Ground Control

"Ground Control" tells the story of Jack Harris, a former air-traffic controller who quit after a "situation" with a flight he was handling. Jack is pressed into service as an ATC again during a staffing crisis at the control center. Needless to say, Jack has brief "flashbacks" at work. Also needless to say, he steps in to "save the day" during an extraordinary problem at the control center. Predictable? Heavens, yes. Oddly enjoyable? Yeah, sure...keep your expectations low, though...

6 December 2010. A year before the more quirky comedy drama PUSHING TIN (1999) came out starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thorton, the more mainstream disaster thriller GROUND CONTROL was released starring television's 24 Keifer Sutherland with co-starring roles for 1986's Kelly McGillis (TOP GUN, 1986) and Kristy Swanson (FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF). GROUND CONTROL is relatively traditional, predictable, interestingly in a way less sensationalized, dramatized than PUSHING TIN and less relational and more focused fascinating active air control dynamics which in some ways makes this more watchable than average dramatic thrillers. **Added January 9, 2012 - With a decent storyline that keeps building, this is good entertainment. What makes this dramatic thriller on solid ground is its use of stereotypes but in a way that never overextends their use, the irritated man's eventual response to the babies, the way the ending wasn't as pat as most dramatic endings are with its more realistic and, literally, twists and turns, and even the non-verbal exchanges at the end make for a believable and satisfying landing.**

i was bought this film as a gift and was not expecting much from it. After 10 minutes of the film i was hooked. The story line is a little predictable however, its done very well. Keifer Sutherland is at his best and delivers a great performance. It just goes to show that just because a film is not packed with special FX and CGI doesn't mean its not a top notch film.

If any airport in the US were this badly maintained, it would be shut down before you could say 'Thrust Reverser'. The number of thing that go wrong here and the jury-rigged way this tower is put together is almost comical.

Having said that, Keifer's acting is rock solid as always. Kelly McGillis is not so bad, and Buffy takes an unusual turn as a nerd. Not anything I would go out of my way to see, but not bad if you come across it on TV either...

Note: The steering by way of using the thrust on the engines was a real life incident. Unfortunately, the results were not quite so good.

BTW, why didn't Fonzie just bang his fist on the computers to fix them? Ayyyy!!!

Five years after he was kicked off the job after being on shift during a plane crash, Jack Harris is called back into the job to cover a busy Christmas period (if only to run the printer tags). However, Jack takes over from a rookie and gets back into it despite flashbacks. However his skills are pushed to breaking point when the traffic control system suffers several major failures and power cuts.

Like the vast majority of viewers, I came to this film on the back of Sutherland's recent return to the spotlight in 24. In the advertisement this film appeared to be a tense film about the tight world of air traffic control, however in reality this film fails to ever really get going or have anything which grips or engages. The plot is pretty full of holes and episodic, it relies on the characters speaking jargon really quickly more than making the danger and urgency of any of the situations seem real. Some have said that this film is not realistic - I don't know, but I suspect they are right. Certainly it fails to make any valid points about a system that (in the UK) many acknowledge is starting to show cracks at best.

The film's episodic nature suggests it lacks any sense of focus other than the general situation that made up the film's pitch. This sucks any momentum out of it and leaves it stuttering a lot. The cast look like they will prevent this - at least on paper they do, in reality they are bogged down by a film that must have looked like it had potential to be as taut as an elastic band. Sutherland does OK but can't find the tension any better than I could. Comparisons with 24 are null and void, even if his character here is called Jack. Leonard is pretty good in support but not even a cast that includes faces like McGill, McGillis, Swanson and Winkler can raise this above average.

While it is not awful, it is just really unmemorable to say the least. The plot isn't sure where it is going and goes nowhere as a result. With this the tension falls away to zero and the well-known cast only serves to remind that potential is being lost in all areas with this film.