Starflight One
February. 27,1983Starflight One, a commercial aircraft that can whisk passengers around the globe in a matter of hours, embarks on its maiden voyage. The trip goes horribly awry, however, when the aircraft is forced out of the atmosphere and into outer space. As it is too dangerous to attempt reentry, Captain Cody Briggs, his passengers and his crew brave declining levels of oxygen while NASA scientists scramble to launch a rescue mission in a race against time.
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Absolutely Fantastic
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
OK I agree that the Australian accent is a bit overdone, but remember, this was filmed in 1982 and Australians were depicted that way for years, until the Mel's and Hugh's and Nicole's came to prominence. O.K. I forgot Bryan Brown! The real Aussie Icon! I was fortunate enough to see the full-length version of this TV Movie, which runs to 138 minutes, on our local station NBN 3 before it became a mirror image of Sydney station TCN Nine. The video release from Roadshow years ago has a great cover, however the print is around 100 minutes. What a great cast. Our hero Lee Majors, the gorgeous Lauren Hutton, Tess Harper, always dependable Ray Milland, Robert Webber and Hal Linden. The full-length version should be released in a nice remastered DVD... So take a step back in time to the early 80s when we still had reliable familiar faces that graced our screens and enjoy it already!
In fact I think this was a KTMA episode. But one scene that stands out in my mind indelibly is the one where Hal Linden's character is spirited off Starflight by sticking him in the coffin that was transporting the Australian ambassador to the US back home for burial or some such, and the body is stiff as a board (or a mannequin) after being removed from the casket and floats around the cargo hold wearing the pointiest shoes I've ever seen . Somehow I don't think a casket is airtight enough to survive the rigors of spaceflight!
This might have been made in 1983 but it carries the smell of a leftover of the 70s disaster film genre and their many TV knockoffs (director Jerry Jameson being responsible among other things for "Airport 77") with the long litany of big names in the cast and cliche filled subplots. Indeed, "Starflight" is really just a reworking of the 1977 TV-movie "SST: Disaster In The Sky" when you get down to it only this time we have the silly wrinkle of a hypersonic plane getting forced into orbit somehow by accident. There then follows the hilarious implausibility of a single space shuttle that is somehow able to be launched at a moment's notice, then land and relaunch within a couple hours (it actually takes days to get a shuttle hooked up to a new external tank and rocket boosters and then get rolled out to the launch pad). And then get a load of this: Pilot Lee Majors is insistent that the entire crew stay aboard to the end, stewardesses included, but oops, when it comes to the stewardess that he's shacking up with (Lauren Hutton) he makes darn certain that she alone among the crew gets a privileged pass off the ship before the moment of danger comes in re-entry! Guess the moral of the story is if you want to avoid the danger of possible death, make certain you're sleeping around with the people in authority.And by the way "Goulash" from Bombay, if you're a real person who really loved this movie that much, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.....
This movie was by far the best sci fi movie I've ever seen. It was better than Star Wars and couldn't have been more delightful. This movie is a must see for any true movie buff.10 STARS **********