Zero Hour! (1957)

OK, I didn't get to watch this movie until after I'd already seen 'Airplane!' and that means that the whole way through the film, I kept hearing Robert Hays' Stryker in my head. Some of the lines are lifted word-for-word. Once you manage to get over that, this is an entertaining movie. An average rating of 6.6 (at the time of writing this review) is a tad harsh, IMO. Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell both turn in solid performances in the cockpit as the mid-air disaster unfolds. Sterling Hayden, the guy who has to talk Stryker down through the landing procedure, also does a good job, but I just can't help seeing and hearing Lloyd Bridges the whole way through.It's a shame that 'Airplane!' has become such an iconic movie because anybody who watches 'Zero Hour' now will end up laughing because they've seen 'Airplane!'. In it's day, this was regarded as a tense, gripping movie. I think it's an all-round good movie, so just try to see it in it's own context and you'll enjoy it.

Famously parodied as Airplane in 1980, it gets forgotten just what a rollicking good thriller Zero Hour! is. Dana Andrews is the airman scarred by an incident during the war who has to battle his demons when the crew and passengers of the jumbo jet he is aboard fall victim to food poisoning. Sterling Hayden is down on the ground smoking loads of ciggies and having no faith in trying to talk Andrews down safely.One of the first disaster aeroplane movies, it follows what we now regard as the staples of the genre. Troubled protagonist, family strife, calm characters, panic characters, lovely ladies, square jawed men, raging weather conditions and an aeroplane in serious danger of plummeting from the sky and killing all on board. It's sometimes hokey and one dimensional in terms of plot developments, but it commits to the drama and grinds out a suspenseful last half hour that can have you edging towards the edge of your seat.A must see for fans of such fare. It's OK to love Airplane! and prefer its comedy smartness, but it's also OK to doff a respectful pilot cap towards Zero Hour! as well. 7.5/10

Right now, I really can't think off an earlier genre movie. This movie has got to be one of the very first disaster movies, a genre that became particularly popular in the '70's.It's sort of hard to watch this movie now days, since it's hard to detach it from "Airplane!", which is a movie that spoofs this movie. Some of the scenes and pieces of dialog are even exactly the same, which makes it particularly hard to watch this movie with a straight face and see it as a different movie on its own.I tried as best as I could but while trying so, I just couldn't ever really like this movie. It takes itself far too serious, even while it's having quite a ridicules concept. It also does a bad job at handling and building up its tension, which makes this movie even worse to watch.Nothing really ever got developed well enough and the characters remain disappointingly flat and stiff. How was I supposed to care for any of these persons? It of course doesn't help that the acting in this movie is absolutely dreadful. Even Sterling Hayden, who obviously was a more than capable actor, was quite horrible in this movie. This is all also partly due to it that the movie features some truly bad dialog in it at times.It's a bad movie in a goofy sort of way, which still makes this movie a somewhat watchable one.5/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This plot of passengers getting food poisoning was first filmed as Flight into Danger (1956). Next came Zero Hour (1957)which stared Dana Andrews. In 1971 Terror in the Skies came along with Lief Ericson.And finally in 1980 the wacky, wonderful, Airplane blessed us all with it's release. A lot of movie buffs claim Airplane was based on Flight into Danger, or Terror in the Skies. But according to IMDb it was Zero Hour as explained in this IMDb Quote: "The makers of Airplane! (1980) bought the rights to Zero Hour! (1957) to remake it. Much of the movie Airplane! (1980) is similar to Zero Hour! (1957) including using the same dialog."