The Flight That Disappeared

The Flight That Disappeared (1961)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Low-budget but very interesting fantasy/drama about a plane that keeps going higher and higher into the sky but no one on the ground or on-board understands why. I could tell a little more about the plot but that would take away from one's entertainment. This certainly isn't a perfect movie or even a good one but it's got an interesting idea that makes for an entertaining movie. There's no doubt that this isn't going to win any awards but I think fans of the bizarre should have a good time. This thing really plays out like an episode of The Twilight Zone but instead of going into a different galaxy, the plane here just keeps going further up in the sky. I'm not going to spoil why all of this happening but I will say that the final twenty-minutes are the weakest of the film. Considering the small budget, the majority of the running time deals with the variety of passengers and we spend most of the time listening to them talk. We hear about their personal lives, the business their in and of course issues dealing with the atomic bomb, which was a hot subject during this period. The movie's screenplay really does a pretty good job at building up the fantasy elements because you're never fully understanding what's going on or how the plane is going higher. Sure, if you start to think about logics then you can rip the film apart so it's really best that you turn your brain off, sit back and just enjoy. None of the actor's are going to be familiar faces but I thought each of them did fine with their roles. There's certainly nothing too demanding here but the actors fit their parts nicely and manages to make you believe what's going on with their characters. THE FLIGHT THAT DISAPPEARED probably could have benefited from another rewrite and again I think the final twenty-minutes are rather weak. Still, considering what they had to deal with you can't help but feel that the filmmakers did a pretty good job and delivered an entertaining film.