The Flight That Disappeared (1961)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Admirable film.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

A bit slow and preachy, but an interesting tale well worth watching...Actually a more than decent script considering it was shot back in 1961...Second act drags but when they get into the third you sit up and take notice...Don't want to tell all the tale...You'll enjoy watching this yourself...So much junk was produced in this era, it is nice to see something of this quality was shot and produced by Hollywood...The only strange thing is the lost of several international flights lately and how some actually refer to this movie about that situation...All I know is that if I owned the rights to this flick I would mount a minor ad campaign to tie-in with those recent events and sell more copies of "The Flight That Disappeared"...Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

The tale has promise. All airplane-in-jeopardy movies do. There are some things man was never meant to do, and one of them is flying at 40,000 feet.This one follows a pattern familiar to anyone who has seen another film of its type, especially "The High and the Mighty", or who has seen the "Twilight Zone" episode called "The Odyssey of Flight 33," which aired in February, 1961. This movie was released in September, 1961, just enough time to grind out a message-laden, low-budget simulacrum without having to dream it up ab initio.That's not to say this is a total failure because the genre itself has so much appeal. Yet, the haste shows in the sets, the dialog, and the acting itself. The nerve center for traffic control is a small room with one instrument in it, apparently an oscilloscope. (It's an embarrassment.) Every single person we get to meet during the introductions that these movies require looks and speaks like a Hollywood actor. That includes the two stewardesses but I forgive them because one of them, Bernadette Hale, is such a meal.It takes almost twenty minutes before the airplane begins to get into trouble, gaining altitude no matter what the crew does. (They do nothing; that's a quick and unknowing script, for you.) Here's a quote from the dialog. The airplane now has four dead engines and is still climbing through 50,000 feet. Remarks the worried Air Traffic Control Director, "I don't know. This whole business has a strange, abnormal ring." Meanwhile you sit through a pretty young mathematician, a nuclear scientist who looks like a clone of Allen J. Hyneck, and a maniac who wants Dr. Hyneck to invent a new bomb and blow the Russians off the face of the earth before they can do it to us. If you have ever had any doubt about the details of the semantics behind the word "overacting," you must see Harvey Stephens' performance as the deranged paranoid, breathless, his eyes bulging out like goggles, not so much speaking his lines as launching them.Then everybody falls asleep, the airplane sits silently on a cloud, and the three scientific types undergo a "Christmas Future" experience. Then it was all a dream, unless it wasn't. It's very preachy and unrealistic in its climactic moments.On the whole, it would have made an acceptable "Twilight Zone" hour. As a full-length movie, it's clumsy and pretty cheap.

This movie is more of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits Episode than a Full Length. But Overall its a Good/Decent Movie for a movie on a Low Budget 60's Movie. What gets me is other reviews who the movie is Extreme when it comes to Morals. Really? I would hope if a weapon that is easily assessable that could destroy the whole world. That maybe, Just Maybe Morals and Ethics would be talked about. Otherwise the nihilist should just resurrect Hitler and get It over with. Sci-Fi has always been used to talk about situation humanity might find themselves in and how they should handle those situations. That is why Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and Star Trek are great shows and why The Day the Earth Stood Still and Jurassic Park are great movie. Was this kind of plot used all the time in the 50 and 60. Yeah but it was also because we just drop to Nuclear Bombs in Japan. And if anyone Notice. But that was damn horrible. Maybe the reason they used these kind of plot. Was Because they were honestly worried about the future. Anyways don't listen to the Naysayers. For a Low Budget Movie is one of the better movies with the "Will Humanity Survive" of plots

This is a very, very low-budget film about the nuclear age. However, despite having no actors you'll recognize and a cheesy set near the end of the movie, I really liked it and think it's a nice relic about the Cold War and the move to build bigger and badder nuclear bombs. And, regardless of your politics, this was a scary time and a film that questioned all this sure was timely."The Flight That Disappeared" plays somewhat like a "Twilight Zone" episode--and there was, around that same time, a show that did seem a bit like the movie. However, instead of an airplane full of folks being stuck in a plane that keeps passing back and forth in time (something that NEVER was explained and was a shortcoming of the episode), this one involves a plane that keeps gaining altitude--and there's nothing the crew can do to stop it! Eventually, the plane is assumed lost--and after all the crew and passengers fall asleep due, seemingly to a lack of oxygen, there is a meeting with three of the passengers and an odd galactic tribunal. Later, however, it seems that they can't prove this really happened...and then, at the end, the twist. I could say more about all this, but I don't want to spoil it.Despite the budget, the acting was nice, as was the direction. It's really a nice example of a film that does the most with its limited resources. The only negative at all it the female mathematician. She seems to have been included mostly for her sex appeal--especially since her connection to the two scientists was never really established. Still, an interesting film---and one that seems a heck of a lot better than its 4.0 score currently on IMDb.