Flight

2012
R
2h 18m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

382K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:32

Docudrama Psychological Drama Drama Thriller

Troubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.Troubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.Troubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

382K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,085

242

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 15 wins & 45 nominations total

Trivia
The accident in the film was inspired by a real-life disaster, the crash of Alaska Airlines 261 on January 31, 2000. Some dialogue in the film closely resembles the CVR transcript. Like in the film, the pilots of Alaska 261 rolled the airplane to an inverted position to try to stabilize the flight. Unlike the film, however, this did not assist them in recovering the aircraft. The root cause of the crash was found to be inadequate maintenance of the airplane's stabilizer "jackscrew," which caused its threads to wear down excessively and eventually jam the jackscrew. While the pilots were trying to reach Los Angeles for an emergency landing, the threads were ripped out and the stabilizer moved to a position that forced the plane into its fatal dive.

Goofs
The NTSB investigation portrayed in the movie includes recovered data from the Cockpit Voice Recorder. US law requires Cockpit Voice Recorders to include at least 30 minutes of audio data from both pilots and Air Traffic Control radio transmissions. Since the plane crashed in less than 30 minutes, the audio from the CVR should have included Evans and Margaret's conversation about Whip sleeping on the job. This would have raised serious questions about Whip's behavior aside from his alcohol and drug usage. However, nothing about this is mentioned at any point during the NTSB hearing.

Quotes
[last lines]
Will: This essay, the essay that I have to write, it's called, "The Most Fascinating Person That I've Never Met."
Whip: Okay.
Will: So,
[turns on his tape recorder]
Will: who are you?
Whip: That's a good question...

Connections
Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.22 (2012)

Soundtracks
Alcohol
Written by Stephen Duffy & Steven Page
Performed by Barenaked Ladies
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User reviews677

Review

Featured review

A Character Study That's Honest

Flight (2012)

**** (out of 4)

Denzel Washington turns in one of the strongest performances of his career playing Walt Whitaker, a pilot who becomes an overnight hero after he saves the majority of the passengers on a doomed plane. Soon after becoming a hero Walt starts to get questioned on whether or not he was up all night partying and in fact was flying the plane drunk and soon he's forced to face himself and the events. Robert Zemeckis has certainly delivered a very entertaining, honest and depressing look at a man who seems to be good at just about everything except being honest with himself. Going into the picture I really wasn't sure what to expect but the film turned out to be great from start to finish and it's certainly one of the more honest looks at an alcoholic to come along in a while. The screenplay by John Gatins is extremely well-written and I think it deserves a lot of credit because I really appreciated the way we get to know this character. Because it's Denzel you're automatically going to want him to do good but the challenging aspects of the screenplay are so well handled by the actor and director that you really do feel like you're getting a complete character study. Zemeckis adds in some great song selections, the cinematography is top notch and there's no question that the film contains some excellent and tense drama. The Q&S session is perfectly handled and the crash sequence is one of the most chilling I've ever seen. Washington is excellent in the role of the troubled pilot as he contains that charm we all love but it also gives the actor a chance to give a full performance. He's so great at everything he does I think he often doesn't get the chance to do a role as complete as this one but he proves why he's one of the best out there. John Goodman, Don Cheadle and Kelly Reilly are all great in their supporting roles as well. You've also got to give everyone credit for not watering down the material and going for a safe and clean PG-13 rating. While there's nothing overly offensive here, the R-rating does allow for an honest and open look at this very flawed character. FLIGHT is certainly one of the years best films.