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Flight of the Phoenix

Prathibha Joy

A sad attempt at recreating an adventure classic. That sums up John Moore’s remake of the 1965 film Flight of the Phoenix.

English (Rex, PVR Cinemas)

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Miranda Otto

Director: John Moore

A sad attempt at recreating an adventure classic. That sums up John Moore’s remake of the 1965 film Flight of the Phoenix. The new version that borrows not only the premise but the title as well, is the story of a group of people who when their aircraft crash-lands in Gobi desert, build a smaller aircraft from the wreckage.

An oil firm decides to shut down its rig in the middle of a desert and sends out a pickup flight to get the motley crew and their equipment. Some jinx talk before the takeoff and we know where the plane is headed. The return flight runs into a violent sandstorm, loses radio equipment and crashes. The survivors are left with pilot Frank Towns (Quaid) who advises them to do nothing until a search party finds them.

As days pass by, a few lives are lost and hopes of a rescue mission fade, the loner of the group, a self-proclaimed aircraft designer Elliot (Giovanni Ribisi), announces that a new plane can be made from the wreckage of the old, and they can fly themselves to safety. Towns vetoes the idea. With the prospect of being ambushed by a group of gun wielding nomads looming large, they finally get down to work. Just as the aircraft nears completion, they get a rude shock when they realise that Elliot was the chief designer of a toy aircraft firm and had no experience in building the real thing.

Based on the novel by Elleston Trevor, Flight of the Phoenix uses special effects to create scenes like sensational sandstorms, a detailed crash sequence and a convincing takeoff. But, strangely, the whole exercise lacks real sense of urgency even when faced with a largely hopeless situation.

Dennis Quaid as the swaggering, cynical captain Frank Towns looks good but doesn't have the charisma to pull this one off. Miranda Otto fills in as the female element and gets a nice non-sexual woman’s role.

Though the filmmaker has tried to create a taut, stirring adventure, this Phoenix does not rise to the occasion and leaves you unsatisfied.