Shootdown (1988)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Beautiful, moving film.

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.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I cried pretty much from start to finish on this one! which I didn't really expect to happen! it was certainly an intense, emotional experience for me! Angela Lansbury conveys very well the grief and heartache of a mother who has just lose her son so tragically! she had previously lost her other son to Cancer, but as she says in the film they knew what was coming with him, so there was time to prepare themselves, this tragedy was different! she has no body to bury! it's really a raw emotional feature guys! at least I thought so, we can argue what we want hear about conspiracy or what not, but this is a powerful film! showing footage from actual newsreels, add to the reality of the piece! sure it is a talky film! But it needs to me, I recommend 'Shootdown' it is probably the best performance Lansbury gave in a TV film during her run on 'Murder she wrote' so raw and emotional! must- see at least one!

Having read several books on this subject (Shootdown of Korean Air Lines flight 007) I have to admit that the facts and points about this sad story extremely accurate. I was surprised to see some comments about this movie stating that the facts cannot be true. All those believing that should pick up a book on the topic from your local library, read it and then judge the facts. I have to admit that since the movie was made (1988) there were several key facts revealed that do not match the movie (example: the name of the Soviet pilot that shot it down), but keeping in mind that the movie is over 16 years old, I have to say that the facts presented in the movie are as close as you'd get back then (I will try and add some interesting facts about this to the "trivia" section).On the other hand, the movie acting-wise and script-wise is poor. It is on a level of a network movie (just as this movie actually is), so my expectations before watching it were set lower than usual. But the movie raises interesting points on whether the US intelligence agencies had anything to do with this plane straying off course. I suggest reading a book on this topic before watching the movie. It may be confusing to those exposed to the story for the first time.

I enjoy Angela Lansbury, and I think she did an excellent job. The other actors, although mostly unknown to me, also were fine.The movie is thoughtfully done. I found myself getting caught up in the characters' frustrations, so it was consequently somewhat frustrating to watch. Despite the title, this is definitely not an "action" movie. Low-key in tone, it plays more like a mystery. I am still a fan of "Murder, She Wrote", and watched the movie to see Angela Lansbury. I'm not sure if I would watch it again, because the tone and mood convey sadness. Definitely some "get your Kleenex out" moments, but it was good to see some range in her acting.

The movie took too long to set up the characters in the begin, all of whom were poorly acted. The story was not worked enough, and many interesting theories that could have been looked at were left out. Some of the sounds, in particular the radio message and the firing of the missile most definitely came from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The movie did have a valid social outlook, suggesting that the U.S. government quite often has not-so-innocent motives to classify and stonewall events, in the name of 'national security', that should be made public knowledge. Otherwise the movie was quite poor overall, my vote being a three out of ten.