Vol d'enfer

Few people know that Christopher Reeve was also an aviation enthusiast who had his own Beechcraft Baron. And he transferred that enthusiasm to his screen persona, an ex WW1 pilot who, scarred by an incident, goes on to flying mail planes in the early 1920s.

Roseanne Arquette played the spoiled rich girl who becomes his first passenger.

They crash land in the Nevada mountains and the rest of the movie concerns their survival and both of their personal transformations.

If you'd like to get a good idea about the birth of commercial flying I'd recommend the movie.

This is a mostly pleasant old-fashioned type of film. The aerial stuff is nice and the scenery is beautiful. I enjoyed the music, too. Christopher Reeve does a fine job in the lead. Rosanna Arquette is ok but her character seems to have been written as much younger. Well, except for certain stuff that comes out later in the picture but we won't get into that. It's a perfectly watchable movie of its type. It's full of cliches but it all looks nice and mostly sounds nice. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but you could do worse than to watch this. I'd watch this on a loop for the rest of my life than watch most of the garbage Netflix puts out today.

Watching Christopher Reeve play totally against type. After years of playing a mild mannered, hero type, He decides to play the anti-hero. The Reeves and Arquette are an unlikely pairing. At first, her character appears to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Reeves does a good job playing the irritated grownup with a spoiled brat.

This looks like a good TV movie, made for the small screen. However, the movie has some heart felt moments. And, it is worth watching, if for no other reason, to watch Reeve not play Superman. This is one of Reeve's best "non Superman" performances; if only it could have been in a better picture. But, This movie does have some pretty good moments.

Chris Reeves's legacy will always be Superman, but he proves here that he was a fine actor who could really nail his character. He does a great job as an introverted, bitter pilot. The other reviewer is correct that Rosanna Arquette is annoying; however, she's not at all the worst part of the movie. If anything is annoying, it's the painfully inaccurate portrayal of wolves. Look, filmmakers, wolves do not stalk people through the woods and attack them out of the blue. This is real life, not "The Howling." Other than those small complaints, though, this simple survival story is fun and engaging, and definitely worth noting for Reeves. 8/10 stars.

Period piece drama based on the 1981 novel by Ernest K. Gann and directed by George T. Miller (not to be confused with the australian George Miller from "Mad Max" fame), "The Aviator" is a nicely shot film about aviation and its daring pilots delivering the air mail in the 1920's between the mountains of Elko, Nevada and Pasco, Washington.

Edgar Anscombe (Reeve, very good) is a Contract Air Mail aviator with a troubled past working for a War vet, Moravia (Jack Warden, strong support). Tillie Hansen (Rosanna Arquette, not so good, a bit hammy and almost irritating in some scenes), a rebellious and spoiled teenager, daughter of the owner of the aviation company, Bruno Hansen (Sam Wanamaker), was the last person that taciturn Edgar wanted as passenger in his airplane. They can't stand each other, but when the plane crash on a remote ridge, they must unite forces to survive the wilderness and its natural predators, a Wolf Pack thirsty for fresh meat...

Co-starred by Scott Wilson ("In Cold Blood") and Tyne Daly ("The Enforcer"), directed with heart, even if too schmaltz sometimes, almost entering into the realms of the TV movie melodrama, it's professionally photographed, especially the air sequences showing Reeve taking off and piloting the plane himself (the actor was a skilled pilot, thus contributing to the realism of his role here), it feels like a cross between the time period of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" ('81) with the charm and wittiness of "Romancing the Stone" ('84) and especially, "High Road to China" ('83), the aviation / adventure film starring Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong, which "The Aviator" is quite often confused.

However, it differs in the sense that it is much more drama / romance oriented than the typical action / adventure film, a genre resurrected 4 years before due to the huge critical and B.O. success of the aforementioned "Raiders...". It also reminds a lot of "Hanover Street" ('79) starring Harrison Ford, Lesley-Ann Down & Christopher Plummer and Reeve's earlier success, the cult favorite time-travel mystery / romance / fantasy, "Somewhere in Time" ('80) sharing the screen with the beautiful Jane Seymour.

The screenplay is quite simple and straightforward and lacked some of the thrills that audiences were expecting from a new "Raiders..." spin-off, hence the critical and B.O. failure.

In short, "The Aviator" is a feel good and harmless little film, that deserved much better fate, it quickly disappeared from theaters, stalled Christopher Reeve's career as a leading man and became one of the forgotten gems from the 80's Era. Rewatching this makes me feel like a little kid again...

I give it a 7.5 !!