IF you enjoy "adrenaline-pumping action that delivers white-knuckle tension, high-soaring action and full-throttle excitement" (as described on the back) then Flight of the Phoenix is not for you. The miraculous meets the ridiculous in this remake by writers Ed Burns and Scott Frank. The story begins when an ailing oil rig has to be shut down by oil company employee and pilot Captain Frank Towns.
While flying the employees back to Beijing, Towns' C-119 cargo plane hits a sandstorm and crashes in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. The survivors are a motley crew who seem to have boundless energy - despite their meagre rations of food and water - to fight aggressively with one another from one scene to another. When tiring of flexing their muscles in the group, they move to a nearby group of nomads to expel more wasted energy and violence.
The characters fall into stock stereotypes, from the posh, cold English bloke (a suited Hugh Laurie) to obstinate, passionate female (Miranda Otto), who predictably spars with the pig-headed pilot (Dennis Quaid) in a half-hearted attempt to create sexual tension.
Unfortunately the only survival techniques tested were my own as I battled to stay awake during a film which fails to ever get off the ground.
CS
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