The Disappearance of Flight 412

As of today (8-6-22), this movie is available in Amazon Prime in what they call "UHD" (roughly equivalent to "4K", though they're often mistakenly considered to be synonymous); however, for some bizarre reason known only to the geniuses Jeff Bezos has appointed to run Amazon while he concentrates on conquering space, they have as of late labeled many poor-quality film offerings as "UHD", despite them being of varying degrees of inferiority to the generally accepted base definition of SD...why, I can't say. But forgetting that egregious mislabeling for the moment, if you want to see this film in the best overall picture quality that I could find, go to YouTube, where they currently offer three different sources for viewing this, the best of which, after I tested them all, is the one offered by Cult Cinema Classics....the sound's slightly muddled, but after awhile you don't notice that so much, and the picture, while still slightly subpar to a standard SD grade, is clearly superior to the "UHD" (ha!) offered by Prime, as well as the other two sources available on YouTube. Now that we have all of that settled, I think anyone at all interested in UFO's or conspiracy/cover-up stories should check this out...the cast is fairly impressive, considering this is clearly a made-for-TV film, and for that reason alone, it's worth a watch! And while the words are never spoken here, this was probably one of Chris Carter's many inspirations for his eventual catch phrase: "Trust No One".... MFF/Hawaii 8-6-22.

Occasionally tense, but ultimately disappointing tale of a routine test mission that witnesses the disappearance of two fighter jets who are scrambled to intercept a suspected UFO. No-nonsense Colonel (Ford) and his Major (Dillman) delve into the mystery when their plane is diverted to a remote, de-commissioned air base in the desert, its crew (Soul, Lyons, Mullavey and Clay) interrogated by Special Investigations Detachment to ascertain what they actually saw, and prevent a national security breach.

All the players acquit their roles with professionalism and competence - Stockwell as the burly, sunglasses wearing head interrogator casts an ominous aura, but his passive threats have no substance (the worst outcome suggested is demotion or demobbing). Familiar actors Jack Ging, Ken Kercheval, Ed Winter, Kent Smith, Morris Buchanan and Jesse Vint have supporting roles of varying proportions, and Soul in particular is dominant in his role as the airmen's fearless leader (the scene in which he stages a daring escape attempt should have been a suspense highlight, alas, it fails to ignite the fading embers).

But despite the capable cast, the tele-movie is really just an introduction to the UFO phenomenon, with little actual substance or depth. A couple of tense moments during the multitude of interrogations, despite the bark, there's no bite.

A suspected UFO is seen.

Don't expect anything too special here. if you just need 72 minutes to fill and have an interest the US military - the could be the movie for you.

Granted this is not The X Files, so you will get no love interest between the agents here, in fact I don' t think there is a single female in the cast.

It felt real to me and the dialogue was sharp and well written.

Military boys with secrets, this movie is okay.

Long before flying saucer buffs were accusing the government of hiding the facts behind the Roswell UFO crash, this movie explored the possibility that military sightings were handled in a covert and serious way.

Presented in a straightforward, semi-documentary style, The Disappearance of Flight 412 is directed with economy and tight pacing. This is an absorbing and convincing TV movie [a rarity] that could be classified as science fiction or straight drama.

If you can find it playing somewhere on cable, don't miss it.

The Disappearance of Flight 412 is a rather cheaply made TV movie with really bad sound that doesn't seem to make any point. If there are indeed UFOs visiting our fair planet we can't seem to ever get a handle on it with anything definitive. If they are and the government has documentation they are covering it up. Hardly anything revelatory.

Air Force Colonel Glenn Ford is in charge of a flight group in which one of his flight crews is making some radar equipment checks. They see a strange object in the sky, some Marine jets are scrambled and they disappear off the radar scope. Ford's crew is diverted to a secret base nearby his base that he does not know anything about. But with a little sleuthing he tracks down where his men are gets them out.

Quite frankly he should have dropped it right there, but he pursues it and gets himself in a ringer with General Kent Smith. The conclusion, there really isn't any.

Robert F. Lyons does the best acting job as the colonel in charge of the top secret installation, a really smarmy type. Ford does his usual professional job. But in the final analysis the only people who this film might appeal to are aviation buffs.