Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Turbulence Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 19, 2024

Robert Butler's "Turbulence" (1997) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by Robert Butler moderated by filmmaker Joe Begos as well as vintage promotional materials for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Even though Turbulence came out at the exact same time Con Air did, which was 1997, these films were not supposed to compete at the box office. In fact, Turbulence was not supposed to be released in 1997. It was scheduled to be released the previous year, for obvious reasons, around Christmas, but several months earlier a Boeing 747 bound for Paris exploded off the coast of Long Island and MGM delayed it. In 1997, Turbulence had a quick and very poor theatrical run, and shortly after was released on DVD. This particular DVD release, which initially was a ‘snapper’ but years later was repressed in a standard DVD case, sold very well and inspired two more similarly-themed films. These films are often described as sequels, but the truth is that they were conceived as copycats that essentially took advantage of the original film’s unexpected success on the home video market.

The prologue is a classic curveball. It is Christmas and Ryan Weaver (Ray Liotta) is seen telling a young and beautiful woman that she means the world to him. But shortly after, at a frozen John F. Kennedy International Airport, Weaver is seen cuffed and transported to a commercial, practically empty plane bound for Los Angeles. Another cuffed character named Stubbs (Brendan Gleeson) is also placed on the same plane. Several bored agents prepare to make the trip as well. Approximately an hour or so later, while using the restroom, Stubbs kills the agent who has been monitoring him, and in the ensuing chaos, he and Waver get rid of the remaining agents and take over the plane. Then Weaver gets rid of Stubbs.

This is the moment where Turbulence switches into idiot mode, and from there, while insulting the intelligence of its audience, slowly begins to self-destruct. Here are the only two crucial developments from the sad transformation:

During the chaos, the two captains operating the plane, a sparkling Boeing 747, are taken out. Meanwhile, Weaver, who has evolved into an unhinged animal, allows one flight attendant (Lauren Holly) to stay with him and locks the remaining survivors in a storage room. In the hours ahead, Weaver, a mass murderer facing execution by lethal injection, reveals his plan to crash the plane, killing as many innocent people as possible, and the flight attendant becomes a hero as she attempts to prevent the tragedy.

The entire second and third acts of Turbulence are so poorly scripted that the overwhelming majority of the material here is extremely easy to describe as parody. To be clear, this is the type of material that cannot be saved with a great polish work because numerous sequences that prepare crucial events, plus many of these events, are quite simply allergic to basic logic.

In the annals of cinema, there are many films like Turbulence and some of them are very entertaining. However, these films always concede that what they show is ridiculous, which is the trick that makes it easy for them to connect with their audience. In Turbulence, there is a lot of pretending that the obvious is not obvious and the audience cannot tell, which is why the bumpy ride to Los Angeles is borderline insulting.

The only redeeming quality of Turbulence is the sporadic footage where the massive plane does things it was not built to do. Predictably, the best of this footage comes at the end, as the plane enters the Los Angeles area.

Robert Butler shot Turbulence with cinematographer Lloyd Ahern II, whose name appears on vastly superior films like Trespass and Last Man Standing, as well as the excellent TV series Hooperman.

Turbulence Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Turbulence arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release introduces an exclusive new 4K restoration of the film, which is also available on 4K Blu-ray. You can see our listing and review of this release here.

If you are reading this article, you probably want to know whether the Blu-ray release offers a dramatic upgrade in quality over ancient DVD releases of the film, and how the 1080p presentation of the new 4K restoration compares to the native 4K presentation of the same restoration. The 4K restoration is sensational and makes the entire film look brand new. It gives it an outstanding organic appearance, too. I viewed the 4K restoration in native 4K, but tested different areas of the 1080p presentation as well. I think that the 1080p presentation is excellent. However, in a few areas, I liked the tightness and fluidity of the 4K presentation a bit better. But this is just a small preference, so if the 4K restoration was made available only on Blu-ray, I would have been just as impressed with it. I really liked how the 4K restoration was graded, too. All primaries and supporting nuances are perfectly set and look exceptional. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Turbulence Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

Th comments below were included in our review of the 4K Blu-ray release of Turbulence.

I viewed the entire film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and thought that it was terrific. Turbulence produces a lot of action material, and plenty of this material has dynamic movement of the kind that can test an audio system. There is great surround activity, bass activity, etc. The dialog is always clear, sharp, and easy to follow. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Turbulence Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by director Robert Butler and is moderated by filmmaker Joe Begos. Mr. Butler recalls his first encounter with Ray Liotta, which occurred many years before he shot Turbulence, and discusses the homework he did while preparing to do it. Also, there are a lot of interesting comments about the visual style of Turbulence, the special effects in it, and its publicity and reception.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for Turbulence. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• TV Spots - presented here are several vintage U.S. TV spots for Turbulence. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Radio Spot - presented here is a vintage U.S. radio spots for Turbulence. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

Turbulence Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Turbulence is allergic to logic, and this is the source of everything that does not work in it, which is a lot. It looks pretty at times, but all of its pretending that it is a serious film is beyond exhausting. Kino Lorber's release introduces a marvelous new 4K restoration that makes it possible to experience the film in an entirely new way, so if it is one of your guilty pleasures, you should not hesitate to pick it up. The same 4K restoration is also made available on 4K Blu-ray. RECOMMENDED only to the fans.