Panic in the Skies

1996 "Terror at 35,000 feet, and falling."
4.5| 1h30m| en
Details

The cockpit of a Boeing 747 is struck by lightning during takeoff for a flight to Europe, fatally injuring the flight crew. Laurie, the senior flight attendant, enlists the aid of passenger Brett Young. They determine that the autopilot can bring the plane in for a landing, but soon learn that the autopilot is locking onto the transponders of airfields at random, including signals from small airports with runways too short to accommodate the jumbo jet. Meanwhile, federal officials on the ground who have lost radio contact with the jet debate whether the plane should be shot down to prevent a more disastrous crash in a heavily populated area.

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Reviews

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation
Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
podwilliams Oh-oh, the pilot's dead... So who's going to fly the plane home? Yes it's another variation on the old Airport theme, with a cast of TV movie stars looking either very panicky or firm-jawed in the face of disaster. I'm watching this as I type. It's so deliciously bad I can barely keep my eyes off it! The script is so bad it deserves some kind of award. Kate Jackson comes to the aid of a pregnant woman who wonders if her belt is too tight - never fear, Kate undoes the belt for her! Hurrah! Furthermore, unable to communicate with the pilots or access the cockpit Kate wonders aloud who's flying the plane. Very moving stuff. Tell your friends that they must hunt this film down. It's transcendentally boring!
LTSally This movie is so great! It's so far over the top that it becomes amusing. I've seen it twice together with my sister and we couldn't stop laughing. Everything goes wrong in the plane, one thing after another. And the hero who has to save them all has this incredibly dramatic face while the main actress looks as if she's seen a ghost... I really recommend this film but please don't take it seriously, it's so much better if you see the humor in it!
Flippitygibbit Maybe I was in a forgiving mood, but I didn't think 'Panic In The Skies!' - exclamation! - was that bad. On a sliding scale for plane-disaster movies, it was somewhere near the top. The cliches, given that the genre demands at least a few, were limited: nobody had a mobile phone easily at hand (Airspeed), and there were no pilots (Rough Air), doctors, or nuns with guitars among the passengers. Nor were ground control on hand to help. There was the lone child, the pregnant woman and/or newly pregnant stewardess, plus the elderly couple, but I would have started to get really nervous without some familiar stereotypes. What about the Bar-B-Pilots, though, or the dog attack in the cargo hold? And for the 'stewardess who holds it all together before falling in love with the conman hero', we got 'stewardess who falls to pieces' as a bonus package (normally the hero pilot's role). How's that for equality? The computer graphics let the climax down a little, but all in all, I really didn't end up cringing in my seat (see Final Descent, and its train sequel, Final Run. Guffaw, snort).
cbnotes As horrible as this film is, it forces you to watch it.It's on television as I type this, and I cannot bring myself to change the channel for fear of missing the next cockamamie predicament that happens. And what a cast! Kate Jackson, Ed Marinaro, Erik Estrada, Maureen McCormick, and Robert Guillaume. Tune in yourself and see how Sabrina, Officer Joe Coffey, Paunch, Marsha Brady, and Benson save a disaster-bound 747 from crashing!!!I regret that MST3K is off the air -- this is the kind of experiment that they would do proud.