Flight of the Phoenix (2004)
Directed by	John Moore
Produced by	William Aldrich
Written by	Scott Frank, Edward Burns
Starring	Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Giovanni Ribisi, Tony Curran
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	17 December 2004 (USA)
Running time	113 min
Language	English
Budget	~ US$45,000,000
IMDb profile

Flight of the Phoenix is a 2004 remake of the 1965 film The Flight of the Phoenix, based on the book of the same name. Survivors of a plane crash in the Gobi Desert work together to build a new plane. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (511x755, 901 KB) To the uploader: If possible, do not use this tag; please replace it with one of {{movieposter}} or {{sportsposter}} or {{eventposter}} or {{politicalposter}}. This is a copyrighted poster. ... John Moore (1970-) is a film director, producer, and writer. ... Scott Frank (born 1960) is an American screenwriter. ... Edward Burns Edward Burns Jr. ... Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. ... Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978), often known simply as Tyrese or Black-Ty, is an American R&B and hip hop singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, and former fashion model and MTV VJ. After releasing several successful albums, he made the transition into films, with lead roles in several... Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (born December 17, 1974) is an American actor. ... Curran as Marcus Corvinus in Underworld: Evolution Tony Curran (born 13 December 1968, in Glasgow) is a Scottish actor. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour and to 60 seconds. ... The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. ... It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film). ... It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film). ... The Gobi Desert lies in the territory of the Peoples Republic of China and the Country of Mongolia. ...

The film opened in the US on December 17th with the tagline, "The only way out, is up."

Cast

• Dennis Quaid - Frank Towns
• Tyrese Gibson - A.J.
• Giovanni Ribisi - Elliott
• Miranda Otto - Kelly
• Tony Curran - Rodney
• Kirk Jones - Jeremy
• Jacob Vargas - Sammi
• Hugh Laurie - Ian
• Scott Michael Campbell - Liddle
• Kevork Malikyan - Rady
• Jared Padalecki - Davis
• Paul Ditchfield - Dr. Gerber
• Martin Hindy - Newman
• Bob Brown- Kyle
• Anthony Wong - Lead Smuggler

Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. ... Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978), often known simply as Tyrese or Black-Ty, is an American R&B and hip hop singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, and former fashion model and MTV VJ. After releasing several successful albums, he made the transition into films, with lead roles in several... Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (born December 17, 1974) is an American actor. ... Miranda Otto (born December 16, 1967) is an Australian Film Institute-nominated and Logie Award-winning Australian actress. ... Curran as Marcus Corvinus in Underworld: Evolution Tony Curran (born 13 December 1968, in Glasgow) is a Scottish actor. ... Kirk Jones is also the name of a man who survived a plunge over the Niagara Falls, without a flotation device, on October 20, 2003. ... Jacob Vargas (born on 18 August 1971 in Michoacan, Mexico and raised in California, USA) is a Mexican-American actor. ... James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian and writer known as Hugh Laurie. ... Jared Tristan Padalecki (born July 19, 1982) is an American actor. ... Anthony Wong (born 12 May 1965) is an Australian actor of Asian descent. ...

Plot summary

When an Amacor oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, Captain Frank Towns (Quaid) and copilot A.J (Gibson) are sent to shut the operation down. However, on their way to Beijing, a major dust storm forces them to ditch their C-119 Flying Boxcar in an uncharted area of the desert. Their cargo consists of used parts and tools from the rig, the rig's crew, and one lone drifter. On the way down, the plane is damaged beyond repair, one crewmember, Kyle, falls to his death out the plane's damaged cargo hatch, and two others, Dr. Gerber (Ditchfield) and Newman, die from trauma inflicted by turbulence and impact. Natural gas drilling rig A drilling rig or oil rig is a structure housing equipment used to drill for and extract oil or natural gas from underground reservoirs. ... The Gobi Desert lies in the territory of the Peoples Republic of China and the Country of Mongolia. ... Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. ... Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978), often known simply as Tyrese or Black-Ty, is an American R&B and hip hop singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, and former fashion model and MTV VJ. After releasing several successful albums, he made the transition into films, with lead roles in several... The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was a U.S. military transport aircraft developed from the World War II Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. ...

When the storm ends and the dust settles, it becomes apparent that they are 200 miles off course with only one month worth of water available. Davis (Jared Padalecki) goes out and gets lost. He dies and is not found by his crew. At first, they decide, with the counsel of Captain Towns, to wait for rescue. However, after surveying the situation and realizing that their value to Amacor is less than they had originally believed, they reconsider and are convinced by Elliot (Ribisi), who claims to be an aircraft designer, to retool the remains of their C-119 into a new airplane which they christen "The Phoenix" after the legendary bird. Jared Tristan Padalecki (born July 19, 1982) is an American actor. ... Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (born December 17, 1974) is an American actor. ... The phoenix from the Aberdeen Bestiary. ...

They struggle for several weeks through dust storms, nomad attacks, lack of water, the death of two more crewmembers, and the revelation that Elliot's aircraft design experience had, to this point, been restricted to the design of models. However, they eventually are able to construct the new aircraft and take off barely in time to escape an army of nomadic attackers. Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ...

Trivia

• The film was shot on location in Namibia.
• A ferry sank during transportation of a major set piece across a river forcing the river bottom salvage of the plane fuselage.
• Four planes were used during the film:
  • C-119G, N15501 - flying shots. (still flies as of 2006)
  • C-119F, BuNo.131700 / N3267U - desert wreck.
  • C-119F, BuNo.131691 - Phoenix movie prop.
  • C-119F, BuNo.131706 - Phoenix movie prop.
• A "Phoenix" that could be taxied but not flown was built for closeups. The ""Phoenix"" flying scenes version were done using a radio controlled model and computer graphics. For the 1965 version of the film, a flying "Phoenix" was built. The resulting plane wasn't strong structurally and crashed killing stuntman Paul Mantz.
• During the filming of Flight of the Phoenix Jared Padalecki flipped his vehicle and reportedly thought he was dead.
• Hugh Laurie got the lead part of Gregory House in the medical drama House with an audition tape which was shot during the filming of this movie.
• The "Making Of" featurette on the DVD shows director John Moore losing his temper (at times violently) at the cast and crew of this film.

• When the plane is taking off at the end of the film there are many pirates chasing them. However, as the plane takes off over the edge of the cliff there are only about half a dozen of them.

• The nomads inexplicably speak Cantonese, a southern dialect of China restricted to Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong Province, and Guangxi Province. It would be highly unusual to be spoken in the Gobi desert. It is not among the major languages, however it is prominent in the Western film industry due to Hong Kong ex-pats and immigration to the U.S. This may be representative of a common mistake or lax practice in Western films which substitute a generalized Chinese language for an entirely inappropriate geographical area.

The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was a U.S. military transport aircraft developed from the World War II Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. ... The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was a U.S. military transport aircraft developed from the World War II Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. ... The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was a U.S. military transport aircraft developed from the World War II Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. ... The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was a U.S. military transport aircraft developed from the World War II Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. ... Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid 1960s. ... Jared Tristan Padalecki (born July 19, 1982) is an American actor. ... James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian and writer known as Hugh Laurie. ... Information Specialty Infectious Disease and Nephrology Occupation Head of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine Family John House (father) Blythe House (mother) Portrayed by Hugh Laurie Dr. Gregory House M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist of the Fox medical drama House. ... House, also known as House, M.D., is a critically-acclaimed American medical drama television series created by David Shore and executive produced by Shore and film director Bryan Singer. ... Size comparison: A 12 cm Sony DVD+RW and a 19 cm Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. ... John Moore (1970-) is a film director, producer, and writer. ... Cantonese is a major dialect group or language of the Chinese language, a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Guangdong, often spelt as Kwangtung, is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Guangxi (Zhuang: Gvangjsih; old orthography: ; Simplified Chinese: 广西; Traditional Chinese: 廣西; Pinyin: GuÇŽngxÄ«; Wade-Giles: Kuang-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangsi), full name Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Zhuang: Gvangjsih Bouxcuengh Swcigih; old orthography: ; Simplified Chinese: 广西壮族自治区; Traditional Chinese: 廣西壯族自治區; Pinyin: GuÇŽngxÄ« Zhuàngzú ZìzhìqÅ«) is a Zhuang autonomous region of...

External links

• Official Flight of the Phoenix site
• 'Flight of the Phoenix' at the Internet Movie Database
• "Flight of the Phoenix" Clip Crash Scene