Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534

So I'm scanning the Dollar DVD Rack one afternoon at Wal-Mart, wondering what offerings it might have for me...the title "Rough Air" jumps out at me. An obviously made-for-TV air disaster movie starring Eric Roberts (Julia's ne'er-do-well brother) and Alexandra Paul (of "Baywatch" fame, though to me she'll always be "The Virgin Connie Swail" from "Dragnet")? This DVD cover even has the audacity to rip off the tag line from "Alien," saying "At 30,000 Feet, No One Can Hear You Scream!" SOLD! A few nights later I give "Rough Air" a spin and y'know what? It's actually a decent (although totally unoriginal) flick, but I couldn't help noticing its similarity to the classic disaster-film parody "Airplane!" In fact, it almost seems as if "Rough Air's" screenwriters took the basic plot of "Airplane" and decided to make their own non-humorous version out of it. The two major characters are the disgraced pilot (Roberts) whose last flight ended in disaster, and his estranged stewardess girlfriend, both of whom end up on the same plane when mid-air disaster strikes and the pilots are incapacitated. Of course, Roberts is the only other person on board who can fly a plane, so it's up to him to get everyone back on the ground safely. When Stewardess Ex-Girlfriend is asked to help out in the co-pilot's seat, I immediately had flash backs to Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty landing the doomed airliner in "Airplane" while trading sight gags and one liners with Lloyd Bridges in the control tower, but they keep things on the straight and narrow in "Rough Air." (I kept waiting for them to inflate "OTTO" the automatic pilot, but no such luck.) Do you even have to ask if they'll fall back in love again by the time the plane lands? :) "Rough Air" was an entertaining enough diversion for a rainy evening. If air disaster movies are your thing, it's worth the dollar. For the casual viewer, you can do a lot worse.

"Mike Hogan" (Eric Roberts) is a pilot who has been temporarily suspended because of an accident that wasn't his fault. However, when an international flight is in desperate need of a co-pilot he is coaxed into accepting the assignment in the hope that he might regain his former status. As it so happens his former girlfriend "Katy Phillips" (Alexandra Paul) is also on the flight as the head stewardess which creates a bit of an awkward situation for both of them. Even worse is the fact that the pilot "Captain Jack Brooks" (Kevin Jubinville) is a total jerk who treats Mike with complete disdain. Along with that one of the passengers named "Cal Matthews" (Carlo Rota) is almost as bad as Captain Brooks. That said however, none of these situations remotely compares to the problem Mike has to contend with once the flight takes off across the Atlantic Ocean en route to Boston. Anyway, rather than detail the entire story and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that I thought this was an enjoyable movie for the most part. While it's true that most of the events depicted in this movie have been done before at one time or another I liked most of the actors involved and thought they performed fairly well together. Also having attractive actresses like Anne Openshaw (as "Flight Attendant Tracey Nichols") along with the aforementioned Alexandra Paul certainly didn't hurt either. In short, I liked this movie and I rate it as slightly above average.

I really liked this movie. It's a simple story with a airline full of passengers and something goes wrong. A trpical film about airline tragedies. Roberts and paul are good actors and show it. Like I said if you want a simple story about a airline tragedy just rent one of these films. They are all the same. It's out on DVd and a must for me because of the great Eric Roberts! Out of 4 stras I give it 3 stars.

I happen rather to like the film. Clichés? Yes. Inaccuracies? Tons of it. For instance, all modern airliners should have cargo bay isolated from passenger cabin and sudden depressurization of latter is hardly possible.

So what is there to like? For me it is overall... tranquility. Unlike most modern thrillers, this film leaves your nerves undamaged. It just looks reasonable. No maniacs, no superheroes, no dark forces, no anything like that. Just "good ole boys" doing what they can for people around them. And that is very refreshing. You could think that film is made in 70s or 80s.

So, all in all, this is a nice film to relax at night. Just don't expect much thrill and you'll be all right.

Thank you.

it was good to watch but I must comment the nothing as of to date has compared to the 1970 " airport " movie.

Which I feel showed more realism about day to day operations of not only the airport but and air lines as well.

As " airport " used actual air traffic controllers and not actors in the tower.One big mistake I feel was made is when the plane touched down there was no sign of emergency equipment on the sight until after the plane had come to a complete stop. But we all know that when an aircraft is declaring an emergency that the emergency crews are in place at the runway prior to touch down.