Horrid ATC Movie

[2000flyer]

Ok folks, sitting here in the hotel room, all packed and ready to head home tomorrow and I'm flipping channels and come upon a movie with Keifer Sotherland, Henry Winkler, Kelly McGillis and others. Sotherland is a controller who was involved in an accident, quits but comes back (without training) five years later and steps back in like he worked yesterday.

Anyway, here are some doosies from the "controllers":

"Pilot's are like dogs, they hear fear in your voice and they take matters in their own hands."

A controller opens a new sector with "Attention all aircraft, listen up guys, just do as I tell you and keep your speed up and I'll pull you through like a satin G-string!"

An aircraft calls in and asks for lower due to turbulence. The controller comes back "uh...unable due to traffic below you." The pilot says "I don't see them on TCAS to which the CA says ..I'm not going to risk it!"

Not to mention an anal supervisor with a separate office who monitors all sectors (screens and radio) with every controllers performance records infront of him just waiting to bust someone.

Does anyone know the name of this piece of trash? The hotel has no TV guides.

2000Flyer

 

[Typhoon1244]

Ground Control, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Kristy Swanson, Kelly McGillis, Henry Winkler, and Margaret Cho. (Courtesy of www.imdb.com.)

You're a better man than I am: I couldn't sit through ten minutes of it.

 

[JB74]

Ah, that movie! Very painful.

 

[redd]

Ahh, another sad case of pilot bashing...

 

[Typhoon1244]

Ahh, another sad case of pilot bashing...

I don't know if I'd call it "pilot bashing." It's just another product of a motion picture industry that has no clue about how ATC works.

Nor do they care.

Nobody's made a really good airplane movie since Captain Gann rode herd over The High and the Mighty.

 

[labbats]

Don't forget Trapped, with Kevin Bacon and Charlize Theron, where the guy had to point straight at the ground whenever he killed the engine at the end. I liked the movie a lot up to that point.

 

[redd]

Always with Richard Dryfus is a classic, a little romantic and Hollywood viewpoint though, but real enough. Tuskegee Airmen is awesome, great story and great vintage planes. My all time favorite is still Airplane. Can't beat it. "Billy, do like gladiator movies?"

 

[avbug]

What's wrong with getting pulled through like a satin g-string, anyway?

 

[328dude]

What about "Pushing Tin". I like the fact of blowing the place up with a microwave. LOL

 

[atcloser]

"pushing tin" did not really do justice to ny tracon although i was impressed that the controllers in the movie actually used pretty standard phraesology.

 

[B-atch]

OHHHH YEAH........ The Chick wans't bad either.....

 

[mainah]

Con Air baby!!!

 

[Cardinal]

I just sat through all 2 hours of "Ground Control," and 2KFlyer, I feel your pain. "Phoenix Center", which doesn't exist, last time I checked, consists of 6 radar screens and no chairs - controllers choose to stand, apparently. Keifer Sutherland shows up after years outside ATC and literally just throws on a headset and starts vectoring. It's like they had a technical advisor but sent him away once they started taping. They even repeated that ancient, horrible line: "Do you know it cost this airline $2000 to do a 360" "OK, Gimme $4000 worth" Retch. McGillis was hot, though.

 

[2000flyer]

Ground Control....The Ending

Ok, just to let y'all know how the movie ends (for those who missed this masterpiece )...

After suffering two complete power failures and loss of radio once, they finally get things back up and running. But wait, the only ILS at PHX goes down due to a goose flying into the ILS shack! Good ole Henry Wrinkler saves it by pulling the goose out and flipping a switch.

Now, a 737 checks in and has a complete electrical and hydraulic failure (the battery "backup" only lasted about 20 seconds), so the crew calls the center on their cell phone. Center decides to "find a place for them to crash" since there is no way to control this aircraft. However, Sotherland comes to save the day (again) by figuring out the pilot can maneuver the plane by differential thrust (sans UALs DC10 in Souix City). They lose the aircraft radar tag so Sotherland runs out of the ARTCC facility, up the outdoor stairs to the top of the tower, then plugs into the sector freq in the tower cab!

On short final the captain nervously says "I can do this" meaning land the 73. Funny though, on final all the lights were on...what the he** happened to the electrical failure??? They turn off the runway and taxi to the gate...what the he** happened to the hydraulic failure??? After shutting down the CA looks to the FO and says "my wife's picking me up and if you EVER tell here what we just did tonight I'll never fly with you again!"

What a hack job and not even a good movie at that. Hey, I was bored and needed help going to sleep last night!

 

[Northern Lights]

Here is a review from www.imbd.com:
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Summary: Extremely engaging, the best independent action film I've ever seen

'Ground Control' is probably the biggest surprise I've ever encountered since I became a movie fan years ago. It's incredibly well done, with great performances all around, and is seriously the best independent action film I've ever seen, if that could be imagined. The climax is truly riveting, aided by tight editing and strong direction. The real surprise with this movie is that almost all of it takes place in a single set, a fact that the director/editor managed to cover up. It seems that real care was poured into 'Ground Control', a rare feat these days with the countless B action flicks being pumped out each month, and it shows. It's sad that the movie didn't enjoy even a short theatrical run, as it more than deserves it, especially after the similar, and far inferior, 'Pushing Tin' making it into theaters a year later.

It's as if the producers managed to find the only actors that actually have talent and haven't yet made it big time, and casted them in this movie. Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys) is great in the main role, and is given strong support from Kelly McGillis (Top Gun, Witness- and the only real high profile actor in the film), Kristy Swanson (The Chase) and Robert Sean Leonard (Dead Poets Society)

The production values are unexpectantly high, especially for a movie on a budget like this one. Very good direction, commendable editing, and a superb script. The dialog is crisp and realistic, with a few really good one-liners, something I've never seen in a low budget action movie. The musical score is original and also very good, comparable to that of many large studio productions.

Despite a few flaws already pointed out in previous postings, I absolutely loved this movie, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in seeing a refreshing break from the norm.
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I suppose that Doctors and Nurses can't stand shows like "ER" much the same way pilots can't tolerate aviation flicks!

"Airplane" is the best. The "Airport" series is way too dramatic and painful to watch.

 

[2000flyer]

Oh PUHLEEEEEEEEEZE! Obviously this reviewer has absolutely no aviation background or sense of reality. I will admit, they tried hard in some areas and got some things right, but the wrongs outnumber with rights by 10:1.

2000Flyer

 

[ShawnC]

Wasn't it one of the Die hard movies where some terrorists adjust the ILS so airplanes would impact the ground?