Air Panic (2002)

I can't tell you when I have like a movie MORE that I had never heard of before I aw it tonight. I thought the plot was A+; the acting A+, and I fell in love with Josie. Kristanna Loken's acting was SO good, I NEVER once thought of anything but the plot, and how badly I wanted the two leads to get together after the mess was over. Again, a FIRST CLASS performance from all, and my next step is to get the DVD!!! My only complaint is this incredibly STUPID rule that all reviews MUST be 10 lines or more! WHY: if you can say it in 3, 4, 5 lines or even less, what is so wrong with that? Does IMDb want us to be as shallow as the clods in Hollyweird. I'm still trying to come up with another line, but I see I'm already at ten. IMDb; bag the stupid minimum!!!

The closing credits for "Air Panic" list quite a few individuals with foreign-sounding last names, so you may think that this Nu Image production was filmed on their familiar stomping grounds of Bulgaria. Surprisingly, it seems it was filmed state-side, so that may explain why this effort looks a little better than many of their Bulgaria films. Some of the special effects aren't bad for what was a low budget, and the movie is shot and lit fairly well. Still, I was disappointed with this movie. Although I was not offended by the opening as some viewers will be (the movie was made BEFORE 9/11), the movie manages to feel rather flat and surprisingly not exciting despite all the chaos that happens to the protagonists. Those who think this is one of the worst films ever made simply need to expand the amount of movies they see, so they can see real turkeys. Though as I said in my summary line above, I still wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone.

It amazes me that someone would actually consider spending some money on a movie like this. Really. Let's forget for a second that the plot doesn't even give a single hint of originality... Most of the movies today are based on other movies' stories, so a "simple" lack of originality is not that big a deal. But I can hardly believe that none of the guys involved in the movie had never even got on a plane before shooting this. Because, let's be honest, that would be the only excuse to come up with something so ridiculous. To be sincere I think a 6-years-old child with a fake camera could have come up with something technically much more believable. Some examples following.The scene that really drove me crazy is when the engines turn off when they regain control of the plane. When they have to turn them on again the guy on the radio says something like "Ok, push the 1 and 2 buttons on the dashboard". Now, those are not buttons. They should not be pushed, they should actually be pulled up and toward the pilot. That's something only plane-addicted would know, you say? Wrong. The next scene you can see their fingers pushing the "buttons"... And of course the so called "buttons" don't move at all! Not even a single millimeter! (And note that I haven't even mentioned the fact that aircraft engines are not like cars engine, that you just turn the key and the magic happens... You have to do quite a complicated procedure to turn them on...) Come on guys! You could have faked the movements at least!! Not to mention the hilarious final impact, where the plane crashes against every single thing along the runway (Light poles along the runway? What where they thinking?!)... And the wings don't even get ripped off! It happened to me too, once... Except the plane was made of Lego! What about the flight attendant? She's actually so skilled that she perfectly knows where the "aux 1" and "aux 2" fuses are, in the middle of the wires behind the cockpit. Should we mention, then, the guy that can drive an ambulance _and_ fly a plane behind the ambulance using his computer? And how did he turn the other airplane engines on?Really, I could go on hours with this stuff. This is the dumbest movie I've ever come across, and I'm including garbage like Alone In The Dark and other stuff in the list. Want to do yourself a favor? Don't watch it.

A psychopath takes over autopilot system of a plane for reasons you cant begin to comprehend, a hero tries to save the day, an air hostess supports his efforts, there is a ground support also... The movie has every cliche of a hijack drama. Trust me, you don't want to see this one.