Based on a novel by Elleston Trevor, director John Moore's Flight of the Phoenix is a remake of a 1965 film of the same name starring film icon James Stewart. The story revolves around the plight of Captain Frank Towns, a pilot whose C-119 cargo plane full of oil workers could not withstand the violent winds of a desert sandstorm. The Captain is forced to make a crash landing that is a lot more crash than landing. Stranded in the harsh terrain of Mongolia's Gobi Desert (a departure from the original, in which the plane crashed in the Sahara), Frank and his navigator face the challenge of survival as well as that of maintaining order among a colorful collection of survivors. The rangle gangle crew of oilmen had embarked on a routine mission to shut off a group of rigs that had fallen below their productivity, what they got instead is a harrowing experience trying to make it out of the desert alive. Before long, we learn which men are cowards and which have the inner resources to stand strong in the face of adversity. Pretty soon what begins to shape up is a group of men hoping to salvage the reckage amid a situation that fast devolves into a "Lord of the Flies" scenario.

While watching the banal parade of remakes and sequels that Hollywood continues to churn out, it makes one wonder if there is really that great a paucity of new or original ideas left in Tinseltown. I'll admit that I did somewhat enjoy this film, but as I watched it, I couldn't help but wonder why all this talent and money couldn't have been applied to something novel?

Not only have we seen this film literally but figurateively as well, and if it weren't for the performance of Giovanni Ribisi who absolutely salvaged this wreck (so to speak) this film would have been nothing but a treat for vultures. Thanks to Ribisi's stellar turn, the movie is not only watchable, but even compelling at times - even though the ending is a foregone conclusion. Had the ending been changed to something less predictable, perhaps the critics might have got on board and praised the film, but in case you hadn't noticed, Flight of the Phoenix has taken a pretty good savaging by most. The film made me think of a theory I have about the way films end these days as opposed to the way they did in the 1960's. A great example is the ending to the original Oceans Eleven as opposed to the way it was wrapped up in the sequel.

Other than Ribisi only Dennis Quaid turns in a respectable performance here - Quaid is a reliable actor and seeing as how he was filling the shoes of the great Jimmy Stewart, it's not surprising that he stepped up. The two actors lend some much-needed class to this production and between the two they make the film worthy of a middling recomendation. Flight of the Phoenix has a ton of action, even if most of it's completely predictable - the old cliche of "if anything can go wrong it will and does so frequently." It also has just enough humor and one or two surprises that make it worth renting down the road a few months, or at best a matinee screening at your local discount theater.