Why so much hype?

Thanks for the memories!

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

In the history of low budget, low level, B and C movies, you've got to remember the name of Jim Wynorski well, because this writer/producer/director is undying icon if only some fair historians rediscover his work, just like it happened with Ed Wood and his masterpieces ! And why not, maybe Tim Burton would be alive to make a mainstream bio-pic named (The Great Wynorski) or (Jim the Dim) ! The first gem I've watched for such a master was (Final Voyage - 1999). It was a Die Hard copy but on a ship (closer to poor, very poor, man's Under Siege, strangely with its heroine Erika Eleniak !!). I felt "all right...this is super, the first action movie without any action !". Thereafter I've been infatuated by this director's work. I discovered that he could be really the new, extremely professional, Ed Wood ! (Crash Landing) is another Die Hard copy, yet in a plane. And when it comes to that I mustn't ignore the historical facts. The disaster movies that center on a plane situation were fashionable at the 1970s (one of the golden ages of the disaster movies). Yet after disastrous experiences at the end of the decade like (The Concorde...Airport '79 – 1979), and 2 parody movies already (Airplane! – 1980) and (Airplane II The Sequel – 1982), the planes' movies with the whole subgenre's blaze went to cool off. However, it took less than another decade to go from die down to Die Hard.It's just the formula that got changed. From a problem that hits a plane (natural disaster, technical accident, a bomb) to just terrorists with always mad leader and Only One Man who stands against them all. That led to (Passenger 57 – 1992), (Executive Decision – 1996), then (Turbulence) with rarely One Heroine this time, (Air Force One) and (Con Air) all in (1997). Simply the international success of most of them generated another wave however on have-not level !Movies like (Sonic Impact – 1999), (Mach 2 – 2001), (Air Marshal – 2003) aren't that famous, not because the no-publicity or the bad distribution, but because they're so uncomplicated movies with no-known stars, no-budget, no-artistic talents and nearly no-amusement as well ! It's an old trend of the B-movies, yet in the age of straight-to-video ones, that could form a subgenre named The No Movies !(Crash Landing) is No exception ! However you must estimate it rightly (basically if you got the powerful patience to complete it !) while keeping in mind the case's usual : The low production. The negligent naive directing. The too customary, slightly smart script. The weak performance, action, special effects. And, my personal nightmare, the forever narrow cadres. So, according to that (CL) is a well meaning small movie that wants nothing but to entertain. And it achieves that, but in a very light way. Though, DON'T BUY or RENT the VHS or the DVD (if they're brave enough to release one !). Just watch it through cable or TV !(Antonio Sabato Jr.) needs more to be (Bruce Willis) or anything good (more acting lessons, true roles, and a direction that gives a damn !), bad shirt by the way!. (Brianne Davis), the rich man's daughter, got here no talent, no charisma, and no role ! Since "Knots Landing" I didn't run into (Kevin Dobson) much, this movie was a nice chance to meet him again : it's always a pleasure to see you Mr. Dobson ! I didn't catch on the reason why the terrorists hijacked the plane ?? Yes, there are many rich people's sons and daughters there, but what were their plan or their demands anyway ???! How a pilot, who has been shot right in the heart, got the power to shoot one of the terrorists, kill her, and complete leading the flight ??! For the goofs section : there is a big board of publicity behind one soon-to-be-killed air hostess while she was exercising at her home, this very board you'd find it again at the so-called airport when (Dobson) was meeting his daughter ??!!Don't you ever go and blame the director! Definitely our dear friend Wynorski didn't have any time to create anything (I think he didn't have that time ever !). He's a very busy man, and how he could've had the time while he got at the same year 7, yes 7, more movies to be made ! FYI in 2005, aside from (Church Landing), big Jim directed (Bare Wench: The Final Chapter), (Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade), (Lust Connection), (Sub Zero), (Komodo vs. Cobra), (The Witches of Breastwick) and (The Witches of Breastwick : Part 2) also ! So as you see the man got no time to sleep, not to create !It's not bad, it's just full of No elements. Not taking itself seriously. So, if you want a contra-Hollywood flick that needs from you No thinking, No criticizing, and No complaining; then this is the one for you. Otherwise, it's one of the most perfect times to say "NO" to a movie!If you're interested, at the same year (2005) there were 2 more movies with a plane, a danger and one heroine - not hero - as well : a semi-yes movie (Flightplan), and a big yes one (Red Eye). P.S : (Jim Wynorski) holds the record for the highest number of aliases a director used in the history of the American movies. He worked under countless fake names like (H.R. Blueberry), (Bob E. Brown), (Noble Henry), (Jamie Wagner), (Jay Andrews), or even (Tom Popatopolous) ! The question now is : Is it a way to perfect a tax evasion ? Or Is it a way to flee from the audience, and delude them with another movie of him?

I can't believe that someone actually paid to have this film made. Stupid, unrealistic, and stereotypical. Right from the take off of the massive 747 the pilot pulled the throttles back to increase speed. then you have 5 armed persons with semi to fully automatic weapons firing without so much as one bullet breaching the walls of the pressurized cabin at 38,000 feet. Then once below in the belly of the plane a stray bullet hits a FUEL line and we see the fuel leaking from the side of the plane. The acting was just horrid and forced. There just didn't seem to be any direction. I have seen some pretty horrid B movies in my lifetime but with the names that were in this film I was extremely disappointed.

You have to see this. I could not stop laughing about the stupidities I saw in this movie even late after the event. There is maybe a million of individual mistakes and stupidities in this movie. The acting is bad. The story is so predictable and flat. The effects are like 50 years old. The supposed thriller is nowhere. You will not enjoy the movie, but you will laugh at it and enjoy laughing at it a long time after it. We had a great time AFTER the movie. Truly. Me and my friend spent entire 40mins long bus trip home chatting about this movie like we have seen next Oscar winner. Sadly we were talking about all those bad things we had just seen.

This movie is so bad it's worth seeing. This movie will have viewers lapsing in and out of a coma within the first 10 minutes. It all started when a bunch of writers came up with the idea of a jetliner being hijacked and a passenger who can fly a small plane has to land the beast. However, they know it's been done before many times so to make it different, let's do it very badly! Major Masters has his name pirated from 80's movie "To Live and Die in L.A." from character played by Willem Dafoe. That saved 10 minutes in writing and production time. The plane is supposed to be a Boieng 747. That plane has a unique silhouette, even in the dark with its characteristic forward hump on the top. Just ask the late Ronald Reagan who lamented this point when them Ruskies shot down KAL 007 in the eighties. Yet when the plane takes off it's clearly not a 747 looks more like a 767. This well researched film also forgets to include the engineer's seat in the cockpit and replaces it with two comfy rumble seats. No need for a flight engineer on this complex plane! Heroine is played by perpetually pouting Gloria Lynn Berg. After tying up the hijacker, despite several bus-loads of people on this jumbo jet, nobody bothers to watch this guy who almost killed all of them. He's just forced to amuse himself.The crippled plane, leaking fuel from all the hijacking shenanigans won't make it back to Hawaii so Masters will try to land at an Air Force base located on an island. Only the runway's 300 feet too short! Four army guys with little Bobcats (the kind you rent to take all day moving a load of horse manure to the back of your barn), are gonna clear a 200 foot wide and 300 foot long swath through the jungle in 20 minutes! No need for a bulldozer here! Where can you find guys like this? These guys could make a highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 3 hours equipped only with tablespoons, a compass and a duck!After that hellish obstacle is fixed, Masters will try to land the plane as heroine pouts away. Hijacker giggles to himself and unsupervised gets free to make more trouble. He is finally subdued in a most retarded manner that I can't tell you. But, can YOU say Moby Dick?There are so many retarded scenes in this movie. The wounded captain is parked prone on the bar on the plane while Masters, who supposedly can barely fly, puts the plane into 60 degree banks and 20,000 feet per minute drops. The pilot should be french kissing the ceiling during these challenging stunts, but doesn't budge an inch. I think that if they had picked different actors to play the parts, this moving could have been way better. If we need a pouting heroine in the movie, why not pick better known actress Bernadette Peters who seems to be perpetually pouting as well? Besides, she can sing and the busty well aging Peters could feature some gratuitous cleavage shots. Now with the singing angle this could be a Hijacking, Let's Land the Plane Movie MUSICAL! Cast Luciano Pavarotti as the Pilot. They can sing a duet in the cockpit prior to the hijacking and there's no way that tubby tenor would fly up to the ceiling as Masters works his magic on that big bird. In keeping with the musical theme, Masters could then be played by Andrei Bocelli, that Peters Can sing with as he lands the plane. Not only is he totally blind but only knows a couple of words of English. Now that's a plot! Think of the edge of your seat conversation between Masters (Bocelli) and the Air Traffic Controller:ATC: "Sir, please throttle back to 180, flaps set to 25 degrees. maintain 230 heading"Bocelli: "What?"ATC: "Sir, arm spoilers now, confirm brake pressure at 250 psi. Maintain descent at 500 fpm"Bocelli: "What?"The hijacker could have been played by the late great Rodney Dangerfield who can spew a plethora of his one liners as he sits tied up and unguarded: "I get no respect. My wife is into group sex. Yeah, she screwed me in front of the judge and jury!" Get the idea?MISSED OPPORTUNITIES The movie has your standard crying and moaning passengers that are never developed. Woody Allen could have been at the back offering one of his neurotic monologues: "She said I was great in bed. I told her I practice myself a lot..." Now THIS is a movie!Also, according to similar movie "Executive Decision" where lazy eyed Steven Segal is mercifully killed at the start giving that movie a chance, 747's have massive attics up top. The plane was introduced in 1969 so who knows what has accumulated in almost 40 years up there? My uncle has old clothes, a sled, magazines and all sorts of stuff in his. WOuldn't it have been cool if Masters opened the trap door and saw a teary eyed Chevy Chase in a woman's housecoat watching old Super 8 movies of his childhood? Just a recommendation.So give it a chance, and as u lapse in and out of consciousness imagine how great this movie could have been if I had my hand in it...