The Odyssey of Flight 33

"The Twilight Zone" is at its best when a whole bunch of respectable and professional actors/actresses, with straight faces and stern voices, talk dead-serious about the unbelievable supernatural phenomena that overcome them and remain unexplained! Prime example: five men in a cockpit who must acknowledge that their airplane is uncontrollably picking up immense speed while the rest of the flight data readings remain normal. I have very little knowledge about aerial terminology, but apparently Flight 33 goes so fast that it breaks through time barriers and bounces back and forth in history. Although high-rated, this isn't a personal favorite episode of mine, but it's most admirable to see how airline crew members remain calm and professional even during moments when all hope seems vanished and sheer disaster is upon them. I like to believe that this is a realist portrayal of what goes on during REAL crisis and emergency situations up there in the air. Quite recently, in 2014, there was the still unsolved disappearance of Flight MH370, and I imagine that the crew of that airplane was just as heroic and comforting to the passengers as the pilots and cabin crew of this fictional Sci-Fi tale.

The Twilight Zone reach at top rated # 21 means a highest series ever made, Rod Sterling create a fabulous concept around of the unknown, parallel worlds, weirdest tales that never came to screen before, The Odyssey of Flight 33 fits perfect in this concept, a flight from London to New York has been a usual approaching, suddenly a tail wind takes the Airplane reaching a supersonic speed, aftermath a strange shake and bright lights shines through, they see the Manhattan island, the Hudson river, nevertheless no city down bellow, just a forest with dinosaurs, they perceived back in time at Jurassic era, they replicate the same process, now they reach at 1939, sadly the airport don't fits the large aircraft, then they speed again until to be back at 1961, the fuel is running out, one the most imaginative episode of the entire series having John Anderson as the leading role!!

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First watch: 2019 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5

Yes that's right, they should have landed somewhere in 1939, perhaps not Idlewild Airport (JFK), but somewhere, find a way to steal some gas...A LOT of gas for that jetliner and then take another shot at the time travel with the supernatural jet stream that time jumps them. Why risk being thrown backwards in time again and continue being low on fuel? And worst comes to worst, 1939 is a better alternative to people from 1960 then prehistoric times. It would have been great to have a sequel episode to this in one of the modern Twilight Zone revamps, with Flight 33 being confused as to why Idlewild airport is now called John F. Kennedy airport.

Routine flight from London to New York City is detoured into the TZ.

For me the ending of this show is one of the most unsettling of the series. All the action takes place aboard the jet, so writer Serling had his work cut out for him. But he does keep our interest glued to the cockpit, even if the 5 man crew seems too cool and detached to be plausible. Still, the captain's (John Anderson's) unflappable reactions keep viewers attention focused on what's happening to the flight instead of the crew's reactions to it. The time travel theme is well-handled, particularly with the sonic shocks that impart an air of believability. There's also a humorous bit of byplay between the passengers reminiscent of the later Airport film series. However, someone should have taken a second look at those jungle miniatures, which must have come from some Z-movie stock footage. All in all, the show makes for a very entertaining, if unsettling, half-hour.

John Anderson stars as the captain of Global Jetliner 33, which is a passenger jet en route from London to New York in what was a routine flight until it hits a mysterious tail wind that gives them the amazing sensation of speed, and the crew are shocked to find out that they have somehow traveled back in time 65 million years to the age of the dinosaurs(one is viewed out the window). Desperate, they retrace their route and go back along it, but don't quite make it back to their own year... Can they ever make it back home before they run out of fuel? Memorable episode takes its fantastic premise and handles it with authenticity and a commendable matter-of-fact, no-nonsense approach that works remarkably well.