TURBULENCE (1997)

TURBULENCE (1997)

Tagline: Fear is in the air

(Action, Thriller, Flying Planes Is Easy) [R]

Weaver, I know you'd like to entertain yourself by engaging me in a challenging conversation. But, I like to read on a plane.

In this one, a serial killer named Ryan Weaver is on transcontinental 747 commercial flight being transferred along with another prisoner when they are able to overpower and kill their guards. Meanwhile, after a bad break up Teri Halloran finds herself in the crosshairs of Ryan who is known for killing women in particular. 

One thing I remember about Ray Liotta is that he is very adept at playing characters you can’t stand. I think this one and UNLAWFUL ENTRY are probably the ones that I’ve seen where he is the creepiest. He is good in this but in a super creepy way. This movie was a massive flop at the box office only bringing in 1/5th of what it cost to make. Having said that, it might have been largely due to the fact that movies about planes in general especially terrible things happening to them are going to naturally not be popular with a decent segment of the population that flies a lot. There are actually 2 direct to video sequels to this. I don’t know anything about planes or realism when it comes to what can and cannot be done, but I actually thought this had a decent story idea. That doesn’t mean it’s realistic. It seems nearly impossible that they wouldn’t handcuff prisoners during a prisoner transfer. It gets even nuttier when the plane ends up completely upside down at one point, then somehow ends up right-side up. 

Then again, if you read a lot of my reviews, you know I never watch a movie trying to find realism. I am just looking for consistency within the world we are being presented. So what is consistent here? Well once Teri starts making dumb decisions, she follows through the rest of the movie making completely dumb decisions. That’s what I want, don’t have this character being completely stupid, then suddenly have her make great decisions. What is NOT consistent is the dumb decisions that Ryan makes. Ryan is painted as a bit of a genius or at least a “smart” person. It seems like if he was doing all this for the reasons he’s doing it, then he would have picked a completely different way of going about it. 

The rest of the cast is good. It is weird seeing Catherine Hicks (CHILD’S PLAY) in a few horror movies and a thriller like this one after years of watching her on 7th Heaven. She plays Maggie in this and does a pretty great job but doesn’t have a ton of lines. We also have a Heidi Kling (MIGHTY DUCKS) sighting. Heidi plays Betty in this and also doesn’t get a ton of screen time. The movie also features Rachel Ticotin (TOTAL RECALL) as Rachel who spends a lot of time trying to keep everyone from doing crazy things and is solid in this. Then rounding out the main cast we get Lauren Holly (SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN) who plays Teri, the girl who makes dumb decisions and she actually does a great job as well.

I think the main issue I had with this is that it feels way too out of whack. I think if Ryan had been written as a straight-up lunatic, we might have been able to believe he does the crazy stuff he ends up doing in this movie because a lot of it doesn’t fit the MO they give him in the dialog. The ending is also pretty janky given how the plot plays out and how much effort Ryan put into hunting down Teri. 

If you are in love with movies that happen on a plane, then this might be your thing, but I think there are other “better” thrillers that happen on a plane out there (AIR FORCE ONE, RED EYE, EXECUTIVE DECISION, etc.). 

Overall this is a 3 out of 7 for me. I like “on a plane” movies, but the execution of this one comes across as sloppy even in the universe we are given, so the solid performances can’t fix it. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF RYSHER ENTERTAINMENT AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.