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MONEY
Did you know
Earned back only 47% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
Flight of the Phoenix
"Out of the ashes, hope will rise."
2004 1h 53m EN
😐
6.0
MID
★6.0TMDB · 977
ActionAdventureDrama
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
When an oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, an aircraft crew are sent to shut the operation down and fly them out. On the flight out over the desert on the way to Beijing, Capt. Frank Towns and co-pilot A.J. are unable to keep their cargo plane, a C-119 Flying Boxcar, in the air when a violent sandstorm strikes. Crash-landing in a remote uncharted part of the desert, the two pilots and their passengers -- a crew of oil workers and a drifter -- must work together to survive by rebuilding the aircraft. Soon, low supplies and a band of merciless smugglers add even greater urgency to their task.
“Out of the ashes, hope will rise.”
Cast
Dennis Quaid
Frank Towns
Tyrese Gibson
AJ
Giovanni Ribisi
Elliott
Miranda Otto
Kelly
Tony Curran
Rodney
Sticky Fingaz
Jeremy
Jacob Vargas
Sammi
Hugh Laurie
Ian
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- John Moore
- Writers
- Edward Burns, Scott Frank, Romek Delmata
- Languages
- English, Mongolian
- Countries
- United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Released 22 years ago.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
WORLD
Did you know
Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Mongolian.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by John Moore, shot by Brendan Galvin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Don Zimmerman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Dennis Quaid and Tyrese Gibson and Giovanni Ribisi carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
FACT
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "Out of the ashes, hope will rise.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
John Moore directs. Brendan Galvin behind the camera. Marco Beltrami scores. Don Zimmerman cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Mongolian.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Earned back only 47% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
- 2Released 22 years ago.
- 3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Mongolian.
- 4Directed by John Moore, shot by Brendan Galvin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 6Editor Don Zimmerman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 7Dennis Quaid and Tyrese Gibson and Giovanni Ribisi carry the top of the cast.
- 8Marketing tagline: "Out of the ashes, hope will rise.".
- 9IMDB entry: tt0377062 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 10Classified under 25 themes, including "robbery", "based on novel or book", "sandstorm", "affectation".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Brendan Galvin
- Original score
- Marco Beltrami
- Editing
- Don Zimmerman
- Production design
- Patrick Lumb
- Costume design
- George L. Little
- Makeup / hair
- Kelly Nelson
- VFX supervisor
- David Goldberg
- Sound
- James Bolt
- Stunt coordinator
- Bob Brown
- Runtime
- 113 min · 1h 53m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $45,000,000
- Box office
- $21,009,180
- Return
- 47% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- PG-13
Also by
John Moore
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- drystyx★ 2/10
This could be one of those "so bad it's good" movies some day. It's a remake of the classic film about men in a hopeless situation when their small plane crashes in the desert. Hope comes back when one of the men reveals he can make an airplane, and the others believe him. In such a story, the subplots and side stories make the story. Here, the subplots and side stories are cartoonish and contrived. The characters are totally without motivation. One can almost see the actors wince about being part of such a horribly written story. In fact, one almost wonders if it was written for the purpose of some day being a "so bad it's good" story. I'm not sure. There really isn't any charm to this movie, no inspiration, no motivation, and that might be too bad to even make the "so bad it's good" list.
- CinemaSerf★ 5/10
I think to be fair to this reimagining of the story, it tries to be different from the 1965 version. They shift the location and update the dialogue and up to a point that gives it a fighting chance. A plane gets caught up in a sandstorm over the Gobi desert and crashes. It falls to the survivors to work out a plan before the water runs out. Sadly, though, aside from the efforts from Giovanni Ribisi as designer "Elliott" (and that's because at times he resembles Hardy Kruger) the acting is pretty woeful. Dennis Quaid ought to be commended for taking on the Jimmy Stewart role - that was never going to be easy, but he just hasn't the screen presence. The rest of the ensemble form an unremarkable bunch and John Moore's direction does little to deliver any sense of peril or desperation as their predicament gets worse and their personal relationships become more and more fraught. It looks ok, but in the end comes across as little better than an OK television movie that I questioned the necessity for.
- Narate★ 4/10
"The design is perfect, the only flaw is that we have to rely on you to fly it." I grew up always seeing the poster but never watching this. Now that I have seen it, I can see why. It is a little boring and just not that interesting. Something tells me the original must be the one that has all the flavor.
Production companies
Who made it
- OP
Optional Pictures
Davis Entertainment
US
- AL
Aldrich Group
20th Century Fox
US
Key crew
- Digital Intermediate ProducerTerra Bliss
- ProducerWilliam Aldrich
- ProducerAlex Blum
- ProducerJohn Davis
- ProducerWyck Godfrey
- Executive ProducerRic Kidney
- EditorDon Zimmerman
- CastingDeborah Aquila
- CastingTricia Wood
- Costume DesignGeorge L. Little
- Production DesignPatrick Lumb
- Art DirectionChristopher Bass
- Art DirectionAlan Hook
- Set DecorationEliza Solesbury
- Set DecorationMatthew Sullivan
- HairstylistKelly Nelson
- Makeup Department HeadFiona Connon
- Makeup ArtistRon Berkeley
- Makeup ArtistRick Findlater
- Makeup ArtistAnnette Keet
- Art Department CoordinatorBruce Bisbey
- Assistant Art DirectorJennifer Blatt
- LeadmanAdam Cameron
- Set DesignerAdriana Dardas
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- robbery
- based on novel or book
- sandstorm
- affectation
- pilot
- gobi desert
- mongolia
- survival
- disaster
- airplane crash
- struggle for survival
- desert
- based on movie
- oil rig
- desert storm
- inspirational
- smugglers
- cargo plane
- crash survivor
- absurd
- admiring
- adoring
- appreciative
- awestruck
- baffled
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical2004-12-17PG-13
Also known as
International titles
- 荒漠十壮士CN
- Poletŭt na feniksaBG
- I ptisi tou FoinikaGR
- Feniksov letRS
- Polet FeniksaRU
- Полёт ФениксаRU
- Der Flug des Phoenix - Flight of the PhoenixDE
