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Topic: Flightplan (2005)

Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 09-23-2005 03:13 AM

Pretty decent movie overall, but let me break it down.

quote:
SPOILERS AHEAD IN THESE QUOTE LINES.......

First 60ish minutes = the trailer. This means if you saw the trailer, feel free to arrive one hour late.

Next 30ish minutes = the good stuff with some nice twists.

Next 10ish minutes = really overdone forced gag-o-rama emotional bullshit happy ending with suitable music to boot. This starts the instant Jodie Foster is seen walking away from the plane revealing herself through dust and smoke. Typical Jerry Bruckheimer craptacular photography and mega-lame "she never did give up" comments thrown into the various audio channels.

Final 7 minutes = end credits

Overall it's one of the better movies out there right now. It just sucks that Buena Vista had to hire the same brain dead writers to do the 40 rewrites of the ending. Oh well.

3.5 out of 5 stars

By the way, look at the very first shot of Jodie Foster in this movie. It's creepy how much she looks like Michael Jackson! [Eek!]

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Jason Whitlock
Film Handler

Posts: 28
From: Raleigh, NC, USA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 09-23-2005 06:34 AM

I agree with you.. I would give it a 4 out of 5.. and I also think the ending was a bit lacking.. sort of 'Red Eye'-like where it seems that the producers were trying to finish the movie as quick as possible, skipping over a lot of details..

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Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-24-2005 07:49 PM

First let me state that I love Jodi Foster.

I'm not sure I like this movie. Brad is right, or should it be stated that it's creepy that Michael Jackson looks like Jodi Foster. Also I think I'd like it very much if Jodi Foster stops the I'm distressed because my child is in danger movies. She might get that expression stuck on her face. I'm ready to see her play the cut-up, lesbian, mob mole or something. But one more movie with the look of abject fear and worry and I'm quiting.

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Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.

Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004

posted 09-25-2005 03:46 PM

CINEMA: Century 20 at Jordan Creek, West Des Moines, IA
AUDITORIUM: 12
PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital/THX
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Three stars (out of four)

WARNING: Spoilers take a left turn at Albuquerque

Wife #1: "Does this taste like Coke?"

Me: "No, it's Vanilla Coke."

"Oh! I knew that wasn't right."

"Did you order Vanilla Coke?"

"No."

"Are you taking it back?"

"No. I kind of like it."

"Okay."

Guess what I learned during the previews? Geisha girls are actually highly trained hoochie mama supermodel virgins. It's all a contrast, but it all makes sense. Who knew.

On the rare occasion that I see Jodie Foster pining after a man, (such as the scenes where she's imagining her husband), it disturbs me. It just doesn't look natural. It freaks me out, man. It's not that I envision her with women...I envision her not needing ANYONE. She's Jodie Foster. She'll kick your ass and leave you in a cloud of dust. Girl's got skills. She isn't NEEDY. Also, doesn't she look a little old to have a kid the age of six?

Pretty much everything else worked for me. I have to question the plausibility of the bad guys plotting this out and expecting Foster to play into things so perfectly. There was a LOT of room for error on paper. And the ending was a bit much. You KNOW if this happened in real life, the passengers would have been sitting there either justifying their original opinions, or muttering "Bitch should have stayed awake in the first place and none of this would have happened. Where the hell are we again? Is there a Starbucks near here? When are we taking off? The plane doesn't look THAT bad. Jet Blue landed safely just last week without front landing gear. Anybody got a Honda? We could tie it to the front end..."

But ultimately, yeah. It worked.

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 09-25-2005 07:33 PM

Today at 2:35PM, Regal Cinema World 8 in Eugene, House #6, SR-D. Attendance around 50 or thereabouts. Anything that plays in analog sound folds into the left-screen channel (like that TV commercial for "My Name is Earl" and the Regal Crown Club snipe). There were 5 or 6 digital dropouts in the last reel and it was very distracting.

"She never gave up!"

Blech. Whoever came up with the idea for mixing that line into the audio at the end should be fired.

This movie doesn't suck, but I had some problems with it. The largest passenger aircraft in the world seems to have WAY too much "dead space" on it. Love those attractively-arranged and creatively-lit fiber optic patch panel racks. Jodie Foster worked on the design of the engines. Fine. But she also seems to be intimately familiar with the entire layout of the aircraft, as well as being an expert on the electrical system. The flight attendants are walking around the cabin during takeoff. It looked like they lifted off about 50 feet off the ground and cruised at that altitude for about 5 minutes. Bah.

The movie is not terrible. Jodie Foster is great (though she needs to do some other kind of role, stat). Only 2.5 out of 5 stars from me.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 09-25-2005 10:58 PM

quote: Brad Miller
...and mega-lame "she never did give up" comments thrown into the various audio channels.

quote: David Stambaugh
"She never gave up!"

Blech. Whoever came up with the idea for mixing that line into the audio at the end should be fired.

Hahaha, glad to see someone else agrees about how much that hurt the ending!

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Carey Barber
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 143
From: Newport News, VA, USA
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 09-26-2005 07:45 AM

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

I thought this one was pretty good. Its definitely the best or one of the best playing at our theater right now.

Most elements of the film were done pretty well. The writing and direction was decent and the acting was very good. Jodie Foster did a fantastic job.

Spoilers ahead:
>
>
>
My biggest complaint, as has been noted by others, is the rather implausible circumstances. No one would be able to pull this off in real life. Way too many variables and way too much margin for error.

What are the odds that Jodie Foster would do everything exactly like they planned? And no one ever saw the little girl, even when she was being kidnappped by a flight attendant?

And that flight attendant who started to have a guilty conscience- Didn't she already know what would have to be done? Now she suddenly starts feeling bad?

And Jodie Foster, in addition to knowing engines, is apparently also a bomb expert because she knew those explosives would only blow up the small part of the plane where the bad guy was.

But, if you suspend disbelief a little bit, this is a pretty good movie. The ending was a little rushed and a lot sappy, but that's what people like.

Its nice to see a talented actress instead of just some dumb broad that looks good but couldn't play dead. Let's take back Halle Berry's Oscar and give it to Jodie. [Wink]

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Richard Greco
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1180
From: Plant City, FL
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 09-26-2005 03:48 PM

I pretty much agree with all the other comments here. Nothing special, but overall very good. 3.87567/5

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 09-28-2005 08:38 PM

Separated at birth???

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Jennifer Pan
THE JEN!

Posts: 1219
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 09-28-2005 08:59 PM

DAMN, you're right. Maybe that was the look the costume designers were looking for. I bet at the time of filming the trial was going on.

[ 09-29-2005, 02:18 AM: Message edited by: Jennifer Pan ]

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Jeremy Fuentes
Mmmm, Dr. Pepper!

Posts: 1168
From: Corpus Christi, TX United States
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 09-29-2005 06:38 AM

If they were really seperated at birth, she would have found that kid really quick. [Eek!]

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 09-29-2005 07:53 AM

Good movie, but...

* * * * * SPOILERS AHEAD * * * * *

Why didn't she just use the radio when she locked herself in the cockpit?

And my nomination for the stupidest-where'd-that-come-from-line goes to:
"It's not like she lost a Palm Pilot."

[ 09-29-2005, 12:07 PM: Message edited by: Mark J. Marshall ]

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 09-30-2005 02:39 PM

I don't know what movie you guys were watching but I thought this was aweful. It got as ridiculous with the fight sequences as Red Eye only Red Eye knew it was being ridiculous where this was trying to be serious.

SPOILER WARNING....

So many things made absolutely no sense but by far the thing that ruined the movie completely was the LAME politically correct terror threat. She demands that you LAND the plane and LET ALL THE PEOPLE OFF and then she's gonna blow it up??????? That was the most retarded threat I've ever seen. Once the people were all off they'd just say "who cares" because the insurance would cover the plane anyway.

And the air marshall/criminal was a complete idiot. All he needs is the pilot to tell him some confirmation number and he believes the money is transferred. He doesn't ever check it.

And more PC BS. The arab guy slams Jodie foster into an armrest and doesn't get arrested. HUH???

I never knew the FBI had jurisdiction in Newfoundland, CANADA.

It's also good to know that the plane was so advanced that it didn't need a radar in the nose and that the wall between the avionics bay and the cargo hold is blast proof.

And how about that avionics bay. It looked like Scotty's engine room from star trek or something. I sincerely hope that access to the avionics bay in a real plane isn't as simple as going into a closet.

I thought this movie was boring, stupid and completely unbelievable. I can suspend disbelief for certain things but this movie was out of control.

1/2 star out of 5 [thumbsdown]

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-03-2005 11:19 PM

This film easily gets the "Grainiest Film" award of the year from me. The grain was so annoying to me that I got up and left after about 10 min of watching... glad I didn't pay to see this one. Grain ruined what was supposedly a good film! Where was JP when this was being shot? Bet he was busy hosting a seminar on good filming habits when utilizing the Super 35 format. Its all too obvious that the DP didn't attend! At least the Cineplex I saw this at had tack sharp focus so its apparent with this film that the operators were doing their job...

The analog track was pretty good though [thumbsup]

.

Mark

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-08-2005 12:15 PM

I liked the fact that the trailer didn't give away the whole plot, unlike most films of this type.

The lighting in all the various underbelly areas of the plane was what disturbed me. I seriously doubt that all those areas would be fully lit in flight.

But, as a thriller it worked for me. I didn't really care about the implausible details, I was sucked into the story because I truly didn't know how it was going to turn out. So it was a good movie experience for me. 4 out of 5 stars.

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