Somewhere deep inside, I still like to believe that "Skyjacked" was initially meant to be a stern and intense thriller about disgruntled Vietnam veterans having to revert to terrorism in order to be heard. The original premise, or maybe even the first draft of the script, simply must have been heavily psychological and devastating. But then - and of course I'm just guessing all this - "Airplane" came in 1970, which was a tremendous financial success and promptly skyrocketed (pun intended) the formula of the "disaster movie". It's very, very likely that the popularity of "Airport" forced the writers of "Skyjacked" to drastically alter their film. All of a sudden, the potential motives of the bomber are mere footnotes, while the typical disaster clichés and stereotypes come to the foreground. Pregnant ladies going into labor, danger for mid-air collisions, etc... You know the drill.
But hey, I usually LOVE all these popcorn disaster-blockbusters, if - and only IF - they go over-the-top. "Skyjacked" doesn't have the Irwin Allen trademarks, like ginormous budgets or cartoonesque villains and cowards. The body count is far too low and there aren't any spectacular special effects or stunts. Quite often, "Skyjacked" even balances on the verge of boring, and that is totally unacceptable for a (pseudo-) disaster movie. The cast is more than impressive, and Charlton Heston is a regular disaster movie artist, but it's not your usual gathering of semi-washed up Hollywood veterans and showmen.
