Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal

May. 13,2001      R
Rating:
3.6
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Rock superstar Slade Craven has decided to hang up his rock & roll shoes and has planned something very special for his final show -- instead of a typical concert in some sports arena, he'll play a set aboard a 747 jumbo jet, flying from Los Angeles to Toronto, with the gig broadcast live to millions of fans over the Internet. But what Craven didn't count on is the presence of a deranged fan with a gun who attempts to hijack the plane, throwing the show into chaos and putting the lives of everyone aboard the jet at risk.

Craig Sheffer as  Nick Watts
Gabrielle Anwar as  Kate Hayden
John Mann as  Slade Craven / Simon Flanders
Monika Schnarre as  Erika Black
Mike Dopud as  Dave Barrett
Hrothgar Mathews as  Benny Mitchell
Alex Zahara as  Ethan
Michelle Harrison as  Jen Shore
Rutger Hauer as  Copilot MacIntosh
Joe Mantegna as  Frank Garner

Reviews

Hellen
2001/05/13

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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KnotStronger
2001/05/14

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

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Tayyab Torres
2001/05/15

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

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Gary
2001/05/16

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

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Richard Hawes
2001/05/17

The bizarre pitch for this airborne thriller is Passenger 57 (1992) starring Marilyn Manson. It involves a controversial heavy metal group performing an internet-streamed gig aboard a jumbo jet, co-piloted by Rutger Hauer, that's hijacked by Satanists.Screenwriter Wade Ferley clearly had no shortage of ideas, the problem is he didn't know how to develop them and so the film skitters between several characters involved with or observing the unfolding mayhem.Despite all the onboard chaos, much of the time is spent with additional characters on the ground. A pointless sub-plot involves a Clarice Starling-style FBI agent tracking down a notorious computer hacker and other scenes involve Joe Mantegna.Director Jorge Montesi has an extensive history in television and a handful of features under his belt. Unfortunately his experience fails to give the film anything more than a cheap TV movie feel. Locations are suspiciously absent of extras and very bland to look at, while the principle cast members spend the majority of the time in separate locations from which the fail to venture far from.An early indication of budgetary limitations is the opening sequence. Craven is identified as this fictional world's Marilyn Manson, a character whose popularity is equalled only by his controversial status. Greeting him at the airport are his legion of dedicated fans and protesters clearly representing the religious right. But either side's numbers are so few it's difficult to suspend disbelief and enter into the story.However, once you accept its limitations of budget and scale, Turbulence 3 becomes a fun thrill ride surpassing the majority of Airport (1969) clones. While its use of air disaster clichés, such as the on-board threat, communications with the tower/ground authorities and the final landing sequence (followed by the shot of emergency vehicles and survivors exiting the plane), place it within a specific genre, it's cultural themes to mark is very much as a film of it's time. It has a unique identity and it's trying to capture the zeitgeist; it just does it badly.This is one of those movies in which there are plenty of familiar faces and names, but none of these are the main characters. Many in Turbulence 3's supporting cast have a history in the air disaster genre. Craig Sheffer returns from Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999) but portrays a different character, unconvincingly cast as a hippie hacker. Sheffer and co-star Gabrielle Anwar and Rutger Hauer were also together in Flying Virus (also made in 2001) and he completed a quadrilogy of air disasters with TV movie Cabin Pressure (2002). Co-star Joe Mantegna had earlier appeared in Airspeed (1998).The most complex sequences take place aboard the plane and feature none of the headlined stars. Unknown John Mann got a chance to shine in the dual role of Slade Craven and his psychotic doppelgänger. Craven is not as embarrassingly cartoonish as he could have been and Mann makes the role his own, exploring not only the public and private dimension of the rock star, but also his truly deranged double - enhanced with a vocal dub.Mann, who performs 2 mediocre tracks as Craven, does a good job in stripping away the theatrical aspect of his character without ever removing his make-up. Unfortunately the impact is undermined by a late moment where our mock-satanic hero takes a moment to pray, as if to confirm he is indeed a good man.The starring role in Turbulence 3 didn't do much for Mann's career. He eventually made it to the higher profile films in roles such as as "bouncer" in Catwoman (2004), "convict" in The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and "Viking doctor" in Pathfinder (2007).

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Skutter-2
2001/05/18

I should probably stop choosing movies to watch based on the criteria of Rutger Hauer being in them. As cool as the dude is he has been in little but straight to video turds for the last decade or so. Case in point Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal. Not a movie I'd choose to watch normally being a straight to video sequel to two movies I have not seen and have no interest in seeing but Rutger is in and I seemed to recall seeing a trailer for it that made it at least look amusingly cheesy. The movie is actually rather tame and befuddling illogical and to make matters worse there is very little Rutger (Actually in one sense there is rather a lot of Rutger but I think he's cool enough to not deserve too many cheap shots about his weight).The 'plot' revolves around a hijacking of plane that is being used as the venue of a farewell concert for Goth rocker Slade Craven which is being broadcast live across the net. Examined in any more detail than that the plot starts to unravel. The movie makes so little sense in such a way as to suggest that the finished product was made from an unfinished draft of the script or more likely that they changed scripts halfway through and didn't do any refilming. Most notably nonsensical is the sudden inexplicable explosion of the air traffic control tower and revelation that the Craven who is seen hijacking the plane is an imposter, replaced half way through the concert, when Craven was shown smuggling the guns onboard earlier in the movie (In a way which requires incredible slackness on the part of airline security). That's not mention the out of the blue sex scene lead in at the end of the movie, the awful music video, the contrived hacker subplot and the seriously wacky aim of the satanic terrorists to crash the plane into a church in the middle of nowhere because of its mystical significance.Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal is a low budget production and it shows. There are only a few locations- a couple on the plane, Watt's apartment, the studio and a couple of others which are all rather sparse looking. None the action in the movie is very elaborate. The big explosion looks fake and the camera shaking when the plane experiences turbulence is as sophisticated as the camera-work gets. I have a feeling this was just some generic hijack script that they shoved the Turbulence moniker on to get what little name recognition they could as is often the case with these lame straight to video sequels. The characters are all bland or cliché such as the narcissistic entertainment report. Nobody in the production really puts in much effort, even seasoned pros like Rutger and Mategna are kind of dull here, given the boring material they have work with. Anwar and Shaffer give one note 'don't want to be here' performances. Anwar in particular seems like she was on Prozac. Sadly Rutger is hardly in the movie, his being a supporting role, but given the movie that may be a mercy. There was also a lot really bad dialogue a lot of which made no sense and supported my mangled script theory with characters some times seemingly referring to things which we hadn't seen or more often dialogue exchanges that just didn't add up. For example one of the metal fans on the plane gives a "You!" type reaction when the faux-Craven is revealed but we have no idea where he meant to have recognised him from. A "Not you!" reaction would seem more appropriate in the situation. I kind of wish I could actually remember some more of them but I can't be bothered rewatching the bloody thing again. Although, Slade Craven's repeated catch-phrase of "Let's do the hustle" really seems inappropriate for a badboy Marilyn Manson type.Ultimately, despite the presence of Rutger, I can't truly recommend Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal even for the WTF? factor.

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apotatojudge
2001/05/19

This has to be one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen. My friends and I, hating our lives, decided what better way to lift our spirits than by seeing a shitty movie? I suggested a movie I saw part of on Cinemax, so we rented it.The rest is history.I have never had a night like the night I watched Turbulence 3. It is, by far, one of the worst films I have ever seen, yet I find myself watching it every time it comes on television (which is very, very often - especially if you have those multi-channel Cinemax packages). Seriously, I don't know why, but I probably watch this movie at least every two weeks.And it never fails to bring in the laughs.This movie is highly recommended if you have nothing to and are looking for some seriously fun laughs, a la Mystery Science Theater 3000 (witty banter not included though).My favorite line is when Jack Fletcher, a pilot with an latent speech impediment, says, "Hewwo, Slade? This is Jack Fwetcher, and I'm a pirate." Favorite scene: The FCC.

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spacemuse1
2001/05/20

Of the less-than-constructive criticism out there, it seems wholly ignored that the premise of the film is Aircraft + Hijack as in the other turbulence films. The concert aboard the plane definitely isn't a cliché and can not be detrimental to the plot even in theory. Speaking of which, the plot has lovely twists and turns even though people that decide to dislike the film before it even begins may be forgiven for ignoring the finer details.Personally I like the film more for its style rather than grue value, if such a thing applies.Regards, Slade

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