Robert J. Maxwell These made-for-TV docudrama disaster movies seem to have conformed to a pattern. Since the budget is limited and the shooting time constrained, they can't really have a carefully wrought plot line or expensive computer-generated effects. With rare exceptions they now reach a level of flaccid competence and are stuck there, kind of in comformity to the Peter Principle.When the subject is an airplane in jeopardy, as this one is, the problem is compounded by the fact that airplane disasters tend to occur not in increments but all at once -- in a few seconds the engine quits, or the hydraulic system fails, or, as in this case, the top of the cabin blows away and not only causes chaos but sucks somebody out -- not pictured here.If the cataclysm is over with so quickly, what do you do with the rest of the time? You can fill it in with the back stories of all the passengers and crew with some voice overs and flashbacks. That's what the holotype did -- "The High and the Mighty." But the current writers have pared that down to merely showing that all the crew members were cheerful and happy. No voice overs and only two brief and pointless flashbacks.Instead, the catastrophe occurs rather early and the rest of the time is taken up with the terror and heroism in the cabin and flight deck. And a good deal of time is devoted to what happens AFTER the aircraft s safely stopped on the runway, an anti-climax if there ever was one.On the plus side, some nice model work with the crippled airplane, decent performances, and Connie Sellecca, who is a genuine fox, in the right-hand seat.The direction is pedestrian though. The camera lurches and jumps around, one of the flight attendants is too obviously a heroine, and the sight of passengers and crew coping with the horror goes on too long and becomes repetitious and confusing. The dialog doesn't scintillate but neither is it stupid. I frankly missed the usual conversation among the stewardesses about their sex lives. And the absence of the sick child who desperately needs a laparotomy almost brought me to tears.All in all, remarkably routine.

doranwen I am very impressed with this film. As it sparked my interest, I started digging into the original disaster, pulling up every news article, photo, and video I could find that related to it. The accuracy rate is pretty amazing for a true story made into a movie.To the reviewer who commented on the long flowing hair, I have seen the Mayday documentary episode on this incident, which contains footage taken minutes after evacuating all passengers. In it, Michelle Honda clearly has loose hair down to her shoulders; Ana Alicia actually has her hair done up a little bit more than that, with the top "ponytail". So she probably really did have her hair blown every which way. I guess Aloha Airlines had a different dress code with regards to hair than the other airlines some might have been familiar with.As for Connie Sellecca's hair, well, from the photos I found, Mimi Tompkins didn't have long hair like that. And Connie's hair is too beautiful to chop off, so braiding it was a good compromise. I would imagine even Mimi's short hair got blown every which way, so I didn't find it distracting, but another way of making the story real. I found Connie's acting to be very good--overacting would have ruined the film. She added a subtlety to it that made it come to life.The weakest point was perhaps Ana Alicia's role--she exaggerated a lot of what Michelle Honda actually did, but her actions weren't illogical for the situation. When people are terrified and panicking, you often do have to yell at them and pretty much order them around; the authority you assert helps them feel like someone's in control and helps them to calm down. If in the actual account, Michelle Honda didn't end up yelling at someone beyond just to be heard (as the wind noise was pretty insane), that isn't too great a change to make it enjoyable. There are great true story films that have a lot more to complain about than Miracle Landing does.The joking and quips were, I think obviously, added for movie viewers to enjoy, but the pilots *were* pretty calm throughout in real life. Have not had the opportunity to listen to the CVR so I can't speak for Bob Schornstheimer's tone of voice, but the ATC audio has a very calm-sounding Mimi Tompkins informing the tower that they'll need assistance with the passengers. Some of the miscommunication was exaggerated a slight bit, but never invented from nowhere, as you'll see if you read the CVR transcript. The same goes for the rest of the film; a few incidents were exaggerated or placed out of logical order (such as the guy asking about the pilot; in reality Michelle Honda knew they'd be landing on Maui once they passed the first mountains), but overall nearly everything in the film has its grounds in reality in some way. Even Michelle Honda helping a young boy (traveling with his mother) put on his life jacket is a factual occurrence.The soundtrack was one of the best parts of the film; it's a tragedy that it was never released. From the jogging scene to the plane landing/takeoffs, comforting passengers to the somber notes of the credits music, it was very enjoyable and I could easily have listened to an entire album of it.Hopefully someday this gem of a movie will be released on DVD with higher quality video than what's currently available; I would purchase it in a heartbeat.

uniqueabba As an ex cabin crew member or flight attendant in US terms, I have to say this film is one of the most accurate and well filmed movies I have ever seen regarding an aircraft disaster.Many times in the past, I have watched these movies where the aircraft takes off as a B727 then in flight is a DC10 and lands as a MD87. Through out this movie, accuracy was excellent! I flew for a leading UK airline in the 1980's and remember reports of this disaster coming through. It was all the more relevant since I actually flew on the B737-200, which is exactly the type shown in this movie.I found little if anything wrong with the movie, in fact am astonished at how it was so well put together considering it was probably a TV movie with a lower budget than big Hollywood blockbusters.The aerial shots of the B737 in "cabriolet" mode were excellent. Cabriolet is what we called them after we heard what happened to the B737's fuselage. All out B737s were immediately grounded and checked, and then went on to have major refits and strengthening was undertaken.My last flight on a B737-200 was in December 1992 and shortly after, they were withdrawn.This film was excellent viewing and I recommend it to all people who take a blasé view of the role pilots AND cabin crew on board. Without well trained staff, passengers would die in such an incident.

Seanie C This is an appalling film. Wayne plays a low-rent Charlton Heston (Airport) while Connie Sellecca spends far too long having wind muss up her hair. The reaction from the FBI at the movie's far-less-than-climactic conclusion - a landing of truly miraculous proportions - is hilariously preposterous. Hawaii never looked so awful. Trapper John MacIntyre, what have you done?