The Terminal

20042004
PG-13PG-13
2h 8m

Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)

Trailer

Play trailer0:31

Comedy Drama Romance

An Eastern European tourist unexpectedly finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.An Eastern European tourist unexpectedly finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.An Eastern European tourist unexpectedly finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.

Director
- Steven Spielberg
Writers
- Andrew Niccol(story)
- Sacha Gervasi(story)
- Jeff Nathanson(screenplay)
Stars

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 7 wins & 8 nominations

Videos1

The Terminal

Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)

Catherine Zeta-Jones in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks, Diego Luna, Chi McBride, and Kumar Pallana in The Terminal (2004)

Stanley Tucci in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks, Stanley Tucci, Barry Shabaka Henley, and Corey Reynolds in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)

Tom Hanks and Barry Shabaka Henley in The Terminal (2004)

Director
- Steven Spielberg
Writers
- Andrew Niccol(story)
- Sacha Gervasi(story) (screenplay)
- Jeff Nathanson(screenplay)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

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Victor Navorski reaches JFK airport from a politically unstable country. Due to collapse of his government, his papers are no longer valid in the airport, and hence he is forced to stay in the airport until the war cools down. He makes the airport his home and develops a friendship with the people who work there until he can leave. —Keith Francis

airport flight attendant man without a country fish out of water construction site 164 more

Taglines
- Life is waiting.
Genres
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated PG-13 for brief language and drug references
Parents guide

Trivia
The movie was inspired by the story of Merhan Nasseri, an Iranian refugee. In 1988, he landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport near Paris, after being denied entry into England, because his passport and United Nations refugee certificate had been stolen. French authorities wouldn't let him leave the airport. He remained in Terminal One, a stateless person with nowhere else to go. He has since been granted permission to either enter France or return to Iran. He chooses to continue to live in the terminal and tell his story to those who will listen. Reportedly, his mental health has deteriorated over the years. When given the opportunity to live in France, he refused because the documents did not name him as "Sir Alfred", and he claims to have forgotten his native Persian. Reportedly, he left the terminal in August 2006 to be hospitalized for an unspecified illness. DreamWorks reportedly paid him $250,000 for the use of his biography.

Goofs
The departure board indicates that Viktor's flight is bound for "Krakhosia," yet this board is supposed to show cities not countries. However, it's possible that the capital of fictitious Krakhosia is also named Krakhosia, just as the capitals of Mexico, Panama, Oklahoma and (formerly) Belize (whose capital is now relocated to Belmopan) share the country's/state's name, or that Krakhosia is a single-city nation like Singapore or San Marino. Either way, this is not necessarily a goof.

Quotes
Officer Dolores Torres: Let me ask you something, Mr. Navorski. Why do you wait here two hours every day when I've told you there's nothing I can do for you - that your new visa will not arrive until your country is recognized by the United States?
Viktor Navorski: You... you have two stamp. One red, one green.
Officer Dolores Torres: So?
Viktor Navorski: So, I have chance go New York, 50-50.
Officer Dolores Torres: [laughs] Yes, that's a beautiful way to look at it. But America doesn't work that way.

Crazy credits
SPOILER: In the closing credits, the names of the production staff and prominent cast are the person's actual signature, rather than the standard block print used in the remainder of the credits. This follows with the secondary plot of Victor trying to get the last signature for the memory of his deceased father.

Connections
Featured in HBO First Look: Inside 'The Terminal' (2004)

Soundtracks
Strangers in the Night
Written by Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton & Eddie Snyder
Performed by Strings Unlimited
Courtesy of Countdown Media

Top review

9/10

Egoless waiting

I have to say it is a great one that first shows the meaning and beauty in our life about waiting and promise. Amelia is waiting for her dream to come true for eighteen years, for herself; Navorski's dad was waiting for something he honored so much for his life; and here comes Navorski, who waits for making his father's left dream come true, for fulfilling his promise, for the woman he fell in love, in a "crack" between the US and his own country.

He has done everything for others around him. If there is a great example of "egoless", he is one. Letting go ego, is the greatness that even Amelia found out when she gives up and scarifies something most important in her life to help Navorski.

This simple story conveys some wonderful philosophy for people living in this country busy around everyday for business, families, and so on, to slow down and reflect on something. As the retired officer said to officer Dixon, there is something we can learn from Navorski.

helpful•204

85

jjll
Dec 25, 2004

Budget
- $60,000,000 (estimated)
Gross US & Canada
- $77,872,883
Opening weekend US & Canada
- $19,053,199
- Jun 20, 2004
Gross worldwide
- $219,100,084

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
2 hours 8 minutes
Color
- Color
Sound mix
Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1

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Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004)

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