The Flight That Disappeared

1961 "Jetliner Hijacked!"
5.7| 1h12m| en
Details

A cross-country airliner, whose passengers include a nuclear physicist, a rocket expert, and a mathematical genius, is drawn beyond radar range by an unknown, unbreakable force.

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SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling
SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
nightwing60 This movie is more of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits Episode than a Full Length. But Overall its a Good/Decent Movie for a movie on a Low Budget 60's Movie. What gets me is other reviews who the movie is Extreme when it comes to Morals. Really? I would hope if a weapon that is easily assessable that could destroy the whole world. That maybe, Just Maybe Morals and Ethics would be talked about. Otherwise the nihilist should just resurrect Hitler and get It over with. Sci-Fi has always been used to talk about situation humanity might find themselves in and how they should handle those situations. That is why Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and Star Trek are great shows and why The Day the Earth Stood Still and Jurassic Park are great movie. Was this kind of plot used all the time in the 50 and 60. Yeah but it was also because we just drop to Nuclear Bombs in Japan. And if anyone Notice. But that was damn horrible. Maybe the reason they used these kind of plot. Was Because they were honestly worried about the future. Anyways don't listen to the Naysayers. For a Low Budget Movie is one of the better movies with the "Will Humanity Survive" of plots
kalibeans As I write this review the rating stands at 4.6, which is way too low for this film. The acting is adequate, the story line well flushed out. Very interesting premise for a movie. What seems to be routine flight to D.C. ends up in a place where time is suspended. Plenty of time is spent introducing the characters and setting up the storyline. 3 scientists, each in their own way a part of the team to produce a "super bomb" are aboard. The plane climbs incredibly and without reason. When everyone is apparently in a state of suspended animation, these 3 are made to stand trial by future human beings whose existence may not happen if the bomb is created. It all sounds fantastical, and it is - but the film is very well put together. A bit too heavy on the moral judgements perhaps, but you must remember the time in which this film was made. Every American feared a nuclear attack from Russia. It really is a gem of a little movie and well worth the time invested to watch. I'm glad I ignored the rating and went with my instinct that this could be a good film and watched it - I was right.
gavin6942 A cross-country airliner, whose passengers include a nuclear physicist, a rocket expert, and a mathematical genius, is drawn beyond radar range by an unknown, unbreakable force.Others have compared this film to "The Twilight Zone", and rightly so. I am almost surprised no one from the show was involved in this film, because the plot and political point of view is exactly the same. The only difference is that this is much longer (and maybe not necessarily so -- I can see this story being told in 25 minutes).If the film has any real flaw, it is that the morality is a bit over the top and extreme. The message is a good one, and one that hardly anyone could disagree with. But it comes off almost preachy and condescending because there is not one ounce of subtlety in it at all. (I am being vague here so as not to spoil anything, though the plot is about as obvious as possible.)
toycarguy I watched this movie for two reasons: 1) I was practically raised on low-budget sci-fi & horror, having spent many a Saturday mid-morning watching this stuff on a local independent station's "creature feature" matinee, and 2) nowadays to see whether it would be enjoyable on "Mystery Science Theater 3000."Yes, "Flight ..." would've done very well on MST3k (it is indeed yet another bittersweet addition to my ever-growing list of Episodes That Might Have Been(tm)). Its low budget, bland directing and forced, stilted dialogue, all combining to take the edge off its high-minded intent, serve to guarantee that. There are riff opportunities aplenty, including a comment by one of the primary characters regarding the pilots' capabilities which has to be one of the most unintentionally ready-made straight lines in film history. And although his initial appearance lasted literally only three seconds, with no dialogue, I took a small measure of pride in calling out the character who would undeniably prove to be the film's Annoying Guy.The goal of this film, of course, is to comment on the Cold War (and thus get the audience to think more about it), and so now the Minor Spoiler Alert is in effect: The three primaries are revealed to be closely involved in the development of a new super-weapon. Although their judgement is done in a very "Twilight Zone"-esque manner, the film nonetheless poses a question with significant moral and ethical aspects: To what degree are the makers of a device guilty should someone use their device destructively? Their super-weapon is intended more to be defensive, precisely in that it is so destructive it should frighten aggressors through fear of retaliation -- but what if it is used as a first strike, to eliminate an enemy nation before it can strike?While the film presents a legitimate concern regarding escalation, even during a so-called "cold" war, it makes the mistake almost always made regarding such a concern, slipping too easily to the socio-political left in presuming that those who commissioned such a weapon are unrepentant war-mongers who absolutely WILL use it aggressively (neglecting the simple fact that in most wars, only one side was the aggressor, while the other was merely reacting in self-defense or in defense of an ally). One of the minor characters is even clearly meant to reflect this presumption, brandishing an over-the-top "Hit them before they can hit us!" attitude.However, the film's poor production quality overall is of course the bigger weakness. It's almost painful to watch the film's younger male lead, who actually turns out to be a Decent Joe Caught In The Machinations Of The Cold War(!), ham-fist his way through horrid introductory dialogue with the female lead regarding "young women who don't wear wedding rings", which has him coming off as some zealous masher. As the film winds down, it devolves almost instantly from an essentially respectable parable about Cold War escalation to what looks like an ad-hoc panel discussion about ESP. Nearly at the end, the film steps down even further, turning itself into an opportunity for hushed snickering by the primaries as certain minor characters learn of the incident almost as an aside, in an unintentionally(?) funny "Hey! Didja hear what happened?!"manner.If you're looking for a well-made (or even a moderately well-made) treatment of the Cold War, this movie is NOT it; it clearly, almost desparately, wants to be, but it simply fumbles too much. If, however, you want low-calorie fare that still satisfies, I recommend this film with a 6.5 out of 10; it's done in the best tradition of "B" sci-fi & horror, tackling a serious subject in the midst of laughably weak production, but it's slow-paced and repetitive. And if you're a MSTie, I think you'll agree this film deserves a 9 out of 10 for its sheer riffability.