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The Flight of the Phoenix



A downed airplane is a motley group of men's only protection from the relentless desert sun, in this psychologically charged disaster epic, one of the all-time great survival movies. James Stewart is the veteran pilot whose Benghazi-bound plane—carrying passengers played by an unshaven ensemble of screen icons including Richard Attenborough, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Dan Duryea, Peter Finch, and George Kennedy—crash-lands in the remote Sahara. As tensions simmer among the survivors, they find themselves forced to trust a coldly logical engineer (Hardy Krüger) whose plan to get them out may just be crazy enough to work—or could kill them all. Directed with characteristic punch by Hollywood iconoclast Robert Aldrich, The Flight of the Phoenix balances adventure with human drama as it conducts a surprising and complex examination of authority, honor, and camaraderie among desperate men.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New conversation between filmmaker Walter Hill and film scholar Alain Silver
• New interview with biographer Donald Dewey on actor James Stewart and his service as a bomber pilot
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by filmmaker and critic Gina Telaroli

Judging from the screenshots on Criterion's site, it seems like it will be using the newer master that was on the German Fox Blu.

Was this a surprise release?

The extras are somewhat paltry.

Very. Out of left field. This never struck me as something Criterion would release. I checked to see if it was a LD release. It wasn't. Can someone make a critical argument as to why Criterion released this?

It’s a popular film staring several major actors and directed by a significant figure whom they already released a film from. It might not be the most exciting announcement, though I like the movie a lot, but it makes sense as a choice.

It's a fun movie with a great cast portraying interwoven group dynamics under survivalist pressure triggering moral thresholds. I haven't seen the film in a while but it's a welcome addition and probably the only title I'll pick up this month, but only 'cause I never jumped on the MoC

I hope it didn't come off as me deriding the film. I agree with Knives and TWBB that it's not a masterpiece, but a very fun film with a great cast. I remember Fox(?) would play it on Saturday afternoons (in between all of the John Wayne westerns) back in the 80s when I was a kid and I would catch it here and there.

What I didn't know is that they remade it around the turn of the century.

Good to see that Criterion continues to be a source for the now majority vaulted (on disc) 20th Century catalog.

Its definitely up there with Ice Cold In Alex in terms of 'interpersonal dynamics coming to boiling point in the middle of the desert' films. It is also surprisingly uncynical (whilst remaining quite brutally 'realist' at times, particularly regarding the Peter Finch character) for an Aldrich film with a literally uplifting climax. Maybe its the anti-Wages of Fear?

aox wrote: Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:31 pm I hope it didn't come off as me deriding the film. I agree with Knives and TWBB that it's not a masterpiece, but a very fun film with a great cast. I remember Fox(?) would play it on Saturday afternoons (in between all of the John Wayne westerns) back in the 80s when I was a kid and I would catch it here and there.

What I didn't know is that they remade it around the turn of the century.

I definitely didn't take it as derision. I think we kinda had the same response. I like the film as well, and yes, a great cast. I'm just surprised it found it's way into the collection. CC has probably been holding on to this for a while. Can't imagine this was recently licensed

To go off that point, if this is the shrug-of-a-20th Century Fox release to throw out there with priority, I'm not super optimistic about what they have licensed leftover

Could be a personal favorite of someone at the label

Yeah, that's the hope