Flight of the Phoenix

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Flight of the Phoenix ★★½ 2004 (PG-13)

Old-fashioned remake of Robert Aldrich's 1965 film makes use of both Lukas Heller's original screenplay and the Elleston Trevor novel. Frank Towns (Quaid) is the tough, cynical pilot of a rusty C-119 cargo plane who has just picked up a disparate group of oil rig workers, including lone woman Kelly (Otto), from the Mongolian desert. They crash during a sandstorm and their survival comes to depend on arrogant oddball Elliott (Ribisi). Claiming to be an aircraft designer, Elliott announces he can make a new plane from the crash pieces, if the reluctant Towns will cede him authority. Tensions grow, supplies dwindle, and desert nomads wait like vultures to prey on the weakening survivors. Remake has CGI advantages but less-compelling characters. 112m/C VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc . US Dennis Quaid, Miranda Otto, Giovanni Ribisi, Tyrese Gibson, Hugh Laurie, Tony Curran, Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones, Jacob Vargas, Scott Michael Campbell, Kevork Malikyan; D: John Moore; W: Scott Frank, Edward Burns; C: Brendan Galvin; M: Marco Beltrami.