THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX [1965 / 2016] [EUREKA! Entertainment] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] Robert Aldrich's Gripping Tale of Courage and Suspense starring James Stewart and Sir Richard Attenborough!
One of Hollywood's toughest and most idiosyncratic filmmakers, Robert Aldrich [‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’ and ‘The Dirty Dozen’] had one of his greatest and most cherished popular successes with the thrilling adventure classic ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX,’ headlined by an all-star cast including James Stewart, Sir Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine and Hardy Krüger.
A cargo plane carrying an assortment of oilmen and military personnel crashes in the Sahara Desert during a sandstorm. Realising they're too far off course to be found and rescued before food and water runs out, their only hope is to attempt to rebuild the aircraft amidst the unforgiving environment.
An engrossing mix of intensely physical filmmaking and marvellous character turns across the board. ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ is a vivid chronicle of men under pressure, with unsettling questions about the nature of leadership. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present a new Blu-ray special edition of the film.
PRESS REVIEWS:
''An often-fascinating and superlative piece of filmmaking highlighted by standout performances and touches that show producer-director at his best.'' – Variety
''This all-star survivalist epic has all the expected ingredients and more.'' – Radio Times
''Beautifully characterised and directed by Aldrich with a grip that keeps tension high and heroics low'' – Tom Milne, Time Out
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1966 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Ian Bannen. Nominated: Best Film Editing for Michael Luciano. 1966 Golden Globes: Nominated: Best Motion Picture in a Drama. Nominated: Best Supporting Actor for Hardy Krüger who refused to be nominated. Nominated: Most Promising Male Newcomer for Ian Bannen. 1966 American Cinema Editors: Nominated: Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film for Michael Luciano.
FILM FACT No.2: Principal photography started on the 26th April, 1965, at the 20th Century-Fox Studios and 20th Century-Fox Ranch, California. Other filming locations, simulating the desert, were Buttercup Valley, Arizona and Pilot Knob Mesa, California. The flying sequences were all filmed at Pilot Knob Mesa near Winterhaven, located in California's Imperial Valley, on the western fringes of Yuma, Arizona. Although principal photography was completed on August 13, 1965, in order to complete filming, a North American O-47A (N4725V) from the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California was modified and used as a flying Phoenix stand-in. With the canopy removed, a set of skids attached to the main landing gear as well as ventral fin added to the tail, it sufficed as more-or-less a visual lookalike. Filming using the O-47A was completed in October/November 1965. It appears in the last flying scenes, painted to look like the earlier Phoenix P-1. The final production used a mix of footage that included the O-47A, the "cobbled-together" Phoenix and Phoenix P-1. The flying sequences were flown by famous racing/stunt/movie pilot and collector of warplanes Paul Mantz, co-owner of Tallmantz Aviation, filling in for his partner Frank Tallman, who had injured his leg. On the morning of July 8, Paul Mantz was flying the Tallmantz Phoenix P-1, the machine that was "made of the wreckage", performing touch-and-go landings for the cameras, when the fuselage buckled during a touchdown. The movie model broke apart and cartwheeled, killing Paul Mantz and seriously injuring stuntman Bobby Rose. The final credit on the screen was, "It should be remembered... that Paul Mantz, a fine man and a brilliant flyer, gave his life in the making of this film..."
Cast: James Stewart, Sir Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea, George Kennedy, Gabriele Tinti, Alex Montoya, Peter Bravos, William Aldrich, Barrie Chase and Stanley Ralph Ross [Arab Singer voice] (uncredited)
Director: Robert Aldrich
Producers: Robert Aldrich and Walter Blake
Screenplay: Lukas Heller (screenplay) and Trevor Dudley Smith (aka Elleston Trevor) (novel)
Composer: Frank De Vol
Special Photographic Effects: L.B. Abbott, A.S.C. and Howard Lydecker, A.S.C.
Cinematography: Joseph Francis Biroc, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Color by DeLuxe)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 142 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: 20th Century Fox / Associates and Aldrich Company, Inc. / EUREKA! Entertainment
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ [1965] is one of my all-time favourite films. I have watched it at least a dozen times. The clash of personalities in the beginning is just a hint of the bigotry and clash of wills for survival that will ultimately surface after the disastrous crash in the middle of the Sahara.
Frank Towns [Jimmy Stewart] is a seasoned grunt pilot who has seen better days and jobs, but is now transporting various oil workers and other personnel to remote areas in the Sahara Desert. Things go horribly wrong as the plane is forced to ditch in the middle of nothing because of a blinding sand storm.
The survivors on the crashed plane are a diverse group that included a physician, his mental patient Trucker Cobb [Ernest Borgnine], a military captain and his Sergeant, an airplane design engineer, and several others that make for a pot-stir of a wonderful cast.
As conditions deteriorate and hopelessness closes in, the minor skirmishes become a full-blown battle of will between the survivors. It becomes apparent that there will be no rescue. Frank Towns is the pilot of this disaster, but Heinrich Dorfmann [Hardy Krüger], the German Engineer, is the one and only hope to get this doomed crew out of the desert. Heinrich Dorfmann designs airplanes, and has determined that they can re-purpose the crashed airplane into something that will get them away from this Hellhole. Of course, Frank Towns is sceptical to the point of being hostile, but he has no answers either, so he reluctantly goes along with Heinrich Dorfmann’s outrageous plan to build another plane and escape from certain death.
‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ is a film about how people cope with people - and with themselves - under increasing and inescapable pressure. Key to the success of ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ is that, despite being a story of people working together to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, director Robert Aldrich never allows it to become a 'feel-good' film. The construction of “The Phoenix” in the middle of the Libyan Desert is never presented as a bonding exercise between the men stranded together, only as an attempt to survive that appears to become ever more futile as the plot unfolds. This is a film about how people cope with people and with themselves under increasing and inescapable pressure.
It's this study of the human condition, presented almost entirely through the play like setting of the crashed fuselage, which makes ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ such a compelling watch. Occasionally the group's outlook can become a little too pessimistic to enjoy, but for much of the running time Robert Aldrich's gallery of control freaks, cowards and curs - with one or two reputable figures thrown in for variety – make for an engaging ragtag bunch.
The strong performances from the whole cast go a long way to achieving this. James Stewart as pilot Frank Towns is excellent, managing to balance the character's generally negative outlook with redeeming leadership qualities and genuine humanity. Any scenes James Stewart shares with Richard Attenborough as navigator Lew Moran emerge as amongst the film's strongest, the relationship between Frank Towns and Lew Moran growing from professional goodwill and respect to heartfelt friendship.
‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ is an engrossing mix of intensely physical filmmaking and marvellous character turns across the board, and a vivid chronicle of men under pressure, with unsettling questions about the nature of leadership.
‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ is a film that should be shown to every child ready for first day of school. This masterpiece shows both the beautiful and horrifying side of human existence. It is an insightful journey of emotions, panic, hope, guilt, vitality, tragedy. A journey to that what life can be. I won't say much about the greatness of this film, no word could possibly do it justice but, if you are here because you saw the 2004's "push-button" idiotic remake, then you should compare the two pictures. We might make better airplanes today but when it comes to films forget it, we are yet to find something that comes close to the outstanding performances from famous and respected actors. Time was when the audience could take real joy and pride, going to the cinema where films used to be fun, it really was. Robert Aldrich's ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ shows us the obvious non-intelligence and limitations of human conditions. Today, more than ever, the film shows us ingenuity and the will to reach civilization. The combination of a brilliant screenplay and excellent acting brings to the fore a totally brilliant and gripping film that is a must view and is definitely a must have film to add to your Blu-ray collection.
THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX MUSIC TRACK LIST
THE PHOENIX LOVE THEME – Senza Fine (Music by Gino Paoli) (Italian Lyrics by Gino Paoli) (English Lyrics by Alec Wilder) [Sung by Connie Francis]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – EUREKA! Entertainment presents us the film ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ with a brand new high-definition 1080p presentation and is enhanced with a wonderful 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The film looks terrific and you feel every bit of sunburn welt, see every wrinkle and bead of sweat on the characters' faces. Yes, there's grain but as I've said before, that's a good thing, a celluloid thing. There are very few blemishes at all. The process shots – what we now call “green scene” scenes and used to be called blue screen – are limited by the 1960's technical know-how and some outlines are visible around the characters in front of a background placed in later optically. While it's obvious the plane and actors are clearly on location, there are a few pick up “exterior” shots that betray some studio work. I only noticed them because the location photography is so splendidly shot. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – EUREKA! Entertainment brings us the film ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ with just one standard 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio. The audio has not been recently remastered, but there are no technical anomalies to report. The dialogue is very clean, stable, nicely rounded, and easy to follow. The music breathes quite easily, though there are no big shifts in terms of dynamic intensity. Also, there are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report and especially for a film released in 1965.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Isolated Music and Effects track: Here you have the bonus of viewing the film with the amazing composed film music score by Frank De Vol and you also get to hear the dramatic and amazing sound effects.
Special Feature: Film Historian Sheldon Hall on ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [25:52] Here we get to view a brand new video interview with Film Historian Sheldon Hall and they inform us at the start that this video piece that it contains spoilers about the film. Sheldon Hall talks about the director Robert Aldrich, who was originally associated with the Hollywood studio system, but also had a modern view towards the new modern so called Hollywood between the periods of the 1960’s through to the 1970’s. Robert Aldrich started his career as a contract executive at RKO Radio Pictures studio and then went onto the small independent Enterprise Studios and mainly working in the production side of the studio, then went onto being an assistant director, then in 1953 got to direct his first film and that is when the Hollywood studio system finally ended. In 1955 directed the film ‘Kiss Me Deadly.’ Then went onto form his own film company Associates and Aldrich Company, Inc. and became an independent director and defined the architectural independent Hollywood director, and Robert Aldrich sourced his own material, screenplays, property pool of screenwriters and acted as his own producer/director and tried to take overall control of his career and sometimes it didn’t work out between the 1950’s and throughout the 1960’s. And through some great success he was able to buy his own studio that was originally built by Mary Pickford and for a short period acted as a studio mogul, but did not bring much success, and it all came crashing down in the early 1970’s. But Robert Aldrich overall decided to become an independent director and some successful main stream feature film projects during the period of the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s and his first big success was the film ‘Vero Crux’ which starred Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, and also had a great success with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in the brilliant ‘What Ever Happened To Baby Jane’ film in the 1960’s. Then came the big blockbuster film ‘Dirty Dozen’ in 1967 which helped to be able to buy his independent studio. The in 1974 directed the film ‘The Longest Yard’ that starred Burt Reynolds. Robert Aldrich was much more interested in having big box office success and was not at all interested is so called “art films,” but of course eventually Robert Aldrich became known as a “cult film” director and British film fans knew the director very well for his TV series “Moviedrome” that was a British television cult film series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from the 8th May, 1988 to the 9th July, 2000. Its remit was to broadcast a selection of cult films each with an introduction, first by film director Alex Cox and later by film critic Mark Cousins and six of Robert Aldrich’s films were shown, more so than any other director in his genre. With the film ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ it was not known as a “cult film” when released and not even a main stream blockbuster film and in its initial release was a box office failure, which I suspect people will be very surprised by that statement and was made for $550,000,000 and only got back half of that money with the cinema release and Robert Aldrich was really puzzled why it was not such a success when released, because he was very proud of the film and also felt it was a very good and well-made film, but today of course it has now become a real “cult film” with fans around the world and especially when it originally got released on the home video VHS tape format and then went onto greater success when eventually released on to the DVD format, and helped even more with having all of the well-known ensemble star calibre actors, even thought they were getting on in years, because it was all about a group of men trying to survive against the odds in the middle of the desert and of curse at the end of the film it ends on a high. Another aspect of direct Robert Aldrich is that he always insists on using two cameras to film a scene, which helped speed up production and also greater flexibility in editing the film and also helped capture the action shots with two or more actors in a particular scene in the film, whereas most directors only like to use one camera to shoot scenes. With the history of Robert Aldrich films, he never made any films in Anamorphic CinemasScope, but only in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, but the nearest film Robert Aldrich made in ultra-widescreen was ‘Vera Cruz’ which was filmed in SuperScope and was cropped to the 2.00:1 aspect ratio or 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This is a really good solid extra in which Film Historian Sheldon Hall takes us through director Robert Aldrich's career and specifically the film ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX.’ We also get shown cinema posters, stills and mute clips from the film to illustrate Sheldon Hall’s points. I was especially interested in Sheldon Hall informing us about Robert Aldrich's use of two cameras which allowed for more performance spontaneity. Nowadays, eleven cameras shooting the same scene simultaneously is not that unusual but in those days of filming, it was a rare luxury.
Theatrical Trailer [1965] [1080p] [1.85:1] [3:09] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX.’ This is truly a really beautiful trailer, because they inform us “It is a most unusual motion picture where the excitement never runs out!” “One of the most ironic twists of fate you have ever experienced in a motion picture...” All the hyperbole is present in this 1080p trailer very far from any original negative. It's soft and a bit grubby but it's a fascinating example of its kind. “Sometimes a motion picture sets the screen on fire...” No argument from me. Great stuff!
PLUS: FIRST PRESSING ONLY: A beautiful collectors 20 page booklet featuring a 2016 essay by film scholar Neil Sinyard entitled Survival Of The Fittest: Robert Aldrich’s ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX.’ VIEWING NOTES. BLU-RAY CREDITS. Plus rare archival imagery from the film on location. What you also get to read is Neil Sinyard delivers a solid essay on both Robert Aldrich and the film though it’s best to see the film before reading it, because Neil Sinyard reveals quite a few “spoilers” information towards the film on page 14. Neil Sinyard uses the quote I used in his appreciation of the sub textual elements in the film and sneaks a “who” in the actual quote where there was no “who” which is slightly confusing. I also find it somewhat amusing and at the same time desperate from the once active 20th Century Fox marketing department to find the image of the belly dancer on page 2 and the back page with Robert Aldrich directing. Yes, we all know sex sells in films in general but definitely not for this film.
BONUS: Reversible printed Blu-ray sleeve featuring a Sepia desert scene from the film.
Finally, ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ is what Hollywood does best despite its initial failure at the box office. Now, this genuine cult classic film, which was directed by Robert Aldrich and is a film of an adventure tale with genuine suspense, superbly well-rounded characters and action that never feels forced or unreal. An engrossing mix of intensely physical filmmaking and marvellous character turns across the board and ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ is an outstanding dramatic film, mainly because of the brilliant ensemble cast. James Stewart is the big star, and his interaction with his co-pilot Lew [Sir Richard Attenborough] is something to behold, as they play off of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The supporting cast is also solid, with Ernest Borgnine, Peter Finch, George Kennedy and Ronald Fraser playing the reluctant sergeant. The real star of the movie, however, was the German engineer Henrick Dorfmann, played perfectly and brilliantly by Hardy Kruger. Dorfmann first appeared to be a meek, slide-rule carrying nerd, but as the movie progressed, he became a powerhouse of a superstar who saved the day. “Who is in authority here?” was the ice-cold question that would determine the fate of the desperate men who were stranded in the unforgiving Sahara Desert. ‘THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX’ is a true classic that you will never, ever forget. The acting and dialogue are superior, especially the interactions between Jimmy Stewart and Hardy Krüger. There is one stunning reveal that I will not spoil for those who have not yet seen this wonderful film. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present a brand new Blu-ray special edition of the film that should go pride of place in your Blu-ray collection. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
