Turbulence (1997)

After a shootout on a flight transporting prisoners, a stewardess must outwit a smooth-talking serial killer and land the plane herself.

Director:

Robert Butler

Writer:

Jonathan Brett

Stars:

Ray Liotta, Lauren Holly, Brendan Gleeson

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ray Liotta	...	Ryan Weaver
Lauren Holly	...	Teri Halloran
Brendan Gleeson	...	Stubbs
Hector Elizondo	...	Lt. Aldo Hines
Rachel Ticotin	...	Rachel Taper
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Brooks
John Finn	...	FBI Agent Frank Sinclair
Ben Cross	...	Captain Samuel Bowen
Catherine Hicks	...	Maggie
Heidi Kling	...	Betty
Gordy Owens	...	Carl
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	Captain Matt Powell
James MacDonald	...	1st Officer Ted Kary
Michael Harney	...	Marshal Marty Douglas
Grand L. Bush	...	Marshal Al Arquette

Storyline

Ryan Weaver romances beautiful women before he kills them. Ryan is arrested, convicted, and is part of a Christmas Eve transfer of prisoners on a transcontinental 747 commercial flight. Other airlines at JFK may have holiday passengers waiting on stand-by, but this jumbo jet takes off with a lot of empty seats. Ryan and another prisoner overpower and kill their guards. The few civilian passengers are herded into a "pantry" on the plane and are not seen again until the end of the movie. Ryan eliminates the other prisoners and all the crew members except Teri Halloran. The remainder of the movie follows a "cat-and-mouse" game between Ryan and Teri on the 747.

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Plot Keywords:

airplane | pilot | marshal | christmas | u.s. marshal | 

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Taglines:

Prepare For Impact

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Certificate:

16

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 June 1997 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Turbulencia

Filming Locations:

Clinton, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$71,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,464,008 (USA) (10 January 1997)

Gross:

$11,466,088 (USA) (14 March 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Rysher Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The 747 used in the movie was a Japan Air Lines 747-246B, the fictional TCA livery seen is almost identical to the aircraft owners livery but minus the Tsurumaru Crane Bird on the tail.

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Goofs

The times shown at various points along the trip are somewhat too late for the amount of sky light depicted on December 24. Most notably, sunset at Las Vegas would be just past 4:30 pm PST on that date, yet we see the sky not fully dark at 5:35. What's more, at the same time a fully dark sky is seen at Los Angeles.

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Quotes

Ryan Weaver: You're not going to kill me. You can't kill me, 'cause you don't believe in capital punishment.
Teri Halloran: I changed my mind!

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Connections

References The Shining (1980)

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Soundtracks

Carol o' the Bells
Traditional
Arranged by Shirley Walker

User Reviews

Lots of Fun, But Check Your Brains At The Door

Here's one of those films that wears you out. By the end, you're exhausted. I really liked this the first two times but three viewings were enough. By then, the absurdity of the whole thing had fried what few brain cells I have left.

Ray Liotta is excellent as the psycho serial killer who puts on a charming Ted Bundy-like appearance for a short while before publicly showing his insanity. He's fascinating, start to finish here, even providing some very humorous lines.

I wish I could say I enjoyed the other people in here but, except for Ben Cross, I couldn't. Lauren Holly, the female star of the film, is decent for much of the "ride" but becomes annoying and totally non-believable in the final phase of the film, becoming out-of-character profane and nasty herself. (Of course, her flight did turn out to be a tiny bit stressful which might have affected her patience. ha ha)

Of course, with a film like this, there are going to be some severe questions with credibility, but when did that ever stop filmmakers? Other reviewers in here have already detailed some of the non--sensible parts, so no need to dwell on that. This is not brainfood: it's just escapist entertainment for a night, something to show your girlfriend so she'll hold onto you during all the suspense!

Anyway, I enjoyed the special effects, especially with the plane smashing a few buildings, and the sound was awesome, at least on the DVD. For much of the flight, they are flying through a storm and the rumbles form the shaking airliner, was dramatic.