A grieving father boards a plane, threatening to detonate a bomb unless the man responsible for his daughter's death is found. The film follows the various passengers and their personal stor... Read allA grieving father boards a plane, threatening to detonate a bomb unless the man responsible for his daughter's death is found. The film follows the various passengers and their personal storylines as the tense situation unfolds mid-flight.A grieving father boards a plane, threatening to detonate a bomb unless the man responsible for his daughter's death is found. The film follows the various passengers and their personal storylines as the tense situation unfolds mid-flight.
- Emma Morgan
- (as Dame Sybil Thorndike)
- Clara Forrester
- (as Jackie Lane)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe aircraft on which this movie is set is a Tupolev Tu-104. This was a Soviet Russian-made passenger jet, code-named "Camel" by N.A.T.O. In this movie, the airline, on which the passengers fly, is a British one running a London to New York City service. However, it does seem highly unusual that they are operating this service with a Soviet-made Jet aircraft, especially since this movie was made during the height of the Cold War. In this movie, when the jet takes off, its Aeroflot markings and Soviet flag are easily visible. The Tu-104 was only operated by the U.S.S.R. and other Communist-affiliated countries, and the aircraft would not have been able to run a full passenger London to New York City service without a stopover (as occurs in the movie). Why the producers chose this aircraft and not the British-made Comet 4 or Boeing 707 (both aircraft had the range to cross the Atlantic) is a mystery.
- GoofsWhen Capt. Bardow is pleading with Tilley, he tells him that there are 32 human beings on board the airplane. In fact, there are only 30 people on board the plane, 8 members of the flight team (captain, co-pilot, engineer, navigator, radio man, stewardess, steward, and bartender/purser) and 22 others.
- Quotes
Capt. Bardow: Mr Tilley you're a decent man, you must fight this madness with everything you've got.
A quick plot synopsis makes it sound very much like Airport, or The High and the Mighty, but Jet Storm is a very different type of film. It's not an adventure, or a soaper, or a suspenser. Although it does include a diverse group of passengers and a hidden bomb, it's not actually about whether the plane will be saved, or how. It's about how these people react to danger. And about how all of us SHOULD react to danger.
The cast of familiar British actors does a superb job. Richard Attenborough shines in his portrayal of a weak, confused man, who's slipped over the brink of bitterness, depression and madness. Harry Secombe adds a contrastingly jovial note. And a young Paul Eddington (best known from the much later Yes, Minister series) is interesting as a not-very-admirable husband.
We learn a lot about these various characters, but the real meat of the film is in how each of them reacts when faced with imminent danger and probable death. The film asks us not to worry so much about whether these people will die, but to consider how they choose to live. Do they meet fear and uncertainty with fortitude? Resourcefulness? Humor? Resignation? Or even indifference?
The film shows us that some of these responses are clearly better than others. It demonstrates that the fear of disaster is far worse than the disaster itself. This message makes Jet Storm more relevant today than when it was made. We can see how much wiser things were in the 1950s. A psychopath would have been able to walk up and easily place a bomb on an airliner... but we didn't allow that remote possibility to dominate our lives.
Jet Storm reminds us that risk is a part of life, but when we focus on that risk to the exclusion of everything else, we stop living. So while terrorism (of any sort) is sad, and crazy and reprehensible, giving in to terror is far more shameful.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Der Tod hat Verspätung
- Filming locations
- Shepperton Studios, Studios Road, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK(studio: made at Shepperton Studios, England)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color