"...as a piece of pure escapist entertainment, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable way to spend two hours." David Nusair REEL FILM REVIEWS "This trim adventure saga doesn't waste any time assigning heartwarming characteristics or backstories. It gets your heart pounding the old-fashioned way; it is exciting." Nell Minow MOVIE MOM AT YAHOO! MOVIES "'Despite all its flaws, this Phoenix rises to an acceptable entertainment level.'" Lori Hoffman ATLANTIC CITY WEEKLY "Tension-filled story showing how a diverse population can work together to save their lives." Harvey S Karten COMPUSERVE "It’s a serviceable adventure film that does the job in less time than the original film." Daniel M Kimmel WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

"Effective action, solid suspense, excellent Ribisi, plus enough cliches to equal the grains of Gobi sand that fill the screen." David Sterritt CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR "Plenty of action is here in this exciting remake of the earlier classic." Vince Koehler ENTERTAINMENT SPECTRUM "Good, old fashioned, escapist entertainment." Steve Rhodes STEVE RHODES' INTERNET REVIEWS "A worthy remake." Kevin Thomas LOS ANGELES TIMES "John Moore's remake doesn't come close to upstaging its predecessor...and yet it doesn't exactly humiliate itself either." Scott Weinberg EFILMCRITIC.COM

The Inside Story

"It's no surprise it feels like an old fashioned tale bevause it's a remake of the 1965 original in which Quaid's character was played by James Stewart." Kirsten Heysen SUNDAY MAIL ADELAIDE

Director John Moore claims to have a "clinical obsession with aircraft", so it's little wonder then that his interest was aroused when Producer John Davis told him that he, 20th Century Fox and William Aldrich were going to revive the 1965 classic "Flight Of The Phoenix" and make a new big screen version. "The project really spoke to my interest in planes", says Moore, "but more importantly it’s a great human story. The characters must be at their best during the worst moments of their lives. They have the tools and expertise to build the Phoenix, but if they cannot commit to hope, the Phoenix will never fly." Many older generation moviegoers will remember the 1965 version which starred the late great James Stewart who was in fact a World War II pilot and who remained active in the reserves as a Brigadier General until his retirement. Directed by William's father Robert Aldrich the film grabbed the imagination of audiences as a group of people, stranded in the desert after a plane crash, attempted to rebuild the plane and fly to safety. The rise of this 21st century Phoenix started "its journey to the big screen in 1996 when Producer William Aldrich suggested to executives at Twentieth Century Fox that together they remake the 1965 film "Flight of the Phoenix", directed by William’s father, Robert Aldrich." The next year an greement was formed between both parties and the project was underway. Davis, who discussed the remake with Moore when they were working on the action thriller, "Behind Enemy Lines", says Moore was the perfect choice for director. "John sees things differently than most filmmakers," he said. "He has his own language of storytelling, of making a film feel fresh. The camera is like an extension of his arm." Davis's co-producer Wyck Godfrey backs that judgement by noting that Moore "has a unique eye for shooting action. He delights in taking audiences to places they hadn’t been before." The first challenge for the production team was to find the two actors who would play the lead roles originally filled by 'Jimmy' Stewart and the great actor Hardy Kruger. Popular actor Dennis Quaid ["Bill" and its sequel, "Bill: On His Own"] got the nod for the role of the arrogant, hard nosed pilot Frank Towns who crash lands his aircraft in the harsh Mongolian Desert. "Towns is cynical and jaded," says Quaid. "Somewhere along the line, he’s lost the joy of life. His journey in this film, like the other characters’ journey, is to get ‘stripped down.’ The story explores what happens to these people when they are stripped of everything they know." The man who saves Towns arse and all the survivors of the plane crash is Elliot, played by well known international star Giovanni Ribisi ["Loves Brother" and "Heaven"] who has appeared in films with some of the biggest names in the film industry including two time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks and Academy Award winners Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie. His resemblence to Hardy Kruger is uncanny and wasn't planned according to director John Moore. "I purposefully did not watch the first film, and I requested the same of the cast, to ensure that it did not influence our work on our film. Then I saw a DVD cover of the original, and it was like seeing Giovanni on it! Giovanni is a chameleon who likes to find the idiosyncrasies in his characters. He always chooses roles that are anything but typical." There's little doubt that after seeing the film, cinemagoers will agree that GiovanniRibisi is fascinating in the role of Elliot, a last minute addition to the passenger list and a man who hides a secret. "Elliott is an outsider," says Ribisi. "At the start of the picture, we don’t know what his background is. We want audiences to wonder, at first, "Who is this guy?" That’s exactly what Towns and his co-pilot AJ are wondering when the slight, bespectacled figure boards their C-119 cargo plane. After the crash, when Elliott reveals that he is an aircraft designer, Towns and Elliott engage in an unnerving power struggle that almost derails the building of the Phoenix, the last hope of the desperate group. I like that the story concentrates on the psychology of the characters, and what happens to people when they encounter this kind of incredible scenario." Australian actress Miranda Otto plays the only female amongst the survivors, crew boss Kelly. She'd just finished filming "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" when she joined the rest of the cast. "I enjoyed the notion of Kelly being the boss of the rig, and the guys love her because she’s smart and loyal to them," she says. "And they are way past the idea of hitting on her sexually." Of course there is one 'character' in the film who is the biggest star of all. The plane! The C-119, weighing 20 tons is an eyecatching aircraft indeed. The C-119 was originally a military aircraft with the nickname, "Supertruck". Finding enough planes to use during filming meant a world-wide search had to be undertaken. Eventually they found three in Arizona and another in Kenya that had been confiscated the Kenyan government. Having found the planes they then had each one dismantled and shipped off to the location in Namibia where filming took place. And here's a little bit of trivia for the trivia buffs. The production team built three versions of the Phoenix. Now if you think things look tough for the actors who play those stranded in the desert,your right. The location used in "Flight Of The Phoenix was chosen after searching Morocco, Australia, and the Gobi Desert. So why did they settle on Namibia? "No plants, no water, no hope," says Moore. Plus the fact that "the filmmakers discovered that most deserts are now littered with telegraph poles, houses and/or freeways." Working with a desert kept the production team busy. "We swept and groomed the dunes to keep the desert 'picture ready'," says Production Designer Patrick Lumb. "We’d do all this, and then move the dunes, only to see that they’d move back!" The added bonus of shooting in Namibia was that "after shooting wrapped, the production ensured the rehabilitation of not only the filming locations, but other areas that had previously been destroyed by tourists." One question everyone would like answered is how did the cast handle working in the desert? "Walking in the sand all day, and having it blow in your face when winds picked up to over 50 miles per hour, was a very different experience for me as an actor," says Dennis Quaid. Tyrese Gibson recalls, "Working in desert was like being stranded, and put me in the right frame of mind to play someone struggling to survive. By the end of the shoot, the country took over my soul." Finally I have to agree with Director John Davis, who when asked for an assessment of this modern day 'Phoenix' said; "In a way, it’s a great Saturday afternoon movie. Adults will enjoy the drama, and kids will like it because it’s a big adventure." It sure is! Crew Bytes "FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX" was .......
directed by John Moore ["Jack's Bicycle", "He Shoots, He Scores", "Behind Enemy Lines" and "Yeager"]; screenplay by Scott Frank ["Minority Report", "Out of Sight", "Get Shorty" and "The Interpreter"] and Independent Spirit Award winner Edward Burns ["The Brothers", "She’s the One", "No Looking Back" and "Sidewalks of New York"]; original 1965 screenplay by Lukas Heller ["What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", "The Dirty Dozen", "The Killing of Sister George" and "Damnation Alley"]; costume design by George L Little ["Apocalypse Now", "Airplane II: The Sequel", "Flight of the Intruder", "The Peacemaker", "Galaxy Quest", "Behind Enemy Lines" and "Crimson Tide"]; production design by Patrick Lumb ["To End All Wars", "Veronica Guerin" and "Behind Enemy Lines"]; edited by Don Zimmerman ["Galaxy Quest", "Heaven Can Wait", "Rocky III & IV", "Patch Adams" and "The Cat In The Hat"]; director of photography Brendan Galvin ["Bookies", "Veronica Guerin", "Thunderbirds" and "Behind Enemy Lines"]; original music by Marco Beltrami ["Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines", "Scream I, II & III", "Dracula 2000" and "I, Robot"] produced by William Aldrich ["The Grissom Gang", "The Choirboys", "Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?" and "The Sheltering Sky"]; T Alex Blum ["Tell Me Who Ruby Was" and "Behind Enemy Lines"]; John Davis ["The Chamber", "Alien VS Predator", "Behind Enemy Lines", "Garfield The Movie" and "I, Robot"] and Wyck Godfrey ["The Mask", "Dumb and Dumber", "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "I, Robot"]. Casting About "FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX" stars .......
New York Film Critics Circle and The Independent Spirit Award winner Dennis Quaid ["Traffic", "The Rookie", "Far From Heaven", "The Day After Tomorrow" and "In Good Company"]; Tyrese Gibson ["Baby Boy" and "2 Fast 2 Furious"]; MO Award winner Miranda Otto ["In My Father’s Den", "Danny Deckchair", "In My Father’s Den" and "Lord of the Rings II & III"]; Tony Curran ["Gladiator", "Pearl Harbor", "Blade II" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"]; Kirk Jones ["In Too Deep", "Next Friday", "Reality Check" and "Ride or Die"]; Jacob Vargas ["Get Shorty", "Next Friday", "Traffic", "Dr Doolittle II", "Dragonfly" and "Memoirs of an Evil Stepmother"]; Hugh Laurie ["Stuart Little I & II", "101 Dalmations", "The Place Of Lions" and TV'S "The Blackadder"]; Scott Michael Campbell ["Flubber", "Bulworth", "Panic" and "Hart's War"]; Kevork Malikyan ["Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", "Paparazzo", "The Commissioner" and "Belly of the Beast"]; Jared Padalecki ["A Little Inside", "Cheaper by the Dozen", "New York Minute" and "House of Wax"]; Paul Ditchfield ["Curse of the Crystal Eye", "Operation Delta Force", "Shark Attack" and "Stander"]; Martin 'Mako' Hindy ["Adrenalin: Fear the Rush"]; Bob Brown ["Back To The Beach", "Men at Work", "Jericho" and "The Salton Sea"] and Giovanni Ribisi ["That Thing You Do!","SubUrbia". "First Love, Last Rites", "Saving Private Ryan", "The Gift", "Gone in Sixty Seconds" and "Lost in Translation"] as Elliot. What It's All About

"On its own simple terms, Flight of the Phoenix succeeds." Philip Wuntch DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Captain Frank Towns has been sent to sent to the Tan sag Basin in Mongolia to do what he does best. Deliver the bad news, shut down the oil exploration site and get the crew out of there. Arrogantly self-assured, Cpt Towns loads the oil crew and their equipment onto his plane and with an extra passenger Elliot on board heads for civilization. Not far into the flight they run smack bang into a monster of a sand storm the likes of which he and his co-pilot A.J. have never seen before. Efforts to find a way either around it or over it turn out to be useless. Sand gets into the engines and one explodes sending the propellor into the plane and severing the controls. A high speed crash into the desert below results in two deaths and everyone stranded with no radio contact. With only limited water, everyone seems doomed to a terrible death in the heat and sand. Then Elliot announces a plan. He can rebuild the mangled wreck into a plane that will fly. His idea is met with scepticism until he explains that he is on leave from his job as an aircraft designer. Now all they have to do is work together. The Verdict "An exciting start matches the thrilling finale`. An interesting remake that succeeds on its own terms. Guaranteed to raise the heart level on more than a few occassions. Action, excitement, triumph, tragedy and a twist makes this good escapism and fun. Well worth a look at." The Cast

Dennis Quaid Tyrese Gibson Giovanni Ribisi Miranda Otto Tony Curran Kirk Jones Jacob Vargas Hugh Laurie Scott Michael Campbell Kevork Malikyan Jared Padalecki Paul Ditchfield Martin 'Mako' Hindy Bob Brown Anthony Wong Yi-ding Wang Kee-yick Cheng Vernon Lehmann

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Frank Towns A.J. Elliott Kelly Rodney Jeremy Sammi Ian Liddle Rady Davis Dr Gerber Newman Kyle Lead Smuggler Smuggler #2 Smuggler #3 Smuggler #4

The Crew Directed by John Moore 1965 screenplay by Lukas Heller Screenplay by Scott Frank and Edward Burns Produced by William Aldrich/Alex Blum/John Davis/Wyck Godfrey Executive Producer Ric Kidney Original Music by Marco Beltrami Cinematography by Brendan Galvin Time Lapse Photography by Donal Caulfield Film Editing by Don Zimmerman Casting by Deborah Aquila/Sarah Trevis/Mary Tricia Wood Production Design by Patrick Lumb Set Decoration by Eliza Solesbury and Matthew Sullivan Costume Design by George L Little Run Time 113 minutes Rated M 15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2005 - 20th Century Fox Films - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2005 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved