Flightplan – Blu-ray Disc
March 15, 2008 – 8:49 PM --- by: Brendan SurplessTags: Buena Vista, Jodie Foster, Sean Bean
has an average rating of 6.2 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
PCM Uncompressed 5.1@6.9mpbs
are ports but worth a watch
– 
– 2005
– 98 minutes
– Buena Vista
Buy it for $23.95 @ Amazon.com
— Review written by Brendan Surpless
The Movie Itself is directed by Robert Schwentke (making his English-language directorial debut). Jodie Foster stars in this film as a propulsion engineer named Kyle Pratt who decides to take her six year old daughter Julia on a transatlantic flight aboard a brand new jumbo jet (which she helped design). Aboard the plane, her daughter goes missing. Naturally she has no clue what is going on as the captain (Sean Bean), nor the sky marshal (Peter Sarsgaard), even though they try to help, don’t seem to ever accomplish much that sways her. We learn more and more facts about the daughter as the movie progresses, some of which will definitely surprise you. That is what makes this film so overly effective. How it takes a fairly common plot but adds more flare and spark to the plot by having certain areas jump out at us.
“Flightplan” is being compared to Foster 2002 film “Panic Room” due to the similar concepts (Woman and her daughter are in peril). However, the problem Foster faces in “Flightplan” is far more inquisitive and interesting. Did her daughter suddenly disappear or was she kidnapped? How could all of this occur on a airplane with tons of passengers? Foster is a usual form in this film. She comes off a resourceful and extremely brave woman. As the plot progresses forward, Foster’s response continues to change as do her overall tactics. She tends to scream out, as would any of us in a similar situation. The film’s acting also brings this one above the rest.
All of the actors are on top form here. Sean Bean is effective as the captain who knows what his job is and obviously knows how to do it. Speaking of Bean, ever since the “Lord of the Rings” was released, he has been on quite the role with that trilogy, “National Treasure” and now “Flightplan“. Peter Sarsgaard (“Boys Don’t Cry“) is also great as the on-flight air marshal who is under captains’ orders. He displays all of the correct tones in this role, from anger to slyness. Yet do keep an eye out for the rest of the 400 people on board. Not everyone is who they might seem.
We would think that this is the typical disappearing daughter, daughter is mysteriously found plot, but it is nothing like that at all. Foster never once gives up the search for her daughter up until we learn the secret of the film. Robert Schwentke directs actors like Foster, Bean, and Sarsgaard in a film that is skillful, entertaining, and exciting throughout the course of the whole film (especially the middle act). Flightplan, when it was released in September 2005, garnered the audience that the films of this nature truly deserve. This film reminded me of a day when films were more about their skill and not who stared in them. What an entertaining film!
Video Quality on this release is 1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a BD-50 Dual-Layered Disc. The transfer looks near perfect despite a few blemishes and a few signs of dirt on the print in some of the brighter scenes. Speaking of the film’s print, I noticed how natural everything seemed (which makes sense considering the film came out a few years ago and was shot in 35mm). Colors are very deep, sharp, and clear. Particularly the color black, especially on the shirt of Foster, is dark and deep resulting in a great image. The only fault I found was the overall presence of the color of blue. Even though the color looked clear and sharp, it seemed like it was the major color (perhaps this is due to the subject of the film. Does blue equal darkness or tenseness)? This isn’t a huge negative in my book as the color blue was represented well. Bottom line is that this is a solid transfer that is almost near perfect.
Audio Quality on this release is PCM Uncompressed 5.1@6.9mpbs. The audio is very good for a film with such little action. At first glance one might not expect much as a majority of the film’s opening moments are rather quiet and subdued. But what impressed me most was the film’s overall atmosphere, which helped to create a real sense of urgency and terror. The center speaker provides us with a majority of the dialogue, which sounds clear for being spoken so softly (which can be a slight pain if you are trying to watch the film late at night). The bass, especially the scene where they are looking below the decks, rumbles from the plane taking off and the engine moving. Since there are no real big, over the top action scenes in this film, the PCM Uncompressed 5.1 track succeeds on a high level giving us the overall feel that we are on an actual plane.
Bonus Materials
All features are presented in SD minus the Blu-Scape feature.
- Audio Commentary with director Robert Schwentke: Now I’ll fully admit that I didn’t expect much of this commentary as I figured that there really wasn’t much to say about certain scenes that the audience probably hadn’t figured out already. But low and behold this commentary is great. Director Schwentke offers a lot of insight into actual aircrafts, making us realize that he definitely did his homework. Even though he does the standard commentary tricks as he praises Foster and the cast, this one is still worth the listen.
- Cabin Pressure: Designing The Aalto E-474: This feature speaks of the amount of product that had to be built for the film. Even though the final film’s plane is a mostly a CG shot, the crew did actual build a lot of the final plane to get an idea of what they wanted to shoot. It was actually the first double-decker plane built as a fully functional shooting set. Just like the making of the film, this is a great feature that gives us even more information about the film.
- Emergency Landing: Visual Effects: First off I’ll mention that the original DVD included over 40 minutes of a making of that this ‘Visual Effects’ portion is a part of. Why on earth the rest was deleted is beyond me. Anyhow this deals with the overall effects of the film. The plane is a complete CG shot with just a 1/10 scale of the exterior of the plane. They mention how they slowed down one of the final shots to give the audience that feel that what is happening is deserved.
- Blu-Scape: Running a mere 2 minutes, this is more to show off the quality of hi-definition than something of real substance. The film is directed by Award-Winning Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg.
