Volo 174: caduta libera

What an adventure. Based on a true story. If you don't like to fly, though, I wouldn't recommend you watching it! I agree with the reviewer below, you feel like you're part of the action. The acting is all good, especially William Devane as the brave pilot. I also enjoyed Shelley Hack as a stewardess, who has the best line: she snarks to a rude passenger, "Sir, shut your stupid mouth!"

This is a good movie for made-for-TV. A true story about Canada World Airways' Boeing 767 that runs out of fuel, due to a miscalculation by the ground staff in Montreal. The Captain Bob Pearson (William Devane) and First Officer Maurice Quintal (Scott Hylands) must think of something fast before the plane and its 60 passengers fall from the sky.

The acting is great, as each main character's live stories are depicted in the movie, as his/her own personal issues are worsened by the plane's untimely misfortune. The movie is fast pace, leaving little room for mundane scenes and plot lines that drag. We see a movie where people turn from despair to hope as they struggle to find their will to help each other to survive as their plane comes falling. Again, a great TV movie that is worth your time watching.

Grade A

I happened along this movie quite by accident. William Devane does an excellent job portraying an airline captain in charge of a doomed flight. The film was exhausting to watch. I felt like I was there in the cockpit helping Mr. Devane myself. I have tried for years to find a copy of this tape. Not until late last year was it available on VHS in the UK. I ordered the tape immediately. When the tape arrived, I was devastated to find out the VHS tapes sold in England and many other European countries are made on a different standard than ours here in the USA. I have the film on VHS in PAL standard but need it in NTSC or SECAM standard, whichever works in the US. I have been unable to get any help on this. I would very much like a copy of this film if anyone has any ideas.

I decided to watch this movie because William Devane was in the cast. I have enjoyed every movie he has been in. I liked the way, as captain, that he kept control, his determination to survive and a sense of humor throughout the ordeal. I laughed when Rick (Winston Rekert) says to him (Captain Bob-William Devane) that they don't want to cause the oxygen masks to pop out because it might panic the passengers. Captain Bob replies, "MIGHT panic?? I'd be surprised if they're not back there knitting their own parachutes right now!"

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.