ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Python Hyena The Flight of the Phoenix (1965): Dir: Robert Aldrich / Cast: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen: Overwhelming disaster suspense about taking courage and obtaining hope. The Phoenix airplane goes down in the Sahara desert within a sand storm stranding several people and injuring others. Director Robert Aldrich avoids clichés by detailing the long hours, hot sun and hopelessness. They are in a manic struggle for survival as a German passenger devises a plan to rebuild the plane out of its own parts leading to a remarkable twist. James Stewart is superb as the flight captain blaming himself for those who died. Richard Attenborough portrays the flight navigator who struggled with booze, and reaches for possible solutions for their situation. Strong supporting cast includes Peter Finch as the captain who wanders off to find help and makes a tragic return. Ernest Borgnine plays a worker who makes the fearful mistake of following the captain and his body is found later. Ian Bannen plays a less than likable crew member who only adds to this great ensemble cast. We know how this will end. Unless viewers are expecting a dead end result then it is obvious that the crew will regain flight but that doesn't detract from any suspense. Great special effects of the wreckage resulting in an excellent example of survival and maintaining union. Score: 10 / 10

writers_reign An interesting variation on the 'Hollywood Bomber Crew' plot line with strong casting which is puzzling at times; for example by 1965 Ernest Borgnine had built on his breakout role of Fatso Judson in From Here To Eternity and his Oacar-winning Marty and had been prominent in several memorable titles like Bad Day At Black Rock, The Poseidon Adventure etc but here he is killed off in the first half hour, similarly Peter Finch is given little to do whilst people like Dan Duryea and George Kennedy seem to be there only to make up the numbers. The bulk of screen time is shared between James Stewart, Hardy Kruger and Dickie Attenborough who was competent in a part that any Hollywood supporting actor could have played just as well. It's a good example of the Boy's Own Paper School of plotting and holds up reasonably well.

Dark Jedi A good old adventure movie from back in the days when Hollywood knew how to make them. I did not have any movies left on my to-watch shelf, at least none that I felt like watching, yesterday evening and I spotted that this one was given on Cine+ Classic so I decided to go for it.James Stewart was never one of my really favorite actors but he is still one of the more enjoyable old Hollywood stars and it is always fun to watch some of the old bunch. Since it is a fairly old movie it is refreshingly free of hysterical shouting and foul language for no good reason. When people argue in this movie they actually say something using actual arguments. Do not take me wrong, I do not mind the use of foul language in movies but not when it is just to shock or to cover up the lack of intelligent script.I am not sure that I buy in too much on the basic plot in the movie. To rip apart a plane and put it together again using only the material available at the crash site seems a bit too far out for me. There are also a few holes in it like that they where worried that everyone would have the strength left to finish the work but then several of them would cling onto the wing of an airplane using only their hands. Even with the improvised windshield that is rather ludicrous.If one can overlook that it is not a bad story though and with the good old-fashioned performance of the actors in it I quite enjoyed my 140 minute long sitting in front of the TV-screen yesterday.

JasparLamarCrabb Robert Aldrich directed this now classic adventure yarn. A rag tag group of men crash land in the Sahara with little hope of surviving unless they either walk out or build a new airplane & fly out. That's the plot in its entirety. James Stewart is the pilot, a stubborn curmudgeon who thinks making a new plane is idiotic. Hardy Krüger is the engineer who tries to prove him wrong...though his experience at building planes is rather sketchy. Richard Attenborough is Stewart's right hand man and voice of reason. Peter Finch is a by-the-book British captain and Ronald Fraser his not so brave underling. There's enough suspense and angry confrontations to keep this movie moving at a fast clip. The excellent music score by Aldrich regular Frank De Vol is a major asset as is the cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc. The supporting cast includes Ernest Borgnine as an unstable oil rig worker, George Kennedy, Dan Duryea and Christian Marquand as a level headed doctor.