Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983) (TV)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Jerry Jameson

Writers:

Peter R. Brooke (story)
Robert M. Young (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 February 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The first hypersonic flight turns into a terrifying nightmare...in space. [Australia Theatrical]

Plot:

The fictional story of the first "hypersonic" commercial passenger plane, which can make the flight from New York to London in a mere four hours...

Plot Keywords:

Passenger | Disaster | Space Shuttle | Rescue | Aviation

Cast

Lee Majors	...	Captain Cody Briggs
Hal Linden	...	Josh Gilliam
Lauren Hutton	...	Erica Hansen
Ray Milland	...	Q. T. Thornwell
Gail Strickland	...	Nancy Gilliam
George DiCenzo	...	Bowdish (as George Di Cenzo)
Tess Harper	...	Janet Briggs
Terry Kiser	...	Freddie Barrett
Heather McAdam	...	Laurie Hansen (as Heather Mc Adam)
Michael Sacks	...	Pete
Gary Bayer	...	Martin
Pat Corley	...	Joe Pedowski
Robert Webber	...	Felix Duncan
Jocelyn Brando	...	Mrs. Harvey
Diane Stilwell	...	Betty

Also Known As:

Airport 85 (Philippines: English title) (theatrical title)
Starflight One

Runtime:

105 min | Spain:109 min | West Germany:108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 | Australia:G | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12

Company:

Nelson Productions

Trivia:

The movie is loosely based on the novel "Orbit" by Thomas H. Block, from 1982. In the novel, a hypersonic plane on a cruise from New York to Sidney excesses its cruise altitude due to sabotage by a revenge-seeking company engineer.

Goofs:

Plot holes: If they could refuel the plane from the space shuttle, why could they not refill the oxygen?

Get A Life And Enjoy This Film

OK I agree that the Australian accent is a bit overdone, but remember, this was filmed in 1982 and Australians were depicted that way for years, until the Mel's and Hugh's and Nicole's came to prominence. O.K. I forgot Bryan Brown! The real Aussie Icon! I was fortunate enough to see the full-length version of this TV Movie, which runs to 138 minutes, on our local station NBN 3 before it became a mirror image of Sydney station TCN Nine. The video release from Roadshow years ago has a great cover, however the print is around 100 minutes. What a great cast. Our hero Lee Majors, the gorgeous Lauren Hutton, Tess Harper, always dependable Ray Milland, Robert Webber and Hal Linden. The full-length version should be released in a nice remastered DVD... So take a step back in time to the early 80s when we still had reliable familiar faces that graced our screens and enjoy it already!