Flight of the Phoenix reviews
 

Metacritic reviews

Los Angeles Times / Kevin Thomas:
An excellent job of retaining key elements of the original plot but have created a whole new set of characters that gives the film an entirely contemporary feel.

Entertainment Weekly / Scott Brown:
Refreshingly, it's actually about action, albeit arbitrary action, and how it defines us and keeps us alive.

Chicago Sun-Times / Roger Ebert:
Because I had, in a sense, already seen this movie, it didn't have surprises or suspense for me, and the actors on their own aren't enough to save it.

The Hollywood Reporter / Michael Rechtshaffen:
While it certainly looks swell thanks to director John Moore's striking visuals, the wings of this rebuilt "Phoenix" have been clipped by generic scripting and a short supply of dramatic tension.

USA Today / Mike Clark:
There's nothing like dumbing down a movie grown-ups love so it can be "sold" to teens who aren't going to go anyway. The savvy flyer will proceed to the gate marked The "Aviator" instead.

I hate to judge this movie before it even comes out, but I really don't think it can hold a candle to the original.

The trailers just make me cringe.

Same here. I don't have too high of expectations for this one.

Johnathon Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
. . . This absorbing remake by John Moore, scripted by Scott Frank and Edward Burns, is shorter and more modestly cast (Dennis Quaid, Miranda Otto, Giovanni Ribisi), but in contrast to Steven Soderbergh's recent recyclings, it proves that you can revisit a good movie without cynicism or disrespect . . . the old-fashioned theme of disaster as an existential test of character still works.

Worth checking out I suppose.

Worth checking out simply for Giovanni Ribisi. :up:

Didn't even know it was a remake.

Check out the original with Jimmy Stewart. It has some pretty tense moments. The whole interaction between the German guy and all the Americans is great (a WWII era movie).

It was fair, I wasn't all that caught up in it, but it was cool to see House (Hugh Laurie) in the film.

Miranda Otto was in the film, and it looks like she took some of her income from the LOTR films and got her front teeth capped (less gappy now).

Giovanni was okay in his usual odd/eccentric way.

Literally, Dennis Quaid was on auto-pilot in this film.

I give it 2 stars, or a grade of C.

i agree it won't be close to the original, but it still looks like a movie worth seeing. I hate remakes for the most part, but this one will get my 8 bucks

I just saw the original last month on TCM. I just don't see how this remake could entertain me enough to spend money on it. Jimmy Stewart, Richard Attenborough and Hardy Kruger were just fantastic. I like Giovanni Ribisi, but don't see this topping the original.

I think I'll take my $7 and put it towards buying the original on DVD.

That will be money well spent. :up:

I didn't notice any change, but often the studio forces the talent to get the dental work.

This happened to Ben Affleck and Jason Mewes in recent years.

Just saw it, and I stand by my original comment. The film only was worth watching for Ribisi's character.