Fate Is the Hunter
A man refuses to believe that pilot error caused a fatal crash, and persists in looking for another reason. Airliner crashes near Los Angeles due to unusual string of coincidences. Stewardess, who is sole survivor, joins airline executives in discovering the causes of the crash.
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- Cast:
- Glenn Ford , Nancy Kwan , Rod Taylor , Suzanne Pleshette , Jane Russell , Wally Cox , Nehemiah Persoff
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Reviews
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
As Good As It Gets
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
This is a well directed and shot movie. Just as every good story the "teller" weaving the yarn either shows you or tells you all the detail you need to solve the mystery. The same is as in this one, but the journey to the end makes you think and wonder about the event the entire film. Who really did it?Is the airline VP correct? Could this happen? With less CSI ability than today, it came down to people, what they say, what they don't and you have to the detective thinking. I had a hard time obtaining a copy of this file, but it was worth the hunt. You have to remember every "card" that is shown you to figure this one out.....If you can!
First off, I am one of the rare pilots who loves this movie. I'm a 737 captain for a major airline in the USA. Also a flight instructor, an instrument instructor and multi engine instructor.I've read the book and am glad the book and movie are so different. IN this way I get two amazing stories, but with that special flavor expressed in the title.I won't describe the movie, others have done that. But if you are a pilot and don't "GET" this movie, you better take some more flying lessons.I mean it. If you don't like the fictional airliner, well that' s fine.Get over that part of it.Here is a movie that actually talks about a rudder power switch!I can also say that the cinematography is wonderful and the opening 12 minutes and last 10 minutes is the most amazing stuff I've seen. (short of reality).So, see this movie. And shut off the damn bell.
Fate Is The Hunter casts Glenn Ford as an airline executive and former pilot who is investigating the crash of an airline at his airport where a former Korean war buddy Rod Taylor was the pilot. Most on the flight were killed, one of the survivors was stewardess Susanne Pleshette.Ford has a vested interest both professional and personal, he hired Taylor as a pilot and his judgment is called in question as well. And Taylor was a roguish sort of guy who bent the rules considerably. But Ford knew Taylor as a man cool in combat and we see Taylor after the initial crash in all sides of his character in flashback.The film is based on an Ernest K. Gann novel who also gave us Island In The Sky and The High And The Mighty. The film keeps the attention throughout with its documentary like approach. Ford is a man with a disagreeable task and he's praying his faith in Taylor will not be in vain.The airline is more interested in covering itself in case of potential lawsuits than at getting at the truth. Pilot error is the easiest explanation all around and Taylor's past doesn't help any.There are a couple of noteworthy supporting performances first being Dorothy Malone who was not billed oddly enough as a party girl who Taylor was involved with and dumped. It's a chip off the performance Malone gave as Marilee Hadley in Written On The Wind. Also noteworthy is Wally Cox who was a fellow crewman on Taylor and Ford's ship in Korea who provides an insight into an incident in Korea that Ford does not remember fondly.What does cause the crash? It's something quite trivial, but Taylor's posthumous reputation owes a debt of gratitude to Susanne Pleshette surviving the crash and to the black box recording even then, standard on commercial flights. It was kind of quaint seeing the airline investigators playing the black box recording on those old fashioned reel to reel tapes.For aviation fans and fans of the principal players and many others. A really good piece of work that all the cast could take pride in.
I'm afraid that I am not as enthusiastic about this film as so many other reviewers seem, bewilderingly, to be. The writing is dreadful, painting comic-book characters with no depth or subtlety. Glenn Ford does his best to make his central character interesting but nearly all of the main characters in the film are middle-aged men who spend most of their screen time shouting and snarling at each other. This is especially true of Rod Taylor's character who is absolutely ridiculous and as likable as a sticky doorknob.The basic premise of the story is silly, too. While commercial air crash investigations have certainly become more systematic and sophisticated since the 1960's, they were never such shallow, personal journeys as this story would depict. One man's journey to vindicate an old war buddy...who he really didn't even like. Oh please.And what the heck is with that utterly irrelevant cameo by Jane Russell?! If you're on a mission to see every Glenn Ford film and you've missed this one, then by all means sit in front of it once. But I really doubt you'll want to sit through it a second time. It's just too painful.