Le vol du Phénix

Edwin Aldrin the second man to walk on the moon was asked once if he was in his spacecraft and his engine quit running and he was going to die in an hour how would he spend that last hour? He replied `I'd work on the engine.' This film essentially is about that same type situation. A cargo plane with passengers aboard goes down in the Arabian Desert and the survivors quickly come to the realization that they eventually will be found but probably by that time they will be dead. One of the passengers says he can build a flyable plane out the existing wreckage and they can save themselves. However he's never taken on a project quite this large before.

There are a number of little subplots with the characters to include a hard-nosed pilot, his booze guzzling co-pilot, a British Army sergeant who has a dislike for officers, A by the book British Army officer, A doctor, A mental patient, A cynical oil field worker, an accountant, and so forth. It's somewhat of an all star cast so it helps the picture. Although a little long the film is intriguing. The only damper on this movie is that Paul Mantz a superb pilot was killed in the making of it.

Returning from an oil field with a plane full of crew etc going on leave, Frank Towns' plane enters a sandstorm over the Sahara desert and crashes. As various attempts at rescue or escape fail one passenger, Dorfmann suggests his plan to rebuild the plane as a smaller version and attempt to fly out, leaving the bulk of the damage craft behind. However tensions mount as personalities conflict as all the men face death.

I had only ever heard of this film before I finally got round to watching it last night on television. I was aware of the basic plot and had assumed it was more recent that it actually was. I watched it assuming that it was made in the early seventies when the disaster movie genre was just starting to take off (sorry – accidental pun). However this was made prior to this and is probably a much better film for it – in the seventies the film would have required more spectacle, so the crash would have been much more dramatic and horrifying. As it is now, the film is more about the men under stress than it is about anything else.

This is brought out well and the majority of the drama and tension within the film is as much from these conflicts as it is from the pressure to escape the desert. The film is longer than I expected it to be but it pretty much sustains itself for that length. The main reason for the film working so well is the cast, which has it's fair share of famous faces but also has more than it's fair share of good performances.

Stewart is really strong in the lead (although, in fairness, there is no one main character) and becomes increasingly grizzled as the film goes on. His character is not without flaws even if he does come out of this well. Attenborough is also good but is less evident in the film than some of the others. Krüger has the least pleasant of the roles given that he plays a tough German. He manages to make the character likeable while still going about his task with a strict organised German air to him. Finch is good and is well supported by Fraser. The support cast includes strong performances from Borgnine, Bannen, Kennedy, Marquand and the director's own son is thrown in for colour!

Overall this is much better than the disaster-type movie I had expected as it is a film where the plane crash isn't a blaze of spectacle and the death scenes aren't played out for full effect. Instead it is a tension adventure story that is driven by some great performances by a cast full of well known actors.

"Flight of the Phoenix" (1965) is a survival story about a group of men who crashland in the Libyan desert. A German airplane designer (Hardy Krüger) amongst them suggests utilizing the workable remains of the wreckage to create a new Frankenstein plane, "The Phoenix," and fly out. Although his scheme is initially perceived as mad they soon realize it might be their only legitimate way out.

Even though "Flight" is a survival adventure it's just as much a drama since the setting is stationary (a relatively small area of desert) and there's very little opportunity for action, except the occasional punch or two. The action here is the tension between the men. First and foremost there's pilot Towns' friction with the Kraut airplane designer, Dorfmann. Towns (James Stewart) is a man of old-fashioned practicality whereas Dorfmann is a visionary. Between the two is Towns' assistant, Moran (Richard Attenborough), who understands & likes Towns but sees the genius of Dorfmann.

A stiff-upper-lipped British officer and his sergeant provide more tension. The officer always seems to make the quasi-heroic decision that, while admirable on the surface, is usually the dumbest choice. The sergeant realizes this and is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Does the British Army's chain of command mean anything in such a survival situation? Should he follow this boneheaded officer to a premature grave in the name of respect and loyalty or should he follow the wiser choices for the sake of survival? Towns despises the sergeant for choosing the latter, but is he really wrong? It's debatable.

Other notables are on hand, like Ernest Bornine, Christian Marquand, George Kennedy and Ian Bannen. Borgnine's excellent as a half-crazed employee sent home in the company of his doctor, played by Marquand. One passenger resorts to constant joking and mocking to cope with the situation (Bannen).

The film runs 2 hours and 22 minutes but the drama is so well-written it doesn't seem that long. Like all great films it pulls you in and holds your attention until the end.

The film was shot, believe it or not, in the desert areas of Imperial County in SE California, as well as Yuma.

DVD INFO: Some whiners complain about the DVD being butchered, etc. but I just viewed it and everything looked great and there were no scenes cut out.

FINAL WORD: "Flight of the Phoenix" is one of the greatest survival adventure-dramas ever made. Although there's a little bit of datedness, the film stands head-and-shoulders above the 2004 remake.

GRADE: A

A transport aeroplane carrying an assortment of men crash lands in the Sahara desert, these men must group together in spite of their varying indifference's and build another plane out of the wreckage.

It perhaps, on the surface, doesn't sound much does it? We as viewers are asked to spend over two hours watching these men interact with each other with differing results. The location stays the same, it is just sand, sun, and men awaiting death. Yet the film is one of the best exponents of the character piece because the characters each have their own personal hang ups. Be it carrying scars from the war, or a class difference of upbringing, or that demon addiction to alcohol, these men have to overcome themselves before they can overcome the biggest hurdle in front of them.

Boasting what reads as a who's who of great character actors, The Flight Of The Phoenix becomes a riveting watch because we feel the stifled nature of their plight, because we are blessed to have these wonderful actors fully realising the great writing from Lukas Heller. It is absorbing, it is very sharp, and fittingly we get a twist that makes the ending even more rewarding.

Highly Recommended. 8/10

THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX is a classic tale of derring-do and adventure, a sort of DIRTY DOZEN style movie in which a group of stranded survivors find themselves trapped in a hostile desert and must use their wits in order to survive. It's a tale of bravery, heroism and cowardice in equal measure, as each man must come to terms with what he can do in order to survive, and it's a perfect lesson of how working as a group can always outdo individual effort.

The film is well-shot by Robert Aldrich, who brings the sandy locales to life, even if the studio-shot bits are fairly obvious in comparison to the genuine location shooting. The cast is full of solid, tough guy talent: Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Peter Finch, George Kennedy and Richard Attenborough are fine, but it's Jimmy Stewart who headlines and holds things together as the old hand. Hardy Kruger bags the most interesting role as the engineer, and how many films about engineering are this gripping? I can't think of any others if I'm honest.

A word of warning: avoid the horrid remake, which just slavishly copies the plot of this film but does everything wrong. I think the most annoying thing about it was the casting director's choice to put the inferior Dennis Quaid into the Jimmy Stewart role. I mean, what were they thinking?