Alex da Silva Five airmen remain with their bomber plane in the middle of the Libyan desert hoping to be rescued. They have crash-landed but something is odd about this scenario. Any time that they start to trek in a certain direction, they always end up at the crash site. It also seems that they have been at the location for 17 years with nothing else to do but play baseball. The day comes when their plane is spotted and Major Vince Edwards (Devlin) and Colonel William Shatner (Josef) are sent to identify the wreckage and produce a report. They take with them General Richard Basehart (Hamner), who was the sixth crew member who parachuted out and survived 17 years ago. When they arrive, they don't see any of the airmen and they start to put their report together. The airmen are definitely there, though! Edwards persists in unravelling the truth.The inspiration for the setting of the story is the real-life incident involving the bomber plane 'Lady Be Good' which disappeared in 1943 and was spotted in the Libyan desert in 1958. Many details are retained for the film, eg, the intact wreckage and an urn of tea found at the crash site still being drinkable. As for the film, the story is excellently told as we follow two sides – the airmen who seem to be wandering in limbo and the investigators who are trying to piece together what happened. Can the truth be discovered and will the airmen's lives finally be redirected to wherever they need to go? The acting is good – William Shatner has a few Captain Kirk moments but that is what you want to see - and the ending is memorably done. It's a film that stays with you and keeps you watching for the duration. It also gets you thinking as to what might happen after death. And just who is the sole survivor?

PartialMovieViewer Time and my fading memory is probably too generous - but what I recall of this story is its uniqueness and crafty written twists and turns. The long drag into the realization that these airmen were never going to interact with anyone else alive again was well done. The mystery and suspense was well done. All this was great...but the heart-wrenching ending was just too good. The crew could never be 100 percent together in life - but would be joined in death. Spectacular story that I hope Hollywood leaves alone. I do hope this does come out in DVD. And I do hope this is not redone - especially in a more modern format. The cast in this movie cannot be topped...these people were true to their craft as opposed to some phony political agenda that they have no clue about.

sj_and_ml After searching high and low for this movie, I found a link to You Tube, and the whole movie is there. Just sat here in front of my PC and watched it. Loved it. Very similar to the LBG story, even down to the layout of the B 25 as opposed to the LBG's final resting position. I'll post the link here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7574338161920794843# I hope the people that can't find a copy enjoy the movie as much as I did. (I hope I haven't breached any IMDb rules though!!!) If so, apologies IMDb!!! William Shatner was excellent as the Colonel. The Movie was well acted and even with only the one main set, it held me spellbound to the last credit rolled. Vance played the Major to heart. Not wanting to give in to a bullying General. The crew were endearing to the watcher. I hope this movie can be re released on HD DVD one day. Browndog

gogzhad I remember seeing this as a TV movie quite some time ago, but never forgot it. A great bit of storytelling in the way it carefully meters out the details that expose the truth, both through factual and paranormal elements.William Shatner is dependable as always, and a great ensemble cast portrays the timeless crew members, but Richard Baseheart delivers a truly great performance as a man haunted by his past, stuck upon the horns of overwhelming guilt and pride as he grapples with the revelation of a truth that will destroy not only his career, but ultimately, will be his undoing as well.I saw an old Twilight Zone episode today called "King Nine Won't Be Coming Back" that seems like it is either based on the same B-24 discovery that spawned "Sole Survivor", or perhaps was an inspiration to this movie. The story line was so similar as to make it seem like more than a coincidence. In any event, the two of them would be enjoyable to view together.