Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771 (1993)

Rather nicely done for the genre. Scott Bakula is flying a small Cessna from Pago Pago to Norfolk Island and finds himself lost over the wide Pacific due to instrument malfunction. No ships around -- not that anyone knows where he is -- and the only other traffic is an Air New Zealand Boeing passenger plane, piloted by Robert Loggia. Bakula calls an airport and declares an emergency. His plane is low on fuel and he plans on ditching in a few hours before the sun sets. Loggia, informed of the situation, decides to help Bakula. The rest of the film consists of Loggia and Bakula trying with increasing desperation to find each other in the darkening skies so that Loggia can guide Bakula to the nearest airport at Aukland. They get the job done, but not without a lot of intervening problems.There's nothing particularly outstanding about the acting. All the principals are professionally competent. And there are some nice shots of a Boeing heavy in a sunlit sky. Bakula's little Cessna, a goofy-looking low-winged crop duster, looks like a joke unto itself.The script is a little stereotyped. Bakula simply MUST have a pregnant wife back home who wants him to quit his freelance flying job. And, hearing of the impending disaster, she MUST be patched through to Loggia's airplane so that he can pass sentimental messages back and forth. The script is at its best when it sticks to technical matters and the directing is best when the actors speak in dry, crisp tones. Pilots don't scream at one another over the radio.Whoever did the special effects for the thunderstorm that the planes have to fly through should be fired. Bakula shouts: "I'm flying into a thunderhead!" Immediate -- and I mean like right away -- the camera goes ape, shaking all over the place as if being kicked from all directions, the lightning flashes from the strobe lights are constant and blindingly bright, and the electronic thunder is constantly crashing around our ears. Loggia's huge passenger plane goes through almost as much turmoil as Bakula's little Cessna.That's wretched excess. A more imaginative approach to the thunderstorm experience would be built up gradually, with intimations of mortality, a few dim booms first, and some diffuse pink flashes in the distance before the impact, to give the audience a chance to worry properly. And the little Cessna shouldn't be whacked around. It should fall and rise in excessive swoops. The apparent danger is vitiated by the fact that everything lets go at once. There's no tension or anxiety. As it is, when Bakula yells, "I'm LOSING IT!", there's no evidence that his airplane is being battered any more than it was when he was in control.The film holds a viewer's interest, though. It's no fun to be lost over the ocean in a small plane and have to ditch. Look at Amelia Earhart. It happened to me, too, and it was scary as hell, though it was a bright sunny afternoon off Montauk Point and the seas were light. Ditching in the dark must be a nightmare. There are tense scenes aboard Loggia's plane too. Just how much is he willing to risk to save a single life? Considering that he has not only his own crew but 88 passengers aboard, many of them children. He risks quite a lot actually, small things first, then more important things, like dumping fuel to create a contrail.An interesting job for a TV movie.

I have watched this movie every Christmas since it came out. And the copy we have is a very old video! It's impossible to find in DVD form--I don't know why,because it is one of Robert Loggia's best movies, and Scott Bakula's as well. It's hard to believe a movie that is mostly a conversation between two pilots flying in separate planes over the ocean can be so moving, but it is. It is also suspenseful-keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. This movie is a great example of the ability of one person to encourage another through difficult times. Brings to mind "Flight of the Phoenix" (the one with Jimmy Stewart), in how people work together to solve a seemingly impossible situation. What adds to the specialness of this movie is that it is based on a true incident.

This is an aviation movie bathed in emotion and adventure. The acting is superb. Scott Bacula captured the desperation of a young husband and father-to-be without enough monetary support for his family He was willing to make the Christmas sacrifice of being away in an effort to give to his family. The Christmas spirit was woven throughout the movie including the small angel chime hanging above the window. Many aviation rescue movies are unbelievably filled with technical errors. This one was on the mark. I always enjoyed it on TV during the holiday season, however I can't seem to find it. I would love to purchase a copy if anyone has an idea how to do this. I appreciate any help.

Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771 is a tense rescue drama, made-to-order for aviation buffs! The movie starts off by introducing the main character, Jay Parkins, (played by Scott Bakula), as a kind of a rogue, itinerant pilot, unwilling to settle down to the daily grind of an airline cockpit, and preferring to take on risky flying jobs where and when he can find them. Jay and his friend Frank (Alan Fletcher), take on the task of ferrying two Piper Ag Cats, which are crop dusting aircraft, on a long-haul over the Pacific Ocean all the way from San Francisco to Australia. Obviously, the premise is ridiculous, but the movie is supposed to be based on a true story, so somewhere, there had to be two pilots crazy enough to actually try this stunt!Predictably, problems plague the mission. First, Frank cracks up on take off from Pago Pago, leaving Jay to continue the rest of the trip alone. Then, through a combination of mechanical failures and poor judgment, Jay gets over the Pacific Ocean on the last leg of the trip. Fortunately, both his HF and VHF radios still work, and he calls for help from an Air Traffic Control center in New Zealand. This is where Captain Gordon Vette, played by bad-guy Robert Loggia in a refreshingly non-type cast role, comes to the rescue. Utilizing a very plausible air-to-air search procedure, Capt. Vette and his Air New Zealand flight crew locate Jay, and ultimately help navigate him to safety. I won't give away any more of the plot details, but suffice it to say that as a highly critical aviation movie buff, this movie did very little to annoy me, or insult my intelligence as someone with more than a passing knowledge of aviation. Technical assistance was very good.The "goofs" note the transformation of the ANZ commercial aircraft from a B-737 to a B-767, but that sort of continuity problem is common and pretty much must be overlooked, since stock footage is cheaper than setting up a location shot just to depict a jet airliner take-off.The thing I enjoyed most about this film is the likeability of the characters, which were developed just enough to let us get to know them enough to care about them. The real Capt. Vette, an American Ex-Air Force pilot stationed in New Zealand after marrying a local girl, seems to be the ideal of the individualistic, capable, yet compassionate airline Captain -- someone into whose hands you would gladly trust your life. This is what film does best -- portray the human condition in a manner which makes the viewer identify with the characters and the situation. The rest of the plot elements -- Jay's long-suffering wife, who would prefer the financial security of her husband's boredom in an airline cockpit, Jay's side-kick Frank, who wasn't thrilled about the "mission" in the first place, and the people on the ground and aboard the Air New Zealand flight who work together to make the rescue mission work -- are all done just right, and greatly help the viewer enjoy the film!I give this movie 3 1/2 propeller blades out of four! It is a very interesting movie which I recommend to all aviation enthusiasts!