Ground Control (1998)

Mediocre, By the Numbers (there are a lot of numbers, too many to count, in this one), Air Traffic Control Drama. One gets the Idea that this was made to "Spit" in the Face of President Ronald Reagan (there's even a poster on the wall) but by the Time it was made, Reagan was in the Nursing Home, so probably didn't have a Clue.Reagan started the "Demonization" of Unions with His Firing of the ATC who went on Strike. The Rest is History (now mostly unspoken in Conservative circles) because these were Real People with Real High Tech, High Stress, Jobs and were Dedicated Patriots who were just Collective Bargaining for Better Pay and Benefits.This Movie makes it Clear that these Folks should not have been Fired or "Demonized", but Rewarded for Their Skill and Dedication. It's a Cheaply Made Movie that wasn't Released Theatrically in the USA (only in Italy).Kiefer Sutherland leads a Good Cast. There is some Bad Acting Silliness (Henry Winkler) and some Awful Low-Budget Sets, and the Script is one Cliché after another. But if this Type of Thing is to Your Liking, it can be an Entertaining Time Passer with Low Expectations, but don't Expect Many Surprises.

If nothing else, GROUND CONTROL should be praised for its realism. Unfortunately, that's the only factor it has going for it - and to a fault, too.The video cover makes it look as if this is an action movie, but nothing could be further from the truth. If I had to give this film an honest-to-God title, I would call it "TAKE YOUR KIDS TO WORK DAY" WITH PRETTIER PEOPLE.Seriously, that's all it is. A bunch of good-looking but boring movie stars punching the clock at an airport, dealing with...an airborne emergency, I suppose, but we never really get a sense of what's really happening because the action almost never leaves the control room.The only real reason to watch is for Jack Harris's (Kiefer Sutherland) character development, and we don't even get to see much of that because there are too many damned characters around - some of whom are barely on screen.Everything did look familiar, though. It was like watching AIRPLANE! - without the laughs (or the plane, for that matter).Don't bother.

Question. How do you make a film when you have no money? Answer. Well whatyou do is, hire a studio, get some old computers, a couple of maps of America and you get the Sutherland in and plaster his name and picture all over the front cover. What else you do is record some footage of aeroplanes off the TV and use this as if it was your own.This pretty much sums up this film.And yes it is true - the Sutherland is living on his reputation. His performance here isn't even worth commenting on, its that bad. His performance here actually reminded me of Dean Stockwell in The Langoliers, thats how bad his acting is. Rather than being a film about the pressures of air traffic controllers, it is more of a story of the Sutherland's triumphant return to the air traffic control desk.Excited? Well wait to you see Fonsy ex happy days in this one. This is worth watching - not because its good but because it is hilarious how bad his acting is. Its hilarious.Watch it just for this.

As an aviation buff I was really excited to see this movie. Although there were a few inaccuracies (such as planes changing models and such), it really wasnt a bad film. I could really identify with the characters and you could really care or hate them. Overall I'd give this movie an 8/10.PS: To all the people who posted about the "real" crash footage....it was from Delta Flight 191 and it was an L1011 that crashed at Dallas in 85. United 232 was a DC-10 and it crashed in Sioux City Iowa in 1989.