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Having seen this TV film twice I was especially taken with the rather ingenious plot involving a doctor's widow attempting to learn the truth after he apparently dies a second time 5 years later. Why did he first fake his death in a boating accident despite a successful practice and a happy marriage? Little wonder she engages the services of a handsome young private investigator to get to the bottom of the baffling mystery. The viewer is kept off balance throughout thanks to numerous novel plot twists. Moreover the acting of the two likable leads is quite satisfactory and the dialogue rings true. Even the photography is a notch above average. All in all I would give this cleverly conceived and executed movie 10 out of 10 stars.

This rarely-viewed TV movie is a consummately entertaining and believably dramatic yarn involving a jet which seems destined to crash following a midair collision with a small plane. I won't give away any of the novel plot twists, but suffice it to say that they're highly inventive and suspenseful. What's more the heroic pilot -- the role played by the late Robert Urich -- reminded me a bit of John Wayne in William Wellman's classic 1954 film "The High and the Mighty." Admittedly this television production lacks Dimitri Tiomkin's Oscar-winning music, but it's more action-filled in the long run. I've given "FINAL DESCENT" the top score of 10 and only hope it's available on DVD one day.