Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999) User Reviews

One Wacky Scene

[krantzbucks · 4/10 · 22 July 2005]

I don't have much to say about this turkey except to watch for one incredible sequence with the terrorist contacting the control tower. The Tower gives the terrorist the usual talk about no negotiations. The terrorist decides he has to show that he means business. But how? His solution? Start tossing people out of the plane. An effective plan right? But that is not enough for this terrorist. He also wants to send a message to the control tower, to express his outrage at their non-cooperation.

So, the terrorist opens the hatch and holds his selected victim inches away from doom. Then, as the plane flies over the airport, he carefully and judiciously calculates wind speed, vector problems, and trajectory so that when he drops the poor sap, the body will rip into the Control Tower like a missile. What a math wizard, he does this all on the fly without aid of a calculator.

Almost Bad enough.

[gro · 3/10 · 19 October 2002]

All airplane flicks tend to throw in the kitchen sink to fill the time but this may have surpassed even the spoofs in having a "and then what happened" motif. How many times can the passengers rise up against the villains and then back down like sheep can you handle? How many shots can you fire in an airplane and not lose pressure? Do you believe you can throw a passenger from a plane at 10,000 feet and have the body crash through the control tower landing in front of the "good guys"? Kidnapping, toxins, fights, missiles but they won't toss the luggage until they find the exact baggage. Gosh that's better than most airlines on a normal day. And so it goes. Acting level? Well, find any one who wasn't a caricature.

Its bad but it starts to turn the corner and just be laughable and that is about all that can make you sit through this movie. Now the real question is what was Turbulence 1 like that they made another one?

Better than the first one.

[Psychic_htz · 4/10 · 19 March 2003]

The first Turbulence movie really reeked (ie. it stunk out the whole cabin), mostly because there were large portions of the movie where nothing much exciting happened. They fixed this problem for Turbulence 2 with wall-to-wall non-stop heart-pounding action. OK, the action isn't heart-pounding but it's certainly wall-to-wall. There's always somebody fighting, running away, chasing, blowing something up, shooting, dying, trying to escape or, of course, flying the plane in turbulent conditions. Oh yeah, and falling...

The wall-to-wall action is flanked closely on both sides with wall-to-wall stupidity, but to its credit the movie does not take itself too seriously. How could it? A fear of flying group takes a ride in a plane with a bunch of terrorists with a bomb on board which then heads towards a storm. Ha ha, yeah right. Now, it's up to the fear of flying passengers & crew to save the day which they do with varying degrees of success. When ANOTHER crew member gets shot attempting to overthrow the bad guy the bad guy says something along the lines of "Aargh! what's wrong with you people?". It's delivered beautifully.

Actually, the acting in general is really very, err, well capable. I was going to say good, but in the context of this movie it wouldn't quite fit. I'm only giving this movie 4/10, but it's a fun 4/10. Chill that beer, microwave that popcorn, hand over your $2 to the video shop, switch off brain, press play, enjoy.

I don't believe it!

[yendesk · 1/10 · 3 September 2001]

The plot of this film is just so preposterous it makes "Airplane!" look like a slice of gritty realism. Nervous flyers on a plane in a terrible storm with evil European terrorists (no clue as to what their cause was, other than "being evil"), deadly nerve gases, dead cabin crew, drugged ice cubes, gun fights, a missile attack, and an ordinary Joe who has to land the plane (he has a dead wife, and an impossibly cute little son, of course).

As the action lurched from this implausible random plot twist to that piece of clunky, cliche-ridden dialogue, I found myself being charmed by the sheer awfulness of it all.

My favourite part is when a terrorist starts babbling in Czech, and Jennifer Beals offers to try and interpret since she learned a few words of Polish from her Grandmother as a child. Seconds later she is in full swing: "He says that there is a deadly nerve gas in the hold, and he will press the detonator killing everyone within a 5 mile radius"....Whatever did her grandmother talk about all the time that she picked up that vocabulary?

Ed Wood Lives !

[therealshell · 23 June 2000]

This is a fairly awful film, a purported "sequel" (in name only, methinks) to the Ray Liotta film "Turbulence"m made in 1997.

Well, its three years later, and Liotta is nowhere in sight, but this goofy film, about a group of "fear of flying" types who are beset on their voyage by hijackers, bad weather, and pretty much anything else that can go wrong on a flight, also goes by the name "Turbulence II", probably for video purposes.

Alas, this "Fear of Flying" ain't a film version of Erica Jong's novel, just a very silly film that uses about a half dozen sets, some really comical performances, and some not-too-great visual effects that would make Ed Wood envious.

Its really odd seeing good actors like Craig Sheffer, Jennifer Beals and Tom Berenger trying to work with this bad script.

Even more bizarre (for me, anyways) was the sight of Jeffrey Nordling, of the ABC dramedy "Once and Again", sporting an inept European accent, attempting to bonk Beals in the lavatory of the plane, which, in my experience, are hardly big enough for one, let alone two people coupling !

Oh well, what else can I say ?

The portentous music, horrible acting,bad plotting,and terrible effects make "Turbulence II:Fear of Flying" a film experience that will cause all Ed Wood fans to rejoice - He lives !

So bad it's good!

[rps-2 · 2/10 · 8 January 2001]

Now and then one of those wonderful films comes along that is so terrible it's good. It's no small feat to maintain such disregard for reality, such outrageous inconsistencies, so many factual clangers and to tell the story with so many awful lines. I especially enjoyed "We're all gonna die." Not to mention the bonking in the lavatory. Hell I find it hard to brush my teeth in one of those things let alone commit adultery.It would be easier in a Volkswagen. This film is so unrelently ghastly that I enjoyed it immensely. Not just bad. Ghastly! It's not a likely candidate for an in flight movie but it should be. Nobody on board any aircraft anywhere would ever believe anything in it.

This movie sux

[tigerwarsaw · 1/10 · 13 July 2002]

This movie is total rubbish. The only decent part of this movie is when the bloke gets chucked out of the plane. The lawyer gets chucked out! there you go i told you, in case you havent seen it. Now that you know the best part of the movie for god sake whatever you do dont go and rent this, it is woeful. O.1/10

The worst movie I've seen in a long time!

[franksorg007 · 1/10 · 19 July 2001]

There are so many flaws in this pathetic attempt at an action/airline movie I can't even begin to describe as I would be here all day! What is Tom Berenger doing in absolute crap like this??? I hope this was a huge loss for the film makers because it was a waste of 2 hours in my life I can never have back! ABSOLUTE RUBBISH! The script must of been written by a pre-schooler.

this IS the worst film I have ever seen...

[pcread · 1/10 · 31 July 2004]

...absolutely, bar none.

At best corny and clichéd, at worst insulting to my intelligence.

For example; when the baddie throws a passenger out of a 747 door whilst flying above the airport, on a stormy night, just to prove a point, the body just happens to fall through the glass roof of the control tower where the team are negotiating with the hijacker. 'nuff said.

I feel sorry for the original audiences that will never regain those wasted couple of hours and bemused by anyone who would actually go out and spend money on the DVD. I see in the voting that some people actually gave this a 10? Presumably the director, crew and assorted family.

Better than the original

[videojakob · 6/10 · 25 August 2003]

Actually this movie is a bit better than the ridiculous first part, which was nothing less than shameful. But when I saw this I actually had a good time. Now I thinking seriously about renting part 3, but who knows...

Horrible

[hewel · 1/10 · 3 August 2001]

I usually do not make comments on movies but this one is so bad that I felt I had to. This movie's plot was poor and very unbelievable. There is no way that anything like this could happen in the "real world" which is what makes it such a poor movie. To add insult to injury, the writing was horrible and the lines poorly written. The only reason I watched this movie to its conclusion was to see just how bad it could get. This one is definitely a turkey so don't waste your time with it.

Bad plot + bad ending + mediocre acting = brainless fun

[jurgen200 · 9/10 · 30 December 2004]

Turbulence 2: Fear Of Flying was on cable last night and I loved it. A passenger on a flight of people with fears of flying reveals himself as a terrorist and hijacks the plane, two of the passenger's "fears" magically disappear and they become hostages-come-action-heroes. By the way, Turbulence 2 is a sequel in name only to the 1997 clunker Turbulence.

Craig Sheffer (from TV's teen drama One Tree Hill) and Jennifer Beals (remember her from Flashdance?) soon scheme against the "terrorists" (if you can call them that, they're that inept) and a few plot convolutions later, Sheffer has to land the plane himself.

SPOILERS (but if you've seen any of these "plane" movies before, it isn't really a big issue...) After they land the plane with some help via radio, the movie amounts to a really weak ending, and the evil terrorist's death isn't satisfying at all. (stabbing himself with his own weapon... what the hell is that??) I think part of this movie's appeal is the great team Sheffer and Beals make. If this movie's on TV late one night, then I suggest you check it out, at least...

Good...

[RosanaBotafogo · 7/10 · 1 November 2022]

Ryan Weaver (Ray Liotta) was being escorted to Los Angeles along with another inmate on a very empty commercial flight, when the two manage to take over the plane. Willing to take him down, he tries to convince Teri Halloran (Lauren Holly) that she's a good person.

The first was a psychological horror in which turbulence was a "background to shake the plane at the opportune moments to cause greater tension, here, it is based on a suspense, of who is the terrorist, after 2001 the film makes more sense, almost like a premonition, good, very good, like the first one, despite the different approaches, and only the turmoil in common between both...

a flight of fantasy

[daleac · 4/10 · 14 June 2004]

** review may contain mild spoilers **

I saw this film on television recently. Because its subject matter is evocative of the 9/11 attacks (despite being filmed two years prior) and our current terrorism fears, it held my interest longer than I expected it would. But to be sure, in the genre of thrillers this is a "C" movie--definitely not in the "must-see" category. If you are looking for action and suspense, this movie has a little bit of both, but you will have to accept a lot of unrealistic plot details along the way. Indeed, by the end of the movie the cumulative effect of the scarcely believable plot and the uninspired dialogue had me chuckling inside. If you like to laugh at mediocrity, then this movie might do the trick for you.

The performances are decent at times, but mostly forgettable. Flashdance's Jennifer Beals, who plays the heroine, and Jody Thompson, a young female passenger in a minor role, are not bad to look at. Unfortunately, for most of the film they are just shrinking in horror as helpless hostages. Tom Berenger, who plays the villain, does a passable job of Cain-raising as an off-his-rocker terrorist, but his character more often strikes the viewer as silly and stupid rather than scary. Craig Sheffer delivers a bland performance as the hero, a former airplane pilot who became a technician/engineer after a flying accident and now has a chance to redeem himself. Plain-looking techies don't usually make good leading men, and Sheffer's Martin Messerman is no exception.

There are few chances for the actors to shine, as the dialogue that they must recite vacillates between the trite and the ridiculous. And the character development is thin, so there's not much depth or motivation underlying the actions of the major players. There is too little chemistry between the lead actors to provide much fulfillment at the end of their shared experience. The film's few attempts at humor are pathetically unfunny, although many other lines that were not intended to be funny may elicit laughs for their absurdity.

Some of the unbelievable moments in the film have been already mentioned. I will add a few more. As in many films, the villain never can bring himself to kill the person who poses the greatest threat to his mission, despite the inherent logic of that act. Also, the plane is supposed to be flying amid severe atmospheric turbulence throughout (consistent with the title), but for long stretches in the middle of the movie, all rocky movement seems to cease as far as the passengers are concerned. And the toxic agent is alternately described as nerve gas and then anthrax.

The movie includes lots of technical details related to 747's that seem to slow down the story without adding much useful realism. Some airline industry consultants are named in the credits at the end, so apparently the script was vetted by knowledgeable people, but that fact makes the scientifically doubtful moments even less excusable.

If you must see an airplane thriller, see Air Force One. If you've already seen Air Force One, the Airport, Airplane!, and Die Hard series are all superior to this clunker.

"Turbulence II: Fear Of Flying" is pretty good

[The Haunter · 18 August 2000]

"Turbulence II: Fear Of Flying"

Released by: Trimark Pictures. Release date: August 2nd, 2000 (VENEZUELA; theatrical release), Fall 2000 (USA; video premiere).

I saw the movie in theaters here in Venezuela and i thought that the movie was pretty good. The movie has a pretty bad plotting and Bad/Good acting. This movie was the first Trimark movie to be released in theaters in Venezuela. Although that the film's ending was pretty bad, they're making "Turbulence III" which has a bad plot and will be released on video and (internationally) in theaters.

I rate "Turbulence II": *** out *****

Same Plot, Same Clichés

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 13 August 2003]

A group of freighted passengers, some superficial individual dramatic situations, terrorists, pilot and cabin crew killed or sick, an alert and smart passenger that has never piloted a plane (but knows a lot about planes), a helpful lady, a doctor, some torture and murders, plane with very few fuel, enough just for one trial of landing the aircraft, happy end for the survivals, a beginning of a love (sealed by a kiss) between the smart passenger that saved the survivals and the helpful lady… How many times have we, simple viewers, faced this screenplay? Turbulence 2 is exactly the same. Craig Sheffer has a horrible acting and Tom Berenger, who is a good actor, performs a secondary role in a very forgettable movie. Spending your time watching this flick is pure waste of time. My vote is four.

Unusually stupid, undeniably conventional. *1/2 (out of four)

[Movie-12 · 4/10 · 7 August 2001]

TURBULENCE 2: FEAR OF FLYING / (2000) *1/2 (out of four)

By Blake French:

"Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying" is an unusually stupid movie-but what can we expect from a straight-to-video action picture with few known actors and even fewer similarities with the original 1997 thriller "Turbulence." It's a shallow, incompetent movie with no brains and no thrills. The production contains many characters and a legion of plot twists, but they are meaningless to the actual story. None of those twists or characters contributes to the interest factor, and we are stuck watching utter insanity for almost two hours. This is not a smooth ride.

The story centers on a group of ordinary pedestrians who recently completed a therapy program to overcome their fear of flying. They celebrate by taking a flight to L.A. Unfortunately a clan of terrorists hijack the plane. They carry with them a load of extremely dangerous chemical weapons. After killing the pilot, they threaten to kill the rest of the passengers if given any trouble. One of the passengers isn't going to go down without a fight, however, and he's ready to save the day.

I watched "Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying" with great interest in how a movie so centered on an airplane could have no clue about the technical aspects of airplanes. Would any airline employee fire a gun inside a flying jet? Would it be possible for a young boy to run outside on the tarmac at a major airport with being stopped by someone? Is it possible to stand feet away from an open door on a jet going so fast? Can someone control the flaps from within the cargo hold? Are there really elevators aboard a 747? Can a handgun fire twenty-two rounds without reloading? This movie answers yes to all of those questions. I am no expert, but I beg to differ.

Most of the characters are one-dimensional and thoughtless plot puppets who do nothing but utter howlingly bad dialogue. Although many of the characters have a great fear of flying, their fear somehow disappears once the terrorists take over the flight. Some of the twists are kind of fun and surprising, but many exist only to provide a split second shock. The action lacks aim. The direction lacks impulse. The movie lacks a point, and just about everything else.

The actors in "Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying" don't really know what to do with their stereotypical characters because there isn't much for them to do. We can sense an inclination of talent involved with this production since the performances are fair and the set designs believable. But the script's stupidity is too distracting for any informed moviegoer to redeem satisfaction from this cluttered mess of an action picture. This is just another addition into the stupid hijack movie of the month series-but this one is more ridiculous than most.

Don't buy a LARGE popcorn - you may want to leave the cinema before the end.

[franzerik · 2/10 · 5 November 2014]

Why would the over-head hand baggage compartment be, "A little crowded up there"? The plane isn't even 1/2 filled. Is this film suppose to be a comedy? Czechs, by the way, can usually speak English. I see he suddenly understands English very well. This film has more disasters than my kitchen when my wife isn't home and I have to do the cooking myself. Yep, it's a comedy. So it never occurred to them to toss ALL the baggage off, huh? A bad comedy. You mean all of that groping and fondling in the toilette and she didn't notice he was packing a pop gun and a lethal spear up his sleeve??? She must be frigid! And say ... isn't his ammo clip already empty from that burst in the baggage room? This is an airborne cross-version of "Casandra Crossing" and "Flight of the Phoenix".

Never fly again

[sfiver · 1/10 · 4 June 2009]

I plan to ask my shrink why - why? - I watched this entire film (on HBO). I truly think I could've written a better script. I could have directed, edited, acted, rewritten the whole thing.

What interests me is how movies like this even make it to HBO or cable? Tom Beringer, arguably the most known actor in the "film" walks (sleeps, really) through his part as the air traffic controller. The other characters are so wooden - they would have been better to have used blow-up dollies - the ones with their mouths totally open as the frightened first-time passengers.

Well, enough. I'll never fly again. Or, watch doomed flight movies. This was no "Air Force One" and that at least had Harrison Ford and secret pod escape modules. Bill Clinton himself explained the AF1 was not equipped with such.

I still need an answer as to why I watched this entire film. Perhaps I am mentally ill?

Morse Mix-up

[imdb-david · 3/10 · 8 February 2017]

I understand that someone might mix up an 'a' in Morse code (dot dash .-) with an 'n' (dash dot - .), but it's really stretching things to say someone confused a 'd' (dash dot dot - . .) with a 'q' (dash dash dot dash - - . -) There's no similarity to mix up.

In all this did have a lot of suspense, but there are so many glaring impossibilities that it became amusing (I won't say 'funny') rather than a thriller. It became total nonsense.

I think that any movie like this that contains profanity is simply trying to make the movie into something it really isn't by compensating for lack of ingenuity with 'shock value'.

The horror! The horror!

[hughie522 · 1/10 · 7 July 2006]

'Turbulence' is a daft movie, but a daft movie with good special effects, Ray Liotta/Lauren Holly (which is better than it seems) and - above all - is fun to watch.

'Fear of Flying' (frankly, I reckon they added the 'Turbulence 2' to avoid litigation) is a ludicrous movie, with re-used footage from 'Turbluence', Craig Sheffer - my least favorite actor who has been in TWO other air disaster movies, 'Flying Virus' and 'Cabin Pressure' - and is absolutely humdrum.

This film is not "So bad it's good!", it's "So bad its awful!". For one, Craig Sheffer is not a likable hero. He's a bumbling little weenie! I think I connected better with the bloody hijacker than anyone else! The supporting cast is not even worth a mention, and it sickens me to think that they reused one scene of this movie in Jodie Foster's 'Flightplan' (who keeps writing these bloody clichéd scripts, anyway? Is it the same one guy?!?!). Heck, even 'Turbulence 3' was better than this! Yes, you heard me - 'TURBULENCE 3' is BETTER than this. Craig Sheffer should be BANNED from making movies. Locked up somewhere. He's such an AWFUL actor! And yes, I realize I'm having a whinge - but it's true! The worst part of this movie is HIM, in all his cocky, scaredy-cat 'save the world and my family' glory! I hate this movie!!!

Powerfully Prophetic Aircraft Action Thriller

[jlthornb51 · 10/10 · 12 July 2015]

Made years before the tragedy of 9/11, this high tension thriller takes place on a passenger airliner hijacked by a ruthless, murderous individual who will stop at nothing. The script is incredibly taut and suspenseful, with well-developed characters who we come to care about as they bond and join together as a team in opposition to their brutal assailant. Certainly one of the most exciting air adventures ever filmed yet also one that dramatically portends events that would become part of history in a few years. Magnificently directed by David MacKay from a story by Rob Kirchner, the special effects, stunning imagery, and outstanding cast come together superbly. The shattering climax will have viewers shedding tears of fear and on their feet screaming. A unrelentingly powerful and breathtakingly intense motion picture experience.

Entertaining Mindless Thriller

[chilla-black · 5/10 · 7 June 2014]

Whilst not as entertaining as its prequel in this series, Turbulence 2 is nevertheless a good action movie where once again a 747 is taken over by a sadistic terrorist, who demands nothing more than no cops and refuelling at a runway of his choice. The story isn't as flimsy as it's reputation suggests and is worth a watch at least once.

Actually as the main bad guy, the character Elliot (played very well by Jeffrey Nordling) is pretty good in the way he scares the plane passengers for 90 minutes (almost being nearly as entertaining as Ray Liotta in the first Turbulence), with the pick of his one liners being where he throws a lawyer out of the plane over Seattle at 10,000 feet and shouts "put a good word in for me". Classic....I reckon Ryan Weaver would of been proud of that one.

On the ground, Tom Berenger mans the control tower with possibly the smallest shift in history and with seemingly with a liking for drinking pints of milk in the control tower, whilst managing a code red.

So the FBI decide to shoot down the plane but luckily the good guy on board who saves the day is a hero who designs 747s, is good at hand to hand combat, knows Morse code, is familiar with the field of telecommunications - therefore knowing how to tell an ATC what radio frequency to secretly use, is able to throw a heavy container containing anthrax out of the cargo bay, land a 747 (out of a storm that has been rocking the plane for the last hour) with no ILS and no experience of landing 747s. Then he eventually makes off with the pretty girl. Only chink in his armour being that he is scared of flying, which is a handy plot line seeing as it is a plane disaster movie.

Amusement will ensue

[zoeinusa · 30 August 2004]

"Fear of Flying: Turbulence II" does not pretend to be anything it is not. It is simply a formula airline-that-must-be-brought-down-by-passenger-taking-direction-from-the-ground-whilst-sitting-in-pilots-seat-where-said-pilot-is (insert one):dead/predisposed/poisoned etc.

This runs along the lines of the great 70's era tragedy films like Airport '77, Towering Inferno and the like. "Fear" has plotted this along that very formula, so much so that the inevitable hero of the movies son races out onto the tarmac as the inevitable plane is safely guided to the ground at the climactic ending with music crescendoing and you knew this would happen all along. So what? I cannot deny I was truly entertained. The dialogue was humorous-intentional at times- and I did find myself and colleagues arguing about who the actual terrorists were on the flight through out the film-is it him? No, it's gotta be him! Of all the critically acclaimed movies I have seen, this one is not by far, but it is fondly remembered. Kill an hour and a half or so with this.

'90s cheese

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 20 August 2019]

TURBULENCE 2: FEAR OF FLYING is a laughable attempt at a plane hijack thriller, worse than any in the AIRPORT series and seemingly made up as they went along. A routine flight, primarily occupied by passengers with a fear of flying (one of them '80s starlet Jennifer Beals, whose fortunes must have fallen significantly by this point), runs into difficulty when it turns out rival bad guys and terrorist groups are hiding amid the passengers. What follows is repetitive, low rent action as one bad guy is defeated only for another to pop up. There are certain characters here who seem to be more resilient than the Terminator, and it all becomes unintentionally funny before long. A fine example of '90s cheese, then, and not much else.