Good movie but grossly overrated

good back-story, and good acting

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I haven't seen Zero Hour's irreverent offspring Airplane (1980), so I have to judge this movie on its own merits. In short, it's a white-knuckler all the way. The passenger plane's on a cross-Canada flight when the pilots and some passengers are incapacitated by bad food. Looks like doomsday unless someone among them has flight experience and can step forward. A former WWII pilot, Lieutenant Stryker (Andrews), is conscripted. Trouble is he's still traumatized by combat experience and doubts his piloting abilities, especially with a big jet. Still, there's no one else. Now all the passengers and crew depend upon him to bring the plane down safely in Vancouver amid blinding fog and rain. So, he'll need all the help he can get, especially from the Vancouver flight tower and the commanding Capt. Treleaven (Hayden). But will that be enough.As some sage once pointed out, there's a close relation between comedy and tragedy. I can see why the producers of Airplane parodied the relentless heavy breathing of this movie in their comedy classic. What with all the interactions between passengers, crew, and tower, there's lots of material to comically exaggerate. Nonetheless, the performances here are effective if mostly unvarying. Andrews gets not a single smile, while Darnell, as Stryker's wife, scowls throughout. In fact, the movie's downside may be that same unrelenting grimness, which is apt for the material but a one-note for audiences.On the upside is the way some hardier passengers respond to the emergency, showing the skill and heart of a random American public. Then too, if Stryker succeeds, he may overcome his crippling self-doubt stemming from a WWII deadly misjudgment that cost the lives of fellow pilots. Thus Stryker's very much a flawed hero, a good dramatic note. All in all, the movie's a genuine, if unrelieved, thriller that deserves more reshowing than it's gotten. But then Airplane has likely taken whatever thunder Zero had. Nonetheless, this 82-minute suspense can still stand on its own.

When you hear that the spoof "Airplane" was based on this film, you immediately think this must be a lousy film. Well, you're wrong. At worst, this film is dated. And there are a couple of things that seem not right to me. But overall, this is decent film and well worth watching if you like this genre.The 2 things that don't ring true to me: Living in the third world for a while, I had my share of food poisoning and knew quite a few others who also had it. I guess it's possible, but what kind of food poisoning doesn't create diarrhea or vomiting, but does cause severe cramps? Well, while that seems odd to me, I was kinda glad they handled it this way...if you know what I mean. The other thing that seems odd to me -- and I'll let you watch the film to see what I'm talking about, but just why does Dana Andrew's wife take the copilots chair????? The other problem here -- although it;s temporary since both the regular pilot and co-pilot become unconscious -- but they were terribly wooden actors.So the big question of the film is: will World War II pilot Dana Andrews, who crashed during the war and blames himself for the death of his fellow fliers, and who has not flown in a decade, be able to land the plane without cracking up? So, the balance of the film rests on the acting.Dana Andrews, an underrated and much forgotten actor is top notch here, just as he was a few years later in another airplane disaster film ("The Crowded Sky"). Linda Darnell, an actress that is no favorite of mine, does nicely here as his wife, and, of course, they're estranged. The real weakness in the film, at least in terms of the main roles, is that of Sterling Hayden, the pilot who "talks" Andrews down. The two have a bad history from World War II, so it's interesting, if unlikely. Frankly I always felt Sterling Hayden had serious limitations as an actor, and it shows here.Make no mistake, this isn't the greatest airline disaster film ever made, but it's a very good film providing you can put yourself back in flying in the 1950s. Most of you never flew in a prop plane, but I remember doing so; a different time, so don't be too dismissive of what you see here. Recommended to watch...at least once.

Famously parodied as Airplane in 1980, it gets forgotten just what a rollicking good thriller Zero Hour! is. Dana Andrews is the airman scarred by an incident during the war who has to battle his demons when the crew and passengers of the jumbo jet he is aboard fall victim to food poisoning. Sterling Hayden is down on the ground smoking loads of ciggies and having no faith in trying to talk Andrews down safely.One of the first disaster aeroplane movies, it follows what we now regard as the staples of the genre. Troubled protagonist, family strife, calm characters, panic characters, lovely ladies, square jawed men, raging weather conditions and an aeroplane in serious danger of plummeting from the sky and killing all on board. It's sometimes hokey and one dimensional in terms of plot developments, but it commits to the drama and grinds out a suspenseful last half hour that can have you edging towards the edge of your seat.A must see for fans of such fare. It's OK to love Airplane! and prefer its comedy smartness, but it's also OK to doff a respectful pilot cap towards Zero Hour! as well. 7.5/10

Nowadays, Hall Bartlett's "Zero Hour!" will probably only seem significant because it's the inspiration for "Airplane!". Indeed, some of the lines from "Airplane!" are lifted straight out of "Zero Hour!", except that the spoof expanded them. While watching the original, I kept throwing out lines from the spoof while expecting Leslie Nielsen to pop up and tell people not to call him Shirley.Anyway, this version casts Dana Andrews as the man who has to become the pilot, Linda Darnell as his estranged wife, Sterling Hayden as his former commanding officer, Elroy Hirsch as the pilot, Geoffrey Toone as the airplane doctor, Jerry Paris (Jerry Helper on "The Dick Van Dyke Show") as a passenger, and Peggy King as the flight attendant. Nothing special about the movie, but it's still pretty fun.So yes, Joey. Do you like movies about gladiators?