Home
search
more | tips
IMDb > The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
The Flight of the Phoenix
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summaryplot synopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 17 | slideshow)

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   6,071 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 62% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Robert Aldrich
Writers:
Lukas Heller (screenplay)
Trevor Dudley Smith (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Flight of the Phoenix on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 December 1965 (USA) more
Genre:
Adventure | Drama more
Tagline:
One of the most startling twists of fate you have ever experienced in a motion picture! more
Plot:
After a plane crash in the Sahara, one of the survivors says he's an airplane designer and they can make a flyable plane from the wreckage. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 nominations more
User Comments:
Epic example of conflict resolution and mastering challenges - and a great movie! more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

James Stewart ... Frank Towns

Richard Attenborough ... Lew Moran

Peter Finch ... Captain Harris
Hardy Krüger ... Heinrich Dorfmann (as Hardy Kruger)

Ernest Borgnine ... Trucker Cobb
Ian Bannen ... Crow
Ronald Fraser ... Sergeant Watson
Christian Marquand ... Dr. Renaud
Dan Duryea ... Standish
George Kennedy ... Bellamy
Gabriele Tinti ... Gabriel
Alex Montoya ... Carlos
Peter Bravos ... Tasso
William Aldrich ... Bill
Barrie Chase ... Farida
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
142 min
Country:
USA
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
USA:Approved (certificate #21017) | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-12 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
At least one of the aircraft used once flew for the US Marine Corps. The passenger information board inside the fuselage shows VMR-253, a USMC transport squadron, and R4Q-1, the military type designation, and the military serial, BuNo, 126580. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Cuts and abrasions appear and disappear on the faces of all of the characters throughout the entire film. more
Quotes:
Lew Moran: Maybe Frank Towns, who's flown every crate they've ever built and could fly in and out of a tennis court if he had to, maybe that great hell-for-leather trailblazer's nothing more than a back number now. And maybe men like Dorfmann can build machines that can do Frank Towns's job for him, and do it better more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Odd Couple: The Fight of the Felix (#1.2)" (1970) more
Soundtrack:
Senza Fine more

FAQ

How was the story inspired?
more
16 out of 18 people found the following comment useful:-
Epic example of conflict resolution and mastering challenges - and a great movie!, 12 June 2005
10/10
Author: MarkusBussmann from Germany

This masterpiece is now 40 years old and has lost nothing of it's excitement due to it's fantastic, outstanding actors (Attenborough and Kruger have never done better from my point of view), director, scenery and the simplicity of the story itself. A plane lost in a desert, no help and a challenge to master by people, who never chose to master their destiny together in a hostile environment.

The way the conflict is layed out can serve as an example for organizational conflicts, cultural conflicts, simply: whenever humans have to solve a problem that jeopardizes their future under resource constraints. Or even mankind on earth in the hostile universe, who need to solve their very own conflicts? All actors are able to deliver fully convincing natural emotions in this kind of situation to make the audience understand why humans usually fail to solve these conflicts. How many actors can you name today that are superstars and can do it like them? It's becomes evident how difficult the first step to compromise or to accept leadership of another person is, especially for western individuals. Accept leadership and downgrade oneself in the hierarchy, despite the fact that there is usually one solution which suits the groups interest as a whole better? How many leaders or e.g. managers are able to do this? In the end, the collaborative approach is successful, staged behind a general struggle for power, influenced by the cold war environment, containing an explosive mix of historical facts and clichés on British imperialism/militarism, American heroism, German nazihodd/engineering rational and various other aspects. You could easily work out how difficult the situation would be, if nowadays a e.g. member of priest of a Christian church would crash land together with a Muslim mullah. How would they be able to work together to master the hostility of the desert? Would they be able to accept a compromise? You can spend months to identify all the clichés that are used to increase the tension between the characters they have to understand to manage their faith, unfortunately you need a lot of historical background knowledge on 19th century till cold war to understand all the details, but that is only another good reason to start studying this.

The movie also shows that every specific cultural background has it's advantages closely tied to its disadvantages, e.g. the heroism advantage of attack eaten up by a lack of rationality (for example due to alcoholism/boredom). Actually, this movie should be screened as an example for success for conflicts of international companies, global organizations or just humans between the frontiers of different cultures.

And if this is too educational for you: It is even great entertainment, if you are just watch it from a pure emotional point of view. Myself being a German I would wish that we still can show of some of the engineering mastership that Dorfner shows of - however I'm happy that no technocrats are now ruling my country.

In the end: What a masterpiece!

Was the above comment useful to you?
more

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Sgt Watson the coward pullgees
worst remake in the history of movies tgbclm
Jimmy Stewart was a complete jerk PhilMoskowitzLovablRogue
Soundtrack Movie33
Sgt. Watson Stealing the Water? Kerhonen
Did they eat anything? hawks_senator
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Passion in the Desert Walkabout The English Patient The Aviator Flight of the Phoenix
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
IMDb Adventure section IMDb USA section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.