Skyjacked (1972)

Director:

John Guillermin

Writers:

David Harper (novel)
Stanley R. Greenberg (writer)

Release Date:

8 September 1972 (Finland)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The Sky's The Limit For Suspense

Plot:

A crazed Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707 in this disaster film filled with the usual early '70s stereotypes...

Plot Keywords:

Disaster Film | Disaster | Vietnam | Suspense | Airplane

Cast

Charlton Heston	...	Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara
Yvette Mimieux	...	Angela Thacher
James Brolin	...	Jerome K. Weber
Claude Akins	...	Sgt. Ben Puzo
Jeanne Crain	...	Mrs. Clara Shaw
Susan Dey	...	Elly Brewster
Roosevelt Grier	...	Gary Brown
Mariette Hartley	...	Harriet Stevens
Walter Pidgeon	...	Sen. Arne Lindner
Ken Swofford	...	John Bimonte
Leslie Uggams	...	Lovejoy Wells
Ross Elliott	...	Harold Shaw
Nicholas Hammond	...	Peter Lindner
Mike Henry	...	Sam Allen
Jayson Kane	...	William Reading (as Jayson William Kane)

Also Known As:

Sky Terror (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The 'Global Airways' plane used in the movie was a World Airways Boeing 707 (N374WA). World Airways home base at the time was Oakland Metropolitan Airport, where just about all of the airport scenes in the movie were filmed.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The aircraft they exit from at the end of the film is a cargo aircraft. The aircraft is a Boeing 707-300C, which contains a large cargo door on the left side. The aircraft serves a dual purpose and can be converted to cargo use from a passenger aircraft.

Quotes:

[first lines]
John Bimonte: [Hank is doing his walk-around the aircraft] Hey, Hank! Ready to go.
Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara: Wrong! You got a broken cowling latch here.
John Bimonte: What the hell? I'll get right on it.
Capt. Henry 'Hank' O'Hara: Take all the time you want, John. You got 10 minutes.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Drive-In (1976)

A lot better than you might think

I was really surprised by this film, one, I had never actually seen it, and two, it was well worth seeing.

I did, however, find it very frustrating. Not through the plot or the acting or anything like that, but it was full of actors and actresses, whose faces were familiar to me, I spent about half the film wondering who had been in what, I couldnt wait to get on here and find out.

Charlton Heston was his always accomplished self, no more and no less, and he is always very good. James Brolin played a military section 8 well indeed, or at least I assume that is a way in which a section 8 would be, not like Klinger in M*A*S*H!

All together a very good film, well worth watching, and in truth probably suffered unfairly against the films of the day, The Godfather and The French Connection to name but two.

Not necessarily one for the collection, but worth seeing all the same.