Falling from the Sky: Flight 174

This is a surprisingly gripping made-for-TV movie for two reasons: (1) It's based on a true story so you're not guaranteed a happy "Hollywood" ending; you're compelled to sit on the edge of your seat to find out what eventually happens, and (2) Unlike the "Airport" movies that spend most of their time on the soap opera aspects of the passenger's lives, for the bulk of "Falling from the Sky," you're in the cockpit - sweating it out with the pilot (the excellent William Devane) and his crew attempting to keep aloft this jet airliner with no fuel. How did this ordinarily routine flight wind up in such peril? At the outset of the movie, we see the ground crew obviously having trouble with gallon-to-liter conversion. As we find out later, their math was a little off.

I've read the other reviews posted so far and I pretty much agree. It is what it is -- and as a "based on a true story" plane crash TV-movie it was entertaining, at least as a late, late night cable TV offering.

And I gotta agree with some of the other comments about a few of the shortcomings -- and maybe add a couple more.

Why did the captain run back into the smoking cockpit?!? I think they either needed to have him explain himself -- OR, have someone else say, "Gee, that was dumb."

They could have done away with the little inner dialogues each passenger had in the moments before the plane attempted to land. That was just goofy.

And what was the deal with the kid on the bike on the runway?!? Chaos reigns as cars zoom to get off the runway and then a guy runs alongside the pavement yelling at the kid to get off the runway -- and the kid inexplicably looks at the guy with a weird expression that's a combination of confusion, fright, and "I ate something sour"... And they cut back and forth between the two about four times without ever conveying why the kid wasn't getting off the runway like the guy was adamantly yelling at him to do...

If you ever feel downhearted or depressed, consider watching this uplifting film (no pun intended)! Based upon an actual event, it demonstrates the ability of people to contend against seemingly impossible odds. This movie, originally produced for TV, offers talented performances by William Devane, Scott Hylands, Winston Rekert, Shelly Hack, Mariette Hartley, and many others. It benefits from a superbly crafted script and talented direction and filmography. Unlike many air disaster epics, this movie reports about an event which- amazingly- actually occurred in Canada's airways several decades ago. (Anyone who suffers from a phobia about air travel may find the content difficult to watch.) However, the film does pay tribute to the capabilities of talented pilots and airline attendants. Captain Bob Pearson makes a cameo appearance in this film portraying an airline test simulator examiner. This inspiring film reinforces the importance of studying aviation in comprehensive terms. It offer riveting entertainment value, too. Not for the faint of heart!

From the grabber opening in a flight simulator, till the electrifying landing, William Devane and his flight crew are trying the impossible. Never before had a jumbo commercial aircraft been landed from a free fall. While the passenger's personal dramas may seem overdone, everything about the impending disaster is tense and realistic. There are even a few moments of sharp humor to interrupt the extreme anxiety. William Devane carries "Freefall : Flight 174" to greatness with a terrific performance as the cool headed captain. If you enjoy realistic disaster films, this is a must see, and I guarantee you will be cheering at the end. - MERK

This was a very watchable film with lots of authentic cockpit time. I've spent lots of hours in jet cockpits and this was more realistic than most. Some criticisms : 1) The Captain (William Devane) and his first officer seemed a little weak on aircraft systems. Sure, this was a new Boeing 767, but most crewmembers I knew had a deep knowledge of every system on the plane, including fuel. There is no flight engineer... the pilots have to know it! 2)This LARGE abandoned airfield just outside Winnipeg was not on ANY chart and NO ONE knew where it was?? I found this hard to believe. 3)The ending didn't cover anything about culpability in this incident. What happened to the numbskulls who mis-fueled the plane in the first scenes? Were they fired or sued? None of them had a clue! And isn't it the Captain's responsibility for taking off with sufficient fuel? I felt they glossed over all the "legal" stuff. Devane was convincing... lots of great one-liners. Great flick.