Flight of the Phoenix (Widescreen Edition)

Starring:Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Giovanni Ribisi, Miranda Otto, Tony Curran, Sticky Fingaz, Jacob Vargas, Hugh Laurie, Scott Michael Campbell, Kevork Malikyan, Jared Padalecki, Paul Ditchfield, Martin Hindy, Bob Brown (II), Anthony Wong, Yi-ding Wang, Kee-yick Cheng, Vernon Lehmann, Derek Barton, Jim Lau
Director: John Moore
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

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:

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.

Classic Movie of survival.......2007-05-09

I haven't had luck opening the case as the labels are glued sooo tight that I had to destroy the casing to get to the DVD. I seen this years ago and wanted a personal copy to watch, unfortunately Hollywood @!## have to wrap the DVD box soo tight that it takes a chainsaw to open the dvd case.
Plan on having some kid open the case for you.
It is a movie of survival, teamwork and faith.

Not to be Confused with the Remake.......2007-02-04

Unfortunately the remake has the same title which may cause some to forgo this marvelous original. If they watch the remake first, I doubt that they would have an interest in this great movie. What a great cast, great story, great everything. See it if you haven't.

Flight of the Phoenix (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Great extras, mediocre film
Large mediocre with cheese
Alright movie
Great old-school adventure film!
An action movie...demonstrates teamwork & ingenuity among diverse characters under extremely hostile conditions!

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

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

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Flight of the Phoenix
AVP - Alien vs. Predator (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Pearl Harbor [Blu-ray]
Kingdom of Heaven - The Director's Cut (Four-Disc Special Edition)
Deja Vu [Blu-ray]

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:

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...

Great old-school adventure film!.......2006-12-19

This remake of "Flight of the Phoenix" is a load of fun. If you've never seen the original, then it holds up as a solid adventure flick in the old-fashioned tradition (which is always a good thing). If you have seen the original, then this new version still has it's own merits, and approaches the story just differently enough to allow it to stand on its own legs. This Dennis Quaid version doesn't try to equal the gut-wrenching, male-bonding acting of the original, dirty, gritty original. There are no more Jimmy Stewarts out there anymore, after all. Instead, it goes for a somewhat cleaner, more dynamic aesthetic. As a work of art, that may make this inferior to the earlier classic, but at least it isn't just a by-the-book remake. What would be the point in that, after all? As a longtime fan of the original, I found myself readily able to enjoy this new version. Both are worth seeing. Don't get me wrong. If you are only going to see one version, go with the classic version. But if you're willing to see both, I recommend doing so!

An action movie...demonstrates teamwork & ingenuity among diverse characters under extremely hostile conditions!.......2006-07-30

I understand this movie is actually a remake of an earlier movie starring James Stewart in the sixties. I did not watch the earlier movie, even though James Stewart was a favourite actor of mine, but I certainly enjoy watching this one.

The storyline is very simple: A ragtag bunch of characters on a cargo plane crash-landed somewhere in the Gobi Desert. They worked together, led (or misled?) by an eccentric character, Elliot (played menacingly by Giovanni Ribisi), who had only some experience with model air plane design, to rebuild the plane from the wreckage & then to fly back to civilisation.

In a nut shell, it is essentially a movie about the triumph of the indomitable human spirit. What I like about this movie is watching the ragtag bunch of diverse characters eventually working together & using their sheer ingenuity & imagination to rebuild the plane, in spite of extremely hostile conditions - no contact with the outside world, brutal environment (scorching sun & scathing sandstorms), dwindling resources & attack by desert marauders. The dialogue is very witty...sometimes funny...coupled by a spectacular crash sequence, which has been seemingly extended for viewers' enjoyment.

This movie also brought back some sweet memories of my trip across the southern end of the Gobi Desert about a decade ago. At that time, I was trying to retrace the journey of Marco Polo along the Silk Road. I rode on a camel as well as on four-wheels across some short stretches. The view of the sand dunes was magnificent & enchanting, but I could sense the harsh reality of the environment. [This movie was actually filmed on location in Namibia, Africa.]

Only one aspect of the movie really puzzles me. As a Chinese, I noted that the desert marauders apparently spoke Cantonese. The crash scene happened in the Mongolian part of the Gobi Desert - people there don't speak Cantonese.

Lastly but not the least, I have also enjoyed watching Dennis Quaid, one of my favourite actors, playing the lead role of Frank Towns, the crack pilot.

Overall, the movie has been great to watch.

Average customer rating:

Great extras, mediocre film
Large mediocre with cheese
Alright movie
Great old-school adventure film!
An action movie...demonstrates teamwork & ingenuity among diverse characters under extremely hostile conditions!

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

Action & Adventure | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video

General | Blu-ray | Formats | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Flight of the Phoenix
AVP - Alien vs. Predator (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Pearl Harbor [Blu-ray]
Kingdom of Heaven - The Director's Cut (Four-Disc Special Edition)
Deja Vu [Blu-ray]

ASIN: B000JSI7AS
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

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...

Great old-school adventure film!.......2006-12-19

An action movie...demonstrates teamwork & ingenuity among diverse characters under extremely hostile conditions!.......2006-07-30

Flight of the Phoenix (Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Great extras, mediocre film
Large mediocre with cheese
Alright movie
Great old-school adventure film!
An action movie...demonstrates teamwork & ingenuity among diverse characters under extremely hostile conditions!

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
Similar Items:

The Flight of the Phoenix
AVP - Alien vs. Predator (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Pearl Harbor [Blu-ray]
Kingdom of Heaven - The Director's Cut (Four-Disc Special Edition)
Deja Vu [Blu-ray]

ASIN: B0007KIFIC
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

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...

Great old-school adventure film!.......2006-12-19

An action movie...demonstrates teamwork & ingenuity among diverse characters under extremely hostile conditions!.......2006-07-30

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

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Sahara (Widescreen Edition)
War of the Worlds (Widescreen Edition)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - Unrated (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

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

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:

The Flight of the Phoenix
This one flies!
An outstanding classic!
Classic Movie of survival
Not to be Confused with the Remake

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

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Flight of the Phoenix (Widescreen Edition)
The Spirit of St. Louis
The Blue Max
The Enemy Below
Twelve O'Clock High (Special Edition)

ASIN: B0001NIZ2G

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

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

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

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

Classic Movie of survival.......2007-05-09

Not to be Confused with the Remake.......2007-02-04

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