FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Andy Howlett Ernest Tilley (Attenborough) has discovered the identity of the man who drunkenly killed his baby daughter in a hit-and-run, and armed with a bomb boards the same flight as him. Tilley is deeply depressed and obsessed with killing this man at any cost, even if it means killing his own family and everyone on board. Attenborough plays Tilley very quietly, a man hollowed out by his depression and hatred, not only for the hit-and-run driver, but for the whole world. As the film progresses, it is very easy to feel real sorrow for him. The writer and the director keep the lid firmly on for most of the time, only allowing the anger and fear to burst out in small doses. The other seats on board are occupied by many faces of the time, including Dame Sybil Thorndyke and Harry Secombe, who sit together and do a grand job of lightening the mood with their witty and charming performances. Husband and wife Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly don't do much and neither does Marty Wilde. Very nice to see Stanley Baker playing against the usual 'thick ear' parts he normally gets, and he turns in a very good part. This film will not appeal to modern audiences who need an explosion or slanging match every five minutes. It's a character study, and a very British one at that. If you like your thrillers with a bit of humanity and depth, I can thoroughly recommend this impressive film. DVD from Simply.

Alan Baker You know you're in trouble right at the start when the credits roll up the screen and when the title appears Marty Wilde starts warbling "Jet Stream" rather than "Jet Storm". A breakdown in communication between songwriter and producer? Nope. The lyrics were written by Cy Endfield who is, of course, the same as C. Raker Endfield, the director. Presumably the title of the movie was changed at the last minute (maybe TWA objected, they were still flying their piston engined Lockheed Starliners across the Atlantic and hopefully promoting them as "Jetstreams" in competition with Pan Am's and BOAC's real jets). Others have described the cast as "all star" which is pushing the definition a bit. Many of them achieved some fame in future years, but not necessarily as film stars (as opposed to character actors). The economics of this airline are questionable as there are only 32 passengers on board and the seat pitch seems to be about 5 feet. The passengers are the usual stereotypes and none generate any sympathy with the audience so we don't particularly care what happens to them. Stanley Baker's turn as the Captain is so wooden that he might have been replaced with a plank. The decision to use stock footage of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-104 is bizarre, particularly as the feeble model bears only a cursory resemblance. Presumably they didn't use the Boeing 707 or DH Comet as at the time only two airlines were using them transatlantic and they did not want the association with potential disaster. To add to the confusion the scenes of the passengers boarding shows them embarking on a BEA Vickers Viscount, the registration of which is clearly visible on the fin. The most laughable aspect of the whole thing, of course, is the bomb attached to the underside of the wing by "suction pads". Wow, they must have been incredible to survive a 500mph jetstream......, which is where we came in.

kidboots As the cast list rolls up in front of a background of clouds, I thought could this be the first All Star Disaster Epic Movie? The action takes place on an airliner bound for New York and the passenger list reads like a who's who of up and coming names - Diane Cilento, Virginia Maskell, Marty Wilde, future TV star Paul Eddington, established stars - Mai Zetterling, Elizabeth Sellers, Megs Jenkins, David Kossoff, Stanley Baker and acting royalty in the form of Dame Sybil Thorndyke. In the 40s and 50s, before he became a "grand" director, Richard Attenborough was one of the best young character actors in Britain. In 1948 he came to notice in 3 outstanding Rank films - "Brighton Rock" (playing a baby faced psychopath), "London Belongs to Me" (a bumbling murderer) and "The Guinea Pig" (a poor school boy who is given a scholarship to an exclusive boy's school). His name in a film cast came to be associated with diverseness and versatility.Among the passengers are the usual suspects, harassed parents, a jet setting pop star, a TV comedian (Harry Secombe), sensible elderly citizen, people with secrets etc. Among the latter is Ernest Tilley (Richard Attenborough) a rather worried looking man, traveling with his caring wife (Mai Zetterling). He is a man on a mission - he has followed a man on board who he believes is responsible for killing his little girl in a hit and run. He is bitter at the world and has had a vendetta against this man for two years. He has bought on board a device that he intends to use to blow up the plane but his ramblings are heard by two other passengers and they alert the Captain.Sharing dramatic kudos with Attenborough is Stanley Baker (who else?) as the caring level headed Captain, who tries to talk some commonsense into Tilley, but to no avail. As the film progresses the passengers get to hear of it and the plane divides into the Sensible and Dignified Verses the Fearful and Excitable (Hermione Baddeley is great as a hysterical passenger). The F and E stage a revolt but the plan goes wrong and the man at the centre of the dispute (the hit and run driver) is sucked out of the plane window. As a last resort, a little boy is sent down to Tilley, to appeal to his deep down kindness of heart. "Jet Storm" is an excellent blend of excitement and intense suspense, the sort of film that Britain did so well.Highly Recommended.

Single-Black-Male Following the success of 'The League of Gentlemen', Dickie Attenborough began mobilising his own films and appeared in other films to raise the money to continue making his own (in the same way that Laurence Olivier was acting in films in order to finance his own stage productions at the National Theatre). This film is one of them.