Hijacked: Flight 285 (1996)

Sick Product of a Sick System

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There were a surprising number of plane hijacking thrillers made during the 1990s and HIJACKED: FLIGHT 285 is a TV movie reworking of the format. Sadly, it turns out to be an overly familiar and largely tedious affair, one bogged down by long-winded conversations and a real lack of suspense. It doesn't help that the camerawork is very static and the dark backdrop of the film makes it look cheap more than anything else. The one thing this has going for it is the cast, with appearances from many '80s stars including Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, James Brolin, Perry King and Michael Gross, but even all those actors can't breathe life into a flaccid script.

Ruthless convicted murderer Peter Cronin (well played with lipsmacking wicked relish by Anthony Michael Hall) is being transported to prison on a commercial airliner. Trouble ensues when Cronin hijacks the plane and demands twenty million in bail bonds. It's up to FBI negotiator Deni Patton (a sturdy performance by Ally Sheedy) to keep things under control. Director Charles Correll, working from a compact script by David Peckinpah, keeps the enjoyable and engrossing story moving along at a snappy pace, generates a good deal of tension, and stages some exciting last reel action with skill and flair. The sound acting by the able cast helps a lot: Michael Gross as good-hearted disabled Vietnam veteran Ben Horner, Casey Sander as the brave Steve Paulsen, Barbara Stock as gutsy captain Veronica Mitchell, Perry Lang as hard-nosed fed Frank Layton, Hudson Leick as Cronin's loyal accomplice Shayna Loring, David Graf as an obnoxious cowardly drunk, and James Brolin as easygoing copilot Ron Showman. Moreover, Hall has a ball portraying a real evil and dangerous bad guy. Worth a watch.

First of all, completely ignore the other comments here. This film is BAD. Trust me. The direction is limp, the script embarrassing, the sets flimsy, and I haven't even got to the actors yet. Anthony Michael Hall will always be remembered for The Breakfast Club and Weird Science - he's OK at being a geeky teen, but a menacing hijacker? He's about as intimidating as my pants. And then there's Ally Sheedy. Perhaps she's had more of a career than Anthony, but that doesn't mean she's a good actor. To be fair though, its not like she has much to work with here.OK, the film. Its like Turbulence v Passenger 57, except made for £2.50. If you want to watch a cheesy Hollywood airplane film that actually creates some tension, go and watch Executive Decision. At least you get to see Steven Seagal get creamed.

Slick, well paced and sharply played, H:F285 is a competent and satisfying romp. Yes, it's just a re-hash of the Airport genre, but it manages to look and feel fresh thanks to a cast of actual actors (remember them?) and restrained direction that never attempts to overstep the modest budget.The vast majority of the action takes place in the "forty feet long, thirty feet wide" cinema variety plane interior, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing as it induces mild viewer cabin fever after an hour or so.If you enjoy watching sweaty balding A list actors stripping down to their vests and and blowing up, well, everything, then this isn't for you. However, if you enjoy character interplay, building tension that actually gets you involved in the story, and restrained - by Hollywood standards - resolution, give it a spin.