Going into Blackout Effect (Otherwise known as 747) I expected yet another plane related disaster flick. You know the ones, where there is something wrong with a plane and it's down to the crew and those on the ground to guide them home.I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's not, it's a perfectly watchable little thriller.It tells the story of an air traffic controller who appears to make a mistake and causes two planes to collide. But the more investigation is done into the matter the more it appears there is more to the story.Starring Eric "I was almost Marty McFly" Stoltz and underrated Charles Martin Smith this thriller managed to get my attention from the get go. Truth be told it does get a tad far fetched by the end but never goes too far.Well written and tense this is well worth anyones time despite not being groundbreaking.The Good:Great ideaDecent performancesThe Bad:Hit and miss in placesThings I Learnt From This Movie:Air traffic controller jobs look insanely stressful

A p***ed off air traffic controller builds a system to control planes in flight. Kind of a poor mans Mission Impossible feel to it at the end.Maybe it was dull, but it was shown just 3 days before 9/11 WTC crash.So when I saw the first tower get hit, I thought of this movie, and started thinking of how those planes could have been under remote control.Smith controls the planes with a dish tied into the FAA's computer. It made me think...could this be possible? New commerical jets are all "fly by wire", computer controlled, where take offs and landings are all done by computer.Hack in and take over is what stuck in my mind about this movie.

This was recently shown on BBC so I had a chance to watch it. An Air Traffic Controler's life is one of the most stressful, as is illustrated in this drama. It has an interesting plot, which (I think) is well played out by the actors. Although Charles Smith's character is a little over the top.All in all it's a pretty good movie.

I have seen this movie several times, and think that it is one of the better TV movies out there. No, it's not the best, but it has a good story line that flows quite well. Some things, as stated in a previous review, may not be totally accurate, but pretty much anyone smart enough to notice those technical mistakes should know that made for TV movies don't have a large enough budget to get every little detail correct. I have to say that this is a movie worth watching.