Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Flightplan Blu-ray Movie Review

Is this flight worth boarding?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 4, 2010

Where's my daughter?

They say there's nothing like a good mystery, but there's just not much mystery to the very Hollywood-esque Flightplan, Director Robert Schwentke's (The Time Traveler's Wife) take on a Hitchcockian-style tale of misleads, deception, lies, confusion, and most alarming of all, mankind's nonchalance towards even the most obvious of crimes. Built around a solid premise but failing to shake off that dreaded "been there, done that" feel, Flightplan suffers from a fairly predictable story arc, but to Schwentke's credit, the picture manages to squeeze quite a bit of tension -- no thanks to several solid performances -- from what is a fairly generic and flat story. A moderate box-office success, Flightplan raked in a cool $90 million domestic gross, despite coming out about a month after another "Airline Suspense/Thriller" picture, Wes Craven's Red Eye, these movies joining the likes of Antz and A Bug's Life and Deep Impact and Armageddon as terribly similar films arriving in theaters in close proximity to one another, but in this case, neither Flightplan nor Red Eye really stands out as the vastly superior picture, as do Deep Impact and A Bug's Life easily rise above their lesser peers.

The daughter vanishes.

Grieving wife Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster, The Brave One) has just lost her husband to an accidental death and is transporting his body from Germany to the United States via a commercial flight across the Atlantic. She's accompanied by her young daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) who is herself grieving in her own way and has become fearful of the outside world. After boarding their flight, Kyle and Julie fall asleep, but when Kyle awakens, she finds that her daughter missing. When a cursory search of the plane's passenger-accessible locales proves fruitless, Kyle begins to panic as she attempts to enlist the help of the flight crew to aid her in her search. As she quickly morphs from concerned mother to highly-disruptive passenger -- going so far as to accuse fellow passengers of conspiracy -- she's shadowed and confronted by an Air Marshall named Carson (Peter Sarsgaard, Jarhead) and finds little sympathy from the flight's Captain Rich (Sean Bean, Ronin). Though her fellow passengers, the flight crew, and Carson all believe her to be crazy -- particularly when no record of a Julia Pratt boarding the plane seems to exist -- Kyle refuses to halt her search for her daughter, no matter the personal cost or toll on the other passengers.

Flightplan might not be the most original picture ever made, but it nevertheless proves to be a somewhat entertaining thrill ride, even if there's a startling lack of mystery to it. The picture's heroes, villains, and plenty of other people that serve either as the obligatory red herrings or simply as collections of bystanders that through their presence alone subtly comment on mankind's innate inability to care about much more beyond that which falls directly in front of their faces, are almost immediately identifiable. Making matters worse, Flightplan is a film that dares not deviate from convention; the soft PG-13 rating almost by nature demands that the film play things safe and take the easy, feel-good way out at the end. Where's the risk? Where's the originality? There's a reason why The Empire Strikes Back is heralded as the best of the Star Wars films; it's got -- spoiler -- something of a downer ending where the bad guys win. A different scenario to be sure as the fifth of six (or the second of three, as the purists might say) movie in a series, but one of Hollywood's biggest problems now and always has been a fear of challenging the boundaries of the happily-ever-after ending. Downer endings aren't for everyone, but there just needs to be more endings like that seen in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines that's completely against the Hollywood grain. Rant aside, the problem with movies like Flightplan and other paint-by-numbers Thrillers is the transparency of the whole thing; anyone that's seen their fair share of movies will be yawning through this one, even if the picture does manage to maintain a surprisingly high level of tension and create a fairly dark, intrusive, and unsettling atmosphere.

Even through the sheer predictability of a movie like Flightplan -- it might take a few twists and turns along the way but the destination is always clearly in sight -- it's still an entertaining, worthwhile picture, even if it dares not stray from the realms of the see-through finale. Similar to Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes -- Robert Schwentke's film is the slicker of the two but it's not the better -- Flightplan works thanks to the intangibles that manage to supersede the story's lackadaisical feel. Schwentke makes fine use of the primary set, an oversized transatlantic jumbo jet that manages to feel both cramped and spacious all at once, giving the filmmaker a toy to play with that allows for him to easily hide the little girl somewhere within its confines while also making the environment cramped, impersonal, and inescapable, all three factors playing to the story's somewhat claustrophobic feel and allowing for tension to mount and further accentuate both the linear plot and the surrounding themes of the story very well. Schwentke uses shadow and what is often a steely, lifeless, and cold color palette to his advantage in further accentuating the sense of unease, despair, and deception that hovers about the story. Additionally, stars Foster, Bean, and Sarsgaard -- the latter of whom looks as if he's about to fall asleep throughout the movie -- all deliver convincing performances insofar as they can considering the picture's ultimately generic outcome. Finally, the magnificent James Horner lends his musical talents to the picture's score; his light piano motif sounds like something out of an M. Night Shyamalan movie, appropriate considering the parallels between both Shaymalan's style and Flightplan's modus operandi, both of which relate to one Mr. Alfred Hitchcock.

Flightplan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Flightplan launches onto Blu-ray with an inconsistent but more often better-than-not 1080p, 2:35:1-framed transfer. As to the good first, the transfer often exhibits a very strong and pleasing film-like texture; a slight layer of grain is retained over the image, though there's not often any eye-popping sense of depth to the movie. Fine details are adequate, but the steely cold black and blue color palette and many shadowy scenes don't allow for much in the way of sparkling imagery to begin with, though close-ups of faces often reveal average levels of texturing on faces. As noted, the picture's color scheme is fairly unforgiving and dull, with only a few splashes of bright colors -- particularly in the plane's lounge/bar area -- evident; even the several scenes within the bowels of the plane take on an aggressively bright look that's defined mostly by shades of white, gold, and lighter shades of gray and brown. Flesh tones generally retain a neutral tone while blacks -- crucial to the presentation -- appear true and deep without overwhelming up-tight details. Unfortunately, moderately heavy banding is a consistent companion throughout the film, and unsightly blocking is evident on occasion, particularly bothersome on areas of the image that can't quite resolve the light transitions from bright to dark, often appearing choppy or chunky rather than smooth and natural. Such problems are more annoying than debilitating, however. Ultimately, this is an uneven but not unattractive image; it's borderline excellent in some areas, flat and disappointing in others, but more often than not it proves a serviceable-or-better 1080p transfer.

Flightplan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Flightplan zooms onto Blu-ray with a high quality PCM 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack. A full, rich, and sometimes startling presentation, this one leaves little to the imagination as it creates what are often nothing short of seamless 360-degree sound fields where both powerful effects and subtle atmospherics consistently immerse the listener into the experience and place them in the midst of the drama aboard the aircraft. The clarity of the entire track and tightness of the low end isn't quite as precise as the top-of-the-line reference tracks, but this one rarely comes up lacking in any single area. The track's strongest asset lies in its ability to allow even the most ordinary of sounds -- hushed background chatter from startled or angry passengers, the light hum of the engines, or announcements over the intercom system both on the plane and in the airport before boarding -- to engulf the listener in most every environment found in the picture. It's no surprise, either, that this PCM track delivers the roar of jet engines as heard in some more powerful scenes or the deliberately amped-up effects of an early spinning interior airport shot very well; the way the track consistently makes wonderful use of all of its many elements major, minor, and everything in between is what truly makes it a winner. Supported by consistent and crisp dialogue reproduction, Flightplan makes for a top-notch uncompressed soundtrack that excels at every turn.

Flightplan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Flightplan lands on Blu-ray with a few bonus features and no main menu; everything must be accessed in-film via the pop-up menu. First up is an audio commentary track with Director Robert Schwentke, who delivers a fast-paced and somewhat dry recount of all things Flightplan, speaking plainly and coherently on how he constructed the film, changes made to the script post-9/11, the picture's themes, the assemblage the cast, and his insistence that the picture maintain both a semblance of realism while also remaining shrouded in mystery. Though the delivery can become monotonous, the information provided is invaluable and should hold the interest of both budding filmmakers as well as fans of the film and its director. Blu-Scape: 'Jet Stream' (1080p, 5:18) is a short film by Louie Schwartzberg, available to be played on a loop via a menu option. Movie Showcase (1080p, 2:02) is a collection of three scenes that "showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound." Next up is Emergency Landing: Visual Effects (1080i, 7:31), a short piece that looks at the construction of several effects-heavy scenes. Finally, Cabin Pressure: Designing the Aalto E-474 (1080i, 10:03) looks at the process of designing and constructing the film's primary set piece.

Flightplan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Well made but ultimately suffering from a transparent ending and readily-identifiable heroes, villains, and everyone in between, Flightplan works well enough as a shadowy and moody Thriller but fails to deviate from Hollywood norm. It's fine for what it is, and reduced expectations will lead to a fairly enjoyable experience. Flightplan delivers a surprisingly rapid-fire machine-gun pacing; it's over almost as soon as it starts and proves fairly engulfing even though it lacks mystery in the most important area of all. Disney released Flightplan way back in 2006 while the Blu-ray format was still finding its stride, and it proves a decent all-around release even several years later. Though the video transfer is inconsistent, it's pleasantly film-like in texture. The PCM uncompressed track is the clear-cut highlight of the package, and the supplements are average in quality and quantity. Flightplan is worth adding to the collection at a deeply discounted price, but the disc is best enjoyed as an occasional rental.