The Flight of the Phoenix

A twin-engine propeller airplane, carrying a group of oil company people to a Saharan outpost, crashes in the African desert… On board, a handful of disparate characters: a jovial pessimist, a noble doctor, a 'frantic' fellow, a distrustful bitter pilot,... Full review

These comments are partly inspired by other comments and the message boards. This film presents a hypothetical survival situation and does a great job of showing how innovation and persistence bring the survivors through. Strengths and weaknesses are plausibly portrayed... Full review

I use snippets from this film in a project management class. It is hard to imagine how the casting could have been any better. Jimmy Stewart plays the part of the aging pilot with an adventurous past so well not... Full review

"The Flight of the Phoenix", based on the Elleston Trevor novel, has little more than one set and no costume changes; and the action is confined to the few yards around an airplane crashed in the desert. Yet its story... Full review

The pilot character "Frank Towers" played by the wonderful (life) Jimmy Stewart is typical of the era it portrayed. Many ex-service pilots found work in the civilian aviation world - their training, paid for by Governments, was a cheap way... Full review

I have seen this film maybe, 20 times over the last 30 years. It's one of the rare movies that entertains each and every time. Seeing movies like Flight Of The Phoenix only reminds me just how bad "Hollywood" has... Full review

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... Full review

Where as many films with star casts have failed, this one does not.This film oozes quality by the bucket load. It centres round the story of the survivors of a plane crash who attempt to build a plane out of... Full review

I agree with most of the people here that this movie is an overlooked gem. It always comes to mind when I think of movie classics, but most people I've known have never seen it. If it comes on TV... Full review

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?... Full review

The Flight of the Phoenix is a remake of the 1965 film of the same name, which itself was based on a novel. The film tells the story of a group of oil workers returning from shutting down a derelict... ... Full Article

September 7, 2004 - Stax here with a special "Airborne" edition of The Stax Report! Today's in-flight showcase will spotlight films about flying and aviation, a subject explored onscreen from Wings (the very first film to ever win the Academy... ... Full Article

March 23, 2004 - Stax here with a special "Survivor" edition of The Stax Report!Today I'll be showcasing films about heroes forced to survive in a hostile environment. ... Full Article

August 21, 2003 - Stax here with my reaction to the screenplay for The Flight of the Phoenix ! John Moore ( Behind Enemy Lines ) will direct it for producers Davis Entertainment and William Aldrich. ... Full Article

Some ill-advised choices with music aside this is a decent enough character piece.Sadly there are many plot holes and lapses in logic (how exactly can one character recognise a particular watch from 30 feet away in pitch darkness?) ... Full Article