Is there ANYONE in the entertainment industry who DIDN'T sleep through every high school science class he or she ever took? I've seen movies that violate the laws of physics like Harvey Weinstein violates aspiring actresses. "Crack in the World" comes to mind, as does "The Core", the latter being probably the worst offender ever put on film. This movie doesn't quite sink to the depths of the Earth like "The Core" (which is why I didn't give it a 1 rating), but budget-dollar-for-budget-dollar it's definitely in the same league. I couldn't spot a single instance of scientific accuracy, physical, medical, aeronautical or otherwise, in the entire movie.
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. I figured I'd just turn my brain off and enjoy. The acting was bad but tolerable--at first. I was hoping for a good reason why an airplane would be unable to land while flying all the way across the country. Well, as soon as I saw a WATER FOUNTAIN inside an aircraft-and operating during take-off!--I knew that this movie was going to be a disaster, rather than being a disaster movie. Air temperature soaring on approach to Chicago, with no preceding shockwave or any other phenomenon associated with some kind of explosive event, and over a huge area for an extended time? Venting cabin air in-flight (and venting to get rid of some alleged hallucinogen that affects everyone with EXACTLY the same hallucination!)? A diabetic somehow dying within minutes of losing his pill supply (not even insulin)? Chopping off an operational engine with a hand axe?!?!? On and on and on it went, all the way to the final scene. Which I thought was going to mimic "Lost". At least they didn't go that route. (The actual explanation of what happened made a certain amount of sense IMHO.) And others have discussed the unlikely, not to mention unlikeable, characters.
You could almost-ALMOST-view this as a comedy, especially if you are a fan of "Animal House". The older brother's rah-rah-let's-do-it! speech was so reminiscent of Bluto's pep talk to the Delts that I expected him to refer to the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor. This movie may have been better off if he had. It may also have been better off if it had been dropped into Pearl Harbor itself before fooling a single viewer into consuming 80 minutes of his or her life watching it.
The only reason I can think of to watch this movie is to test yourself on how much scientific foolishness you can identify in a single viewing. Otherwise, you're better off watching "Plan 9 from Outer Space" or "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes".
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. I figured I'd just turn my brain off and enjoy. The acting was bad but tolerable--at first. I was hoping for a good reason why an airplane would be unable to land while flying all the way across the country. Well, as soon as I saw a WATER FOUNTAIN inside an aircraft-and operating during take-off!--I knew that this movie was going to be a disaster, rather than being a disaster movie. Air temperature soaring on approach to Chicago, with no preceding shockwave or any other phenomenon associated with some kind of explosive event, and over a huge area for an extended time? Venting cabin air in-flight (and venting to get rid of some alleged hallucinogen that affects everyone with EXACTLY the same hallucination!)? A diabetic somehow dying within minutes of losing his pill supply (not even insulin)? Chopping off an operational engine with a hand axe?!?!? On and on and on it went, all the way to the final scene. Which I thought was going to mimic "Lost". At least they didn't go that route. (The actual explanation of what happened made a certain amount of sense IMHO.) And others have discussed the unlikely, not to mention unlikeable, characters.
You could almost-ALMOST-view this as a comedy, especially if you are a fan of "Animal House". The older brother's rah-rah-let's-do-it! speech was so reminiscent of Bluto's pep talk to the Delts that I expected him to refer to the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor. This movie may have been better off if he had. It may also have been better off if it had been dropped into Pearl Harbor itself before fooling a single viewer into consuming 80 minutes of his or her life watching it.
The only reason I can think of to watch this movie is to test yourself on how much scientific foolishness you can identify in a single viewing. Otherwise, you're better off watching "Plan 9 from Outer Space" or "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes".