Flightplan (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio Featurette-Making Of-The In-Flight Movie (5 Featurettes) Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Cabin Pressure: Designing The Aalto E-474
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	94:01
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Robert Schwentke
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Jodie Foster Peter Sarsgaard Sean Bean Kate Beahan Michael Irby Assaf Cohen Erika Christensen Shane Edelman Mary Gallagher Haley Ramm Forrest Landis Jana Kolesarova Brent Sexton
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	James Horner

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Spanish Norwegian Danish Finnish Icelandic Portuguese Spanish Titling	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Suspense action thrillers situated on airplanes used to be nothing out of the ordinary... The Delta Force, Die Hard 2, Passenger 57, Executive Decision, Air Force One… until the aftermath of 9/11, when airport travel became an experience of paranoia and fear.

However, in 2005, two thrillers situated on a plane were released; Wes Craven’s Red Eye and Flightplan directed by Robert Schwentke. With the release of these two mainstream films, which did relatively well commercially, audiences this year have the Paul Greengrass directed drama Flight 93 and the horror action thriller Snakes on the Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson to look forward to. But each of these films are very different in subject and tone - Red Eye was a enjoyable vacant thriller, Flight 93 is a re-enactment of the events of United Flight 93 which was hijacked on 9/11 and Snakes on the Plane, as its bizarre title suggests, is about snakes let loose on a plane.

As for Flightplan, the less you know about the film the better as the plot is relatively simple and has a tone which is highly ‘Hitchcockian’. Jodie Foster, who hasn’t had a lead role since David Fincher’s Panic Room in 2002 (in 2004 she had a small French speaking role in Un long dimanche de fiançailles), plays Kyle, the mother of an impossible cute girl named Julia played by Marlene Lawston. The two board a plane en route from Berlin to New York and on this seemingly ordinary flight Kyle’s young daughter disappears.

German Director Robert Schwentke directs the film quite well but the script’s premise sits on a fine line between clever and unintelligent. Nevertheless the film does star Jodie Foster, even if she is playing a role reminiscent of Panic Room, and Peter Sarsgaard as a Federal Air Marshal. Supporting the leads are Sean Bean as Captain Rich and Kate Beahan and Erika Christensen as flight attendants.

Overall the film has all the ingredients for a good thriller but may feel contrived depending on your tastes. If you’re a fan of Jodie Foster or thrillers of this mould I recommend this title. It isn’t necessarily a bad film but it isn’t a good one either, as the twist in the last act may leave audiences underwhelmed, but the film is well directed even if the script is somewhat flawed

Video

The presentation of the film is very good. The film heavily utilises the colour blue, and it has been reproduced well on this DVD. The film is presented in its original aspect ratio 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

There are no major flaws to speak of, except I noted that the title has been encoded at an average bitrate at 4.91 Mb/s, which is quite low. Despite this, there aren't any major noticeable MPEG compression artefacts and skin tones remain natural.

Minimal lighting is used and unfortunately during the darker scenes shadow detail isn’t particularly striking. There is a large selection of subtitles on offer and the English subtitles are true to the onscreen dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Audio

The audio presentation is also very good. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) soundtrack makes use of surround sound and the subwoofer resonates throughout the film. This is an encompassing experience and being of the thriller genre, sound design is particularly important.

Dialogue is audible and clear and produced without any flaws. The music score by James Horner is engaging and melodramatic without being domineering. All round, this is a well produced soundtrack which is atmospheric.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

A well designed and themed menu with selected score.

The In-Flight Movie: The Making of Flightplan

This documentary which runs for 38:31 is concerned with the production of the film. Key areas of discussion include the script, specifically re-written for Jodie Foster, a focus on the director Robert Schwentke, casting, post production and visual effects. This can also be viewed in 5 short segments.

Cabin Pressure: Designing The Aalto E-474

This short feature which runs for 10:02 focuses on the design of the plane and construction of the impressive set. Quite an interesting feature, and as the E-474 does not actually exist, the designs and structural ideas were infinite.

The R1 presentation contains the same extra features as the R4 but also includes an English DTS 5.1 soundtrack and an audio commentary with director Robert Schwentke. A selection of sneak peeks including "Annapolis", "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Proof", "Lost: Season 2", "Shadows in the Sun", "The Greatest Game Ever Played", a "TV on DVD" commercial and two Easter eggs are also offered.

Flightplan is a good thriller with a dependable cast which is also well directed with notable claustrophobic cinematography, but let down by a flawed script.

The R4 presentation is a predominately average affair as the R1 has the better version of the title.

Nevertheless, a recommended title.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall