On a routine flight from the city of Chongqing to Lhasa carrying 119 passengers and 9 crew, the plane is flying above the Tibetan plateau, avoiding the edge of a heavy storm, when a crack appears right in front of the co-pilot. The cockpit window breaks completely, depressurizing the cockpit, pulling the co-pilot halfway out, while the captain, played in the movie by Hanyu Zhang, tries to keep him at least half in the plane with his right hand, while trying to control the plane with his left. The entire cabin depressurizes and the plane falls out of communication with flight control. The oxygen masks drop from the bulkhead, the passengers start screaming and demand to see the captain, while the six flight attendants and erstwhile relaxing second officer trying to calm them. With no communications, plane out of control, and a major storm raging, will any of them get to the ground alive?
Andy Lau's movie recreation of real-life events is very well made, filled with startling and terrifying details. Like other movies showing people being heroic -- particularly 2016's SULLY -- it tells the events on board the plane in a plain, unadorned, "just the facts, ma'am" manner that makes the eventual impact even greater in the long run.
Lau's foreshadowing of events is a bit heavy-handed --the attendants practice their "We are trained in emergency procedure" speech and one complains that she never gets to use it; and I thought the rejoicing at the end went on a bit too long, but that last is a matter of taste. It's a well made and exciting film and what more can anyone ask?
