Based on a novel by Elleston Trevor, director John Moore's The Flight of the Phoenix is a remake of a 1965 film of the same name starring film icon James Stewart. The story revolves around the plight of Captain Frank Towns, a pilot whose C-119 cargo plane full of oil workers could not withstand the violent winds of a desert sandstorm and Captain Towns is forced to put in an emergency landing that is more crash than landing. Stranded in the harsh terrain of Mongolia's Gobi Desert (a departure from the original, in which the plane crashed in the Sahara), Frank and his navigator face an equal challenge in maintaining order among the survivors. The group of oilmen had planned on an uneventful trip to shut off a group of rigs falling below their productivity expectations -- not fending for their very lives. Before long, some men are revealed as cowards, while others exhibit a surprising show of strength, all the while hoping that the wreckage of the original plane can be salvaged before a Lord of the Flies situation occurs.

Are there truly no new or original ideas left in Hollywood; sometimes I come to think this when I watch the slew of remakes and sequels they churn out on a regular basis. I mean while I did enjoy Flight of the Phoenix it just wasn’t new and fresh and felt like it had been done too many times. If it had not been for Giovanni Ribisi who absolutely stole the show the movie would have probably failed miserably. But Giovanni turns in such a stellar performance you can’t help but be drawn into the movie even though you know the ending is a foregone conclusion. It makes me wonder if they had changed the ending into something less predictable whether or not the critics would be praising this movie. I have noticed most movies from the 1960’s ended a certain way while today’s movie end entirely different, take for example the original and the remake of Ocean’s Eleven.

Other than Giovanni Ribisi only Dennis Quaid turns in a memorable performance, which is fitting since he is filling in for Jimmy Stewart who played Towns in the original. The two actors give the movie a class and enjoy ability that makes the movie worth watching. The movie has a ton of action, even if most of it is predictable as it is one of those movies that if anything can go wrong it will and does so with frequency. The movie has a lot of humor and one or two surprises that make it worthwhile, this is the kind of matinee movie that is ok for whiling away an afternoon and then is soon forgotten.
4 stars out of 5