The Flight That Disappeared (1961)

A bit slow and preachy, but an interesting tale well worth watching...Actually a more than decent script considering it was shot back in 1961...Second act drags but when they get into the third you sit up and take notice...Don't want to tell all the tale...You'll enjoy watching this yourself...So much junk was produced in this era, it is nice to see something of this quality was shot and produced by Hollywood...The only strange thing is the lost of several international flights lately and how some actually refer to this movie about that situation...All I know is that if I owned the rights to this flick I would mount a minor ad campaign to tie-in with those recent events and sell more copies of "The Flight That Disappeared"...Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

This movie is more of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits Episode than a Full Length. But Overall its a Good/Decent Movie for a movie on a Low Budget 60's Movie. What gets me is other reviews who the movie is Extreme when it comes to Morals. Really? I would hope if a weapon that is easily assessable that could destroy the whole world. That maybe, Just Maybe Morals and Ethics would be talked about. Otherwise the nihilist should just resurrect Hitler and get It over with. Sci-Fi has always been used to talk about situation humanity might find themselves in and how they should handle those situations. That is why Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and Star Trek are great shows and why The Day the Earth Stood Still and Jurassic Park are great movie. Was this kind of plot used all the time in the 50 and 60. Yeah but it was also because we just drop to Nuclear Bombs in Japan. And if anyone Notice. But that was damn horrible. Maybe the reason they used these kind of plot. Was Because they were honestly worried about the future. Anyways don't listen to the Naysayers. For a Low Budget Movie is one of the better movies with the "Will Humanity Survive" of plots

A cross-country airliner, whose passengers include a nuclear physicist, a rocket expert, and a mathematical genius, is drawn beyond radar range by an unknown, unbreakable force.Others have compared this film to "The Twilight Zone", and rightly so. I am almost surprised no one from the show was involved in this film, because the plot and political point of view is exactly the same. The only difference is that this is much longer (and maybe not necessarily so -- I can see this story being told in 25 minutes).If the film has any real flaw, it is that the morality is a bit over the top and extreme. The message is a good one, and one that hardly anyone could disagree with. But it comes off almost preachy and condescending because there is not one ounce of subtlety in it at all. (I am being vague here so as not to spoil anything, though the plot is about as obvious as possible.)

It seems as though all films have some kind of message. (Well, "The Horror of Party Beach" might not have one.) Some movies skim over their message, and some pound it right into your skull. "The Flight that Disappeared" is a film that pounds you with its message during almost the entire film.Tom (Craig Hill), Marcia (Paula Raymond), and Dr. Morris (Dayton Lummis) are three scientists aboard a commercial flight. They are heading to an important meeting at which they will unveil their plans for a massive new bomb, one that can easily wipe out all people on earth. The plane inexplicably climbs and climbs, eventually beyond its ceiling, and the three find themselves in a shadowy world of the future. There, they are put on trail by a judge (the imperious Gregory Morton) and a jury, who represent the future people who will be killed by the new bomb. The judge decrees that they shall remain in the future world and can never return. The prisoners make an improbable escape and find the plane, which makes a safe landing--several days late.The three leads are pretty ordinary (Lummis appears irritated most of the time) and the plot is very familiar. The film suffers from a small budget, although the future world is fairly well done. Gregory Morton is so severe that he probably would have scared me when I was a kid. John Bryant plays pilot Hank Norton and probably gives the best performance of the film as he is confounded by the plane's continued climb.You could do much better than "The Flight that Disappeared", but it's acceptable fantasy fare.