Airline Disaster and Mostly Good Times Had: A Movie Review

Writter: Paul Sinor and Victoria Dadi.

Airline Disaster is one of The Asylum's latest releases and this production company is mostly known for its campier versions of Transformers or the Terminator (Transmorphers and The Terminators). They also have several sexier films. However, The Asylum leaves the camp behind in Airline Disaster and some of the sexiness with Lindsey McKeon only getting minimal scenes. Simply put, this film is an action packed ride through a terrorist ordeal with the camp of previous films replaced by some cheesiness in CGI effects and tense drama.

In short, several Neo-Nazi hijackers take over the Starquest, a state of the art, automatically flown airplane. These terrorists want ten of their friends released from the New Jersey State Penitentiary, or else the plane's captain and brother of the the President of the United States is going to be murdered. The passengers on the plane are also in jeopardy. Add in a few laser beams, missiles, and lots of gunfire then Airline Disaster turns into a fairly solid action thriller.

Released on DVD June 29th, Airline Disaster has been described as the following: "if you put some effort into it you might find some enjoyment" in the film (Armstead, FCU). The film does have a lot of inconsistencies e.g. stealth fighters exploding from fuel leaks, lasers going wild and blowing up city blocks. Yet, the film's pacing is well-done, with the action consistent. Basically there is almost always something going on and most film fans will find some excitement in this Asylum effort. As well, the performances are good, with the leader of the hostage takers, Robert Stevens (Geoff Meed) appropriately evil; Meredith Baxter ("Family Ties") also makes a solid appearance as a distressed president.

This film is not going to break any DVD records, but The Asylum seems to be rolling up their sleeves in order to bring or at least attempt to bring tense drama. There seems to be a transition happening here from over-the-top, unbelievable productions to more tightly written thrillers. Titanic II is a second film from The Asylum, which releases on DVD August 24th, that is attempting to bring a little reality to the table. This is a nice change as a little believability goes a long way to making a film enjoyable.

Already distributed last month, fans of thrillers might find something worth seeing in Airline Disaster. Not overly challenging in the material nor very thought provoking once the credits role, the film is still a fun watch. The CGIed destruction of multiple airplanes is just the ridiculously sweet icing on the cake.

Overall: 6 out of 10 (-1 for not explaining one villain's demise, -1 for too much CGI, -1 for not enough Lindsey McKeon, -1 for repetitive music).

The film's trailer here at 28DLA:

Airline Disaster Trailer

A review of the film:

Airline Disaster Reviewed at Film Critics United

The film at The Asylum:

Airline Disaster w/Photos at The Asylum