not a very good film, but at least there is something going on here, most of the time.
a rather pedestrian remake of a 1965 Jimmy Stewart movie—a movie that in all honesty wasn’t really all that impressive to begin with
Toy planes might fly at Christmas, but "Flight of the Phoenix" got stuck halfway down the chimney. Ho, Ho, No...
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