Airspeed (1999)

Airspeed Summary

Successful businessman Raymond Stone feels in control of his life, both financially and domestically, until disaster strikes his private 727 (literally) with his thirteen year old daughter, Nicole, onboard. He and his daughter have been having relationship difficulties; Nicole gets herself expelled from high level private schools because she sees her dad as neglectful. Raymond thinks he can straighten his daughter out while maintaining his busy schedule.

Now all he thinks about is getting his little girl back safely. While flying through the tail of a lightning storm, the plane is struck, injuring both pilots and creating a massive gash in the side of the aircraft. Nicole finds herself in a darkened plane with all adults unconscious. She needs to brave the difficulties of piloting a jet which she believes to be crashing.

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Strangely undaunted, Nicole contacts the tower crew A.T.C. named Jeff, who helps her diagnose the condition of the plane. As it turns out Nicole and her friends are not crashing, autopilot mysteriously kicked in and is now controlling the plane. Relief turns to grave concern when Jeff discovers that the autopilot is flying the plane on a crash-course towards the airport and it can’t be shut off.

With the help of airport officials, a dangerous rescue mission is launched. Military refueler Captain Lopez and his crew take off at top speed to intercept the damaged plane with the intent to make a midair transfer. The trouble is, no such rescue has ever been successfully pulled off in rough weather and Lopez likely will not have time to try twice.

Airspeed 1999 trailer:

What We Liked

Airspeed is an aviation movie with a family-based backstory. Throughout the film, Raymond agonizes over what he thought was a manageable relationship with his daughter and how he might have done things differently. After their traumatic experience, the Stone family is able to grow closer and end its internal feuds. A nearly adverted disaster often seems to be the way to reorganize one’s priority list in a hurry. We think Airspeed is a good example of this.

Suspense was a key factor in the film as repeated attempts to rescue the passengers failed. This came somewhat to our viewers surprise and we see it as adding value to the movie-watching experience.

Airspeed is not only serious action, it has some comedic elements, especially towards the movie’s end. Our favorite scene involved Jeff “mentally” communicating to Nicole how to break the plane on the runway. Other funny scenes include the landing sequence and Caption Lopez’ reaction to loosing a man in action. Unfortunately, these scenes also include instances of swearing (see cautions)

Airspeed cast

Elisha Cuthbert (Nicole Stone)

Roc LaFortune (Ct. Lopez)

Bronwen Booth (Andrea Prescott)

Joe Mantenga (Raymond Stone)

Lynne Adams (Marylin Stone)

Charles Powell (Jeff)

Gordon Masten (Frank)

Here’s another movie review with Elisha Cuthbert, Lynne Adams, and Charles Powell

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Directed by: Robert Tinnel

Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Joe Mantenga, Charles Powell, Lynne Adam

Running Time: 1h 38m

Cautions

Airspeed includes a few occasions of blasphemy and two instances (landing sequence and Lopez’ reaction to loosing a man in action) of swearing.

Our Rating 7/10

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