Flight of the Phoenix

Dir: John Moore, 2004, USA, 113 mins
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Hugh Laurie


Hollywood seems to be churning out a glut of remakes, re-imaginings and re-workings in recent times. Original thought seems to have taken a back seat in favour of tried and tested concepts and stories which appear to be safe, bankable and audience friendly. From blowing the dust off ancient TV fare (Charlie's Angel's, Mission Impossible, Wild Wild West, Starsky & Hutch, The Avengers, Scooby Doo) to any number of cinematic retreads (Man On Fire, The Bourne Identity, The Grudge, Ring, Assault on Precinct 13, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) there seems to be no let-up in the major studios' (and indeed filmmakers') insatiable desire to one-up, out-do and re-jig the film classics (and the not-so-classic) of yore.

Even ‘respectable' filmmakers see no problem in flogging the proverbial dead cinematic horse. Soon we will witness the no-doubt impressive delivery of Peter Jackson's long gestating King Kong and Michael Mann's cover version of his own TV creation Miami Vice will soon hit screens with Colin Farrell & Jamie Foxx weighing in as Crockett & Tubbs, pulling up their pastel suit jacket sleeves, setting their sights on drug cartel scumbags and wading into the fray.

It's a hit-and-miss process to be sure, and the results vary dramatically. Tim Burton's ill-advised Planet of the Apes was expected to be a visionary epic but arrived as a stillborn atrocity. The aforementioned Michael Mann remade his little known and long forgotten TV pilot LA Takedown into a great example of what can be accomplished with a remake, given some serious script doctoring and decent casting; the result? LA crime saga Heat starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, in what many regard as their best roles in recent years.

So who can tell what makes for a dynamite story idea and what's simply a tired, yawn inducing rehash destined for a high speed sprint to straight-to-video hell?

Despite the fact that most of the top money earners of all time were risky, innovative ventures, there seems to be no shortage in attempts to harvest the collective unconscious and regurgitate rather than innovate.

Into this cinematic climate crashes Flight of the Phoenix, a reworking of Robert Aldrich's excellent 1965 film that starred the incomparable James Stewart (as well as Sir Richard Attenborough and the late-great Peter Finch). It marks the sophomore effort of Irish born commercial director John Moore (his previous outing being the Owen Wilson actioner Behind Enemy Lines).

Then, as now, the story was spare and beautifully uncomplicated: a cargo aircraft laden with a motley group of workers, crash lands in the midst of a sand storm in the Gobi desert. With the assistance of the most irritating and unpopular member of the group, aircraft designer Elliot (Ribisi), the surviving passengers resolve to fashion a new aircraft out of the old one and fly it out of the desert to safety. The pilot of the downed aircraft, Frank Towns (Quaid) is a curmudgeonly, salt-of-the-earth type of guy and realising that he is the only one who can fly the patchwork aircraft, he's hesitant to risk more lives on a plan that potentially could kill them all. Stranded amidst the endless expanse of dunes, in a 2,000 square mile search area and with no hope of rescue or survival, they decide that they have no option but to try to get out under their own steam and (as the film's tagline says) - the only way out - is up.

One of Hollywood 's most underrated and consistently reliable lead actors, Quaid is wonderfully effective as Towns, the grizzled pilot-with-a-heart-of-gold, he wears the role like an old shoe. The supporting ensemble cast, notably Ribisi as their unlikely saviour, as well as Miranda Otto, Hugh Laurie and Tyrese Gibson (who reprises the role played by Attenborough in the original) all capably tow the genre line and prove sure and solid support. With a modern spin placed on the story and some fairly major plot alterations, including an encounter with some seriously badass plainsmen, comparisons with the original are inevitable and it's likely that this version of Flight of the Phoenix will be seen as inferior.

Aldrich's '65 classic was a feat of storytelling and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants location filmmaking (legendary stunt pilot Paul Mantz was killed during principle photography), it was also at least a half hour longer. In spite of such comparisons, director John Moore's visual verve, his passion for avionics, hatred of CGI and sense for ‘good ole fashioned storytelling' imbues Flight of the Phoenix with the necessary believability and sense of adventure to deliver the requisite thrills and spills one would expect from this type of fare.

It rises above the stigma that is usually attached to a ‘studio remake' and condenses the original's scope, action and drama into a palatable rollercoaster adventure, delivering its own stylised, tightly edited take on the original story and as a Sunday afternoon popcorn actioner, it more than delivers. In short: it does what it says on the tin and for this kind of genre film; there can be no higher praise.