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:

Can You Survive The Ride?

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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

The airliner used in the movie (N614FF) was a Tower Air Boeing 747-246B. The fictional TCA livery seen is very similar to Japan Air Lines' livery but minus the Tsurumaru Crane Bird on the tail.

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Goofs

Just after Teri blocks the opening in the hull, the autopilot spontaneously reengages itself. Autopilots don't do that.

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Quotes

Sinclair: Wait a minute, wait a minute. You've got a 747 beat to hell by level 6 turbulence, your flight crew is dead, you've got an armed convicted serial killer loose on board, eight passengers have disappeared, and your stewardess is locked in the goddamned cockpit. Have I left anything out?
Controller: You forgot about the truck.
[it's stuck to the landing gear]

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Connections

References Airport (1970)

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Soundtracks

Carol o' the Bells
Written by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych
(Incorrectly credited as Traditional)
Arranged by Shirley Walker

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