It was bound to happen eventually. The awesome Giovanni Ribisi who etched his talent into films such as; "Saving Private Ryan" (most moving death scene ever), "The Gift", "Heaven", "The Dead Girl", "Cold Mountain", and many others, succumbed to the weight of this giant sand turd, the remake of "Flight of the Phoenix". I saw the original in a theater in 1965 when I was ten. They should have left well enough alone. Or rather, I should have left well enough alone. The "buhya's", high fives, "and the crowd went wild" roars, are supposed to pass for dramatic tension and exposition. They don't. Dialogue is flat.Towns (Quaid): Ya think this thing'll fly?Elliot (Ribisi): It'll fly.Towns (Quaid): It better. Riveting.It's no knock on Giovanni Ribisi that he's terrible in this film. His character, Elliot, is actually altered in this remake from a cooky genius ('65) to murderous sociopath here. And yet, he's no worse than anyone else who is also terrible in this film; as is the writing, the jungle drum music score, and the ever so derivative "oogabooga - dead hand reaching out and grabbing a woman's ankle" moment. Yes, they filmed that. And then it made it out of the editing department. Can you just imagine what was left on the floor.If you're interested in a good film called "Flight of the Phoenix" check out the 1965 version.

I read a previous post that really had nothing good to say about anything regarding this movie. That's cool but I don't share that sentiment. I loved the movie I thought it was great. I enjoyed everything about it. Its a light, funny and enjoyable movie, with a slightly inspirational vibe to it. Its not heavy or too dramatic in any way, just an easy fun to watch movie. I liked all the characters and the way they played their parts, no complaints from me. Each movie is different so I rank them for what they are, I think its a solid 7 out of ten. There are some great songs throughout the movie as well which I really enjoyed. All round a nice easy to watch movie.

I suppose a remake can't be that different from the original, but watching the movie without watching the original gave me ESP, or the movie was just too predictable.Every event that occurred wasn't creative. The characters are not believable. The drama was way to scripted. I understand that it is a movie, but good ones take you out of the "I know what's going to happen" mindset for at least a few brief moments. Everything that happened could have easily been predicted without knowing beforehand.The most unpredictable thing that happened was the fact that the plane flew. No, I knew it was going to fly, but how they were going to do it was the unpredictable part: laying down and holding onto bars? Yeah, OK... I'd like to see anyone try that on any airplane without losing their grip at SOME point.In all truth, I enjoyed it, but it was so mediocre that I will soon forget about it.

This film is definitely 'good' - there aren't really any major things wrong with it other than the usual; "that's not believable" or "that's not what normal people do in that situation".Having said that, there are a couple of satisfying moments where people do take the action you want them to take.The opening scene of the crash (no spoilers as that is given in every tag line for the film!) is simply superb. I have honestly never seen a more realistic plane crash on film and I have seen a shocking amount of films.Some reviews have commented on the lack of action... well... they crashed in a desert... it's not as though there are going to be car chases and helicopter shoot-outs! Despite the surroundings, the story moves along at a good pace and there are some nice surprises.It is pointless being annoyed at the script / ending as this is a remake and does exactly what the original did.Overall, a good film and worth watching.7/10