Turbulence 3

This movie is a truckload of great ideas bogged down in a morass of hokey execution. Production values are ok, the film quality is _great_, but the dialogue is stilted and camera work mundane. There is also very little plot. It also seems to be a showcase of actors who's careers have been or could have been. Rutger Hauer, Gabrielle Anwar, Joe Mantegna, Craig Sheffer, the little baldish tv director who used to play hitmen (including on the episode "Bushido" of Miami Vice).

PROS:

Concept: a Marilyn Manson type gothic (-ish) rocker has organized a concert in the sky, complete with mock executions and The Hitcher is your co-pilot. (But wait, a gang of _real_ satanists want to hijack the plane and crash it into an unknown town in Kansas... )

Monika Schnarre, who must be one of the most beautiful women on earth. I'd never heard of her, and she's already 30? Maybe it's just the razor sharp cheek bones, strong chin, the red hair and the fact that she's covered head to toe in black leather...

Gabrielle Anwar, who is hot although not quite up to her more youthful standard of Body Snatchers (1993 - what happened to _her_ career?).

Rutger Hauer seems to be having a good time reliving his Hitcher days.

CONS:

Hokey

Poor dialogue

No plot to really speak of

The actors start losing the spirit halfway through this unlikely mess, specially Gabrielle Anwar and Joe Mantegna.

Church of the Stull?

The movie has a distinctively Canadian feel to it.

Of the less-than-constructive criticism out there, it seems wholly ignored that the premise of the film is Aircraft + Hijack as in the other turbulence films. The concert aboard the plane definitely isn't a cliché and can not be detrimental to the plot even in theory. Speaking of which, the plot has lovely twists and turns even though people that decide to dislike the film before it even begins may be forgiven for ignoring the finer details.

Personally I like the film more for its style rather than grue value, if such a thing applies.

Regards, Slade

I was kind of mystified by the fact that they made two sequels to "Turbulence", a movie that didn't do well with both critics and the box office. Finally seeing it several months ago, I could understand why. But I decided to see this second "sequel" (it has nothing to do with the events of the first movie... and probably the second movie as well) since I had the opportunity to see it for free.

Well, this Canadian movie is one of the few that has something distinctly Canadian in it (the plane is flying to the city Toronto). And the production values aren't as cheap as with many Canadian films, though some of the interiors of the plane look kind of cheesy. (Plus, the stock footage used is VERY obvious, since it came from a much more expensive film.) Also, I found that the choice for the hero chosen to fight the villains on the plane kind of a surprise. Usually this particular kind of character in hostage situations like this remains helpless until the very end.

That's about all that's positive I can say about this movie. While I didn't find the movie terrible, I did find it pretty dull. There are pretty much no surprises in this movie. If you've seen one hostage movie, you have seen this one. Plus, the movie took a surprisingly long time to unfold - 3/4 of the movie goes by before the good guys finally start fighting back.

Note to Rutger Hauer fans - it's pretty obvious that all of his scenes were filmed in one day.

Even though I'm not a fan of Goth rock, Gothic metal, nu-metal, or death/black rock, I see that the film was nice. I watched Turbulence and Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying. When I saw this film online, I watched and downloaded it.

In the film, I found something interesting. Slade Craven (John Mann), the Goth Rocker based on and inspired by Brian "Marilyn Manson" Warner, Dani Filth, and Trent Reznor was an AntiChrist by his song who later sees the light and embraces God by rescuing the passengers and crew from Simon Flanders (also played by Mann), the hijacker who impersonates him in order to take the plane under his control and also a member of a Satanic cult named "Guardians of the Gateway". I don't know if he is played by Mann's stunt double during the hand to hand combat. He first eliminates Erica Black, the news anchor who is the high ranking member of the cult who masterminded the plot to crash the plane in a church in Stull, Kansas which they believe that it is where Satan resides. After a hand to hand fight with Simon and locking him in the first class cabin toilet, he rremoves his sign of the devil jewelry and prays to God for help. He then safely lands the plane without anyone hurt. That was good indeed.

This film is a must for lovers of aviation, martial arts, and rock music.

I have to admit that I only caught the last half of this movie on cable, but I liked what I saw. John Mann is a capable stand-in (at least visually) for the Alice Cooper-wannabe set, plus (with the aid of stand-ins, no doubt) he gets to kick the bejeezus out of his "evil twin" terrorist enemy and save the day. Say what you will about the "evil influence" of rock 'n' roll music-- this time the rock star is a good guy, and John Mann does the role proud.