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The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) is an intense action drama that spans every emotion. There is no need to describe the plot other than to say that this is a suspenseful and gripping tale of how courage, cooperation, hope, and determination find an unusual and complex mix of personalities coming together for human survival. This movie is much better than many survival films such as Cast Away (2000) Five Came Back (1939), Alive (1993), and Swiss Family Robinson (1960) because of its excellent interpretations, complex characters, and extremely powerful performances. James Stewart is wonderful in his role as the embittered and intrepid pilot hero who may have caused the accident due to his error, Richard Attenborough is magnificent as a previous RAF pilot who is now an alcoholic navigator. Hardy Krüger as the compulsive German engineer is splendid. John Finch is perfect in his performance as the rigid officer as is Ronald Fraser playing his coward subordinate. Ernest Borgnine is sensational as the eccentric who only wants to escape and George Kennedy, Gabriele Tinti, Christian Marquand, and Dan Duryea also do very well though their roles are quite secondary. Finally, Ian Bannen received an Academy Award nomination for best Supporting Actor for his performance as the mechanic. Robert Aldrich had a very unique skill as a director in coaching many actors to an Academy Award in his movies. The music of Frank DeVol is truly spectacular and cinematography of Joseph Biroc is on target capturing the emotional best of all the actors with perfection. In addition to the foregoing, I think there are three more unique qualities that make this an excellent film. First, is the scene that is one of Jimmy Stewart's best performances where Towns and Dorfmann are discussing Dorfmann's career as an airplane designer. Stewart's facial expressions are superb when he learns more than he expected about Dormann's job as an engineer. I have watched this film more than once just for that scene alone. Next, I truly enjoyed how the audience is able see the characters being stripped of all their psychological defenses and their true natures revealed, for better of worse. Aldrich's direction is impeccable, giving the right amount of attention to all the various aspects of the story while really putting the viewer within the story, feeling not only the disparity of the situation as the characters do, but also the hope the men manage to maintain, qualities I believe to be brought forth from our own instincts of survival and self preservation. Finally, another quality that I really enjoyed and it reminded me a little of Psycho (1960) and The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948) is this director had no qualms about killing off various characters regardless of their screen prestige. I have seen plenty of films populated with pointless characters who will predictably perish. This is not the case in this movie as there are a number of deaths and not all of them are anticipated. Furthermore, a few of those who would have been marked for death in more modern movies made it through to the end. Nonetheless, if you enjoyed the 2004 remake of this film, you will be certain to find the original version far more enjoyable and sophisticated. The character development and acting in the remake is not near as rich as in the James Stewart version. Dennis Quaid simply did not portray the depth of emotion and believability in the remake that James Stewart did in the original. Giovanni Ribisi was good as the model plane designer in the remake, but he did not get enough screen time and by comparison, Heinrich Dorfmann as Hardy Krüger had a lot more edge and complexity. For example, Hardy Krüger's character in the original only challenges the pilot, Frank Towns (Jimmy Stewart) who is in charge of the plane reconstruction project. Since the film takes place at the end of World War II and the atrocities of the Nazis Empire are still fresh in the human mind, Krüger's character is made even more complex as he is German. This moral and emotional dilemma is silently played out on Stewart's face before he finally agrees that Krüger is indeed in charge of the plane reconstruction project. This entire scene is brilliant and there is no need to explain anything because it is easily felt in the eyes, expressions, and faces of the actors. In this remake, this scene is almost thrown in much like an after-thought when Dennis Quaid's character understands Krüger's true profession and goes into a stomping, temper-tantrum as an obvious attempt to portray rage for the audience. The remake is not nearly as good as the original although the special effects were fantastic and the cinematography seemed to have more meaningfully captured the vast isolation and desolation of the desert. However, I hope filmmakers learn that a well-acted ensemble of complex, characters trumps a posse of Hollywood clichés and special effects? email this review to a friend
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