Falling from the Sky: Flight 174

I happened along this movie quite by accident. William Devane does an excellent job portraying an airline captain in charge of a doomed flight. The film was exhausting to watch. I felt like I was there in the cockpit helping Mr. Devane myself. I have tried for years to find a copy of this tape. Not until late last year was it available on VHS in the UK. I ordered the tape immediately. When the tape arrived, I was devastated to find out the VHS tapes sold in England and many other European countries are made on a different standard than ours here in the USA. I have the film on VHS in PAL standard but need it in NTSC or SECAM standard, whichever works in the US. I have been unable to get any help on this. I would very much like a copy of this film if anyone has any ideas.

I've read the other reviews posted so far and I pretty much agree. It is what it is -- and as a "based on a true story" plane crash TV-movie it was entertaining, at least as a late, late night cable TV offering.

And I gotta agree with some of the other comments about a few of the shortcomings -- and maybe add a couple more.

Why did the captain run back into the smoking cockpit?!? I think they either needed to have him explain himself -- OR, have someone else say, "Gee, that was dumb."

They could have done away with the little inner dialogues each passenger had in the moments before the plane attempted to land. That was just goofy.

And what was the deal with the kid on the bike on the runway?!? Chaos reigns as cars zoom to get off the runway and then a guy runs alongside the pavement yelling at the kid to get off the runway -- and the kid inexplicably looks at the guy with a weird expression that's a combination of confusion, fright, and "I ate something sour"... And they cut back and forth between the two about four times without ever conveying why the kid wasn't getting off the runway like the guy was adamantly yelling at him to do...

I saw a dramatised 1 hour documentary of this accident on the Canadian Air Crash Invetsigations series "Mayday". The dramatised bits and interviews with passengers did a much better job of entertaining than this movie does, with the added bonus of conveying what really happened.

Instead of focusing on facts this film opts to go for 1970s disaster movie approach with casting, acting, set design, music and the invitable padding out with irrelevant sub-plots. The only thing that is missing is here Charton Heston but I guess he was too old by 1995 to pass as an airline Captain! Much of the dialogue between the crew in this movie is invented and they simply don't cut it as professional airmen. There is too much sighing and emotion, and too little professionalism. Most of the time they don't look like they are sitting a real cockpit, but a large wooden room in a studio.

Many of the events are exaggerated for sensational effect, and some events invented. This would be alright but it's poorly done and it just cheapens the movie. As do the invented dramatisations with passengers and crew.

I supposed it's a watchable film in is own right...I mean, I did watch it!

This is a good movie for made-for-TV. A true story about Canada World Airways' Boeing 767 that runs out of fuel, due to a miscalculation by the ground staff in Montreal. The Captain Bob Pearson (William Devane) and First Officer Maurice Quintal (Scott Hylands) must think of something fast before the plane and its 60 passengers fall from the sky.

The acting is great, as each main character's live stories are depicted in the movie, as his/her own personal issues are worsened by the plane's untimely misfortune. The movie is fast pace, leaving little room for mundane scenes and plot lines that drag. We see a movie where people turn from despair to hope as they struggle to find their will to help each other to survive as their plane comes falling. Again, a great TV movie that is worth your time watching.

Grade A

Free Fall from the Sky: Flight 174 is the true story of a Boeing 767 near-disaster in Canada when the plane runs out of fuel. It stars William Devane, Scott Hylands, Shelley Hack, Marietta Hartley, and Winston Reckert.

The Canadian government changed the way fuel was measured to kilos, I guess, and some duffess on the ground measured wrong and sent this thing up with not enough fuel to get where it was going. The highlight for me was seeing copilot Scott Hylands with a pencil and paper doing calculations.

Made in 1995, the move has that cheap Canadian feel to it, which movies did back then. For a disaster film, it drags. There was not enough script for 93 minutes.

There was a lot of inner monologuing which I could have done without.

The landing was good, mostly due to the excellent acting of William Devane. Look for lovely Molly Porter at 23 in a small role.