Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

flarepilot First off, I am one of the rare pilots who loves this movie. I'm a 737 captain for a major airline in the USA. Also a flight instructor, an instrument instructor and multi engine instructor.I've read the book and am glad the book and movie are so different. IN this way I get two amazing stories, but with that special flavor expressed in the title.I won't describe the movie, others have done that. But if you are a pilot and don't "GET" this movie, you better take some more flying lessons.I mean it. If you don't like the fictional airliner, well that' s fine.Get over that part of it.Here is a movie that actually talks about a rudder power switch!I can also say that the cinematography is wonderful and the opening 12 minutes and last 10 minutes is the most amazing stuff I've seen. (short of reality).So, see this movie. And shut off the damn bell.

Robert W. Anderson I'm thinking they didn't get any support from the FAA, or what ever it was called in these days. This is a silly story about the investigation of airliner crash. Glen Ford would be the worst crash investigator ever if this character was real investigator. The crash its self is the only thing that's believable in this film. Fords portrayal is of a man who can't make a coherent statement at the crash site. And all through the film his character is so over wrought as to be nearly incapable of completing his job. And the screen play is twisted around to allow for roles for women, pretty to make it into the story in ways that leave you scratching your head. The author of the book that this movie was based on was very dissatisfied with the way this movie turned out and I can see why. All in all this wasn't a very good movie. It was nice to see Suzanne Pleshette, Nancy Kwan, and Jane Russell, but they were just stuck into the movie. Russell and Kwan's parts were just window dressing, and Pleshette's character is I'm sorry to say ridiculous. The level of her involvement in this investigation is beyond belief. A hour and half I'll never get back, and was totally wasted.

bkoganbing Fate Is The Hunter casts Glenn Ford as an airline executive and former pilot who is investigating the crash of an airline at his airport where a former Korean war buddy Rod Taylor was the pilot. Most on the flight were killed, one of the survivors was stewardess Susanne Pleshette.Ford has a vested interest both professional and personal, he hired Taylor as a pilot and his judgment is called in question as well. And Taylor was a roguish sort of guy who bent the rules considerably. But Ford knew Taylor as a man cool in combat and we see Taylor after the initial crash in all sides of his character in flashback.The film is based on an Ernest K. Gann novel who also gave us Island In The Sky and The High And The Mighty. The film keeps the attention throughout with its documentary like approach. Ford is a man with a disagreeable task and he's praying his faith in Taylor will not be in vain.The airline is more interested in covering itself in case of potential lawsuits than at getting at the truth. Pilot error is the easiest explanation all around and Taylor's past doesn't help any.There are a couple of noteworthy supporting performances first being Dorothy Malone who was not billed oddly enough as a party girl who Taylor was involved with and dumped. It's a chip off the performance Malone gave as Marilee Hadley in Written On The Wind. Also noteworthy is Wally Cox who was a fellow crewman on Taylor and Ford's ship in Korea who provides an insight into an incident in Korea that Ford does not remember fondly.What does cause the crash? It's something quite trivial, but Taylor's posthumous reputation owes a debt of gratitude to Susanne Pleshette surviving the crash and to the black box recording even then, standard on commercial flights. It was kind of quaint seeing the airline investigators playing the black box recording on those old fashioned reel to reel tapes.For aviation fans and fans of the principal players and many others. A really good piece of work that all the cast could take pride in.

jotix100 Sam McBane and Jack Savage have been associated for quite a long time. Their friendship started during the days both were pilots in the Army in WWII. Now, at the start of the story, they are working for the same commercial airline. As Jack is preparing for a flight to Seattle, Sam, the head of operations happens to pass by. Although friendly, they are probably not as close anymore.As the flight prepares to take off, Savage, who seems to have a roving eye, spots a new stewardess. He asks for a cup of coffee, that Martha, the other attendant brings to him, but as he is about to grab it, the hot liquid spills into some of the panel. The flight takes off and soon after they are in the air, the right engine catches fire. They request to go back. They are finally cleared, but unfortunately, as they come for a crash landing, the plane strikes a pier and everyone dies, except Martha, the stewardess, who miraculously is spared.As the investigation proceeds, we are taken in flashbacks to the days of WWII when Sam and Jack were serving together. They had a big scare when they were on a mission. Sam, and the rest of the crew bail out because the plane is on a dangerous course of probably crashing into a mountain. When Sam and the men are rescued and returned to base, they are aghast in finding Jack and his plane on the airfield."Fate Is the Hunter" is a 1964 Twenty Century Fox feature we recently caught on a cable channel. Not having seen it in a while, it took us by surprise the excellent condition of the print. Ralph Nelson, its director, worked extensively in television during most of his career. It is to his credit how he draws the viewer into the story, involving us in ways we didn't expect. The film is based on a book by Ernest Gann.Glenn Ford, a man that usually underplayed in most of his films, makes an excellent Sam McBean. He is a decent man who wants to clear his buddy's name, and at the same time, spare his employer of bad publicity. Rod Taylor, who is made to look older as Jack in the first scenes, does also a good job of this fearless pilot. Susanne Pleshette appears as Martha, the surviving stewardesses. Nancy Kwan is a scientist with a theory about why things happened on the plane. Wally Cox, Mark Stevens, Harold St. John, Constance Towers, and the wonderful Mary Wickes are seen in supporting roles. An uncredited Dorothy Malone is fun to watch as Jack's girlfriend who decides to throw a party at an inappropriate time.Milton Krasher's cinematography deserves a nod for what he was able to capture with the film, that was basically shot inside the studio. Jerry Goldsmith's musical score serves the film well. Ralph Nelson deserves the credit for the way he handled his large cast.