Turbulence (1997)

After a shootout on a flight transporting prisoners, a flight attendant 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	...	Marshall 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 | shootout | stewardess | fear | 

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Taglines:

Fear is in the air

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for terror, strong violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite being a box-office failure when it was theatrically released, this movie had two direct-to-video sequels due to its being one of the most rented films of that year on home video

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Goofs

When the plane is flying through the storm, all of the exterior shots show the lights inside blinking on and off through the windows. However, during the interior shots, the lights are on steady; none of them blink at all.

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Quotes

Ryan Weaver: Alright, I need a volunteer for a dangerous mission.
[pulls out three circuit boards]
Ryan Weaver: You, You, You,OK,You
[pulls the main circuit board and gets electrocuted]
Ryan Weaver: OW! WHOA, WHOA, Ok, you can stay.

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Connections

References Airport 1975 (1974)

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Soundtracks

Frosty the Snowman
Written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins (as Walter Rollins)

User Reviews

Shaky aircraft hijack/disaster film

I would have considered this movie mediocre, if it hadn't been for a few factual errors and bizarre plot ideas.

After the initial action, it's one (psycho) against one (heroine) and nothing much happens apart from the plane shaking around as it flies through a storm which swings the upper hand from one side to another. Unfortunately neither side manages to completely finish off the other quickly.

The background story of the criminal's case and "history" with a certain detective is brought out a couple of times, but unsatisfactorily and just confused me.

Like "Dead Calm" but much worse.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Turbulence

Filming Locations:

Sheraton Gateway LAX, 6101 W Century Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,464,008, 12 January 1997

Gross USA:

$11,538,235

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,538,235

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