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Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land

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Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land
Theatrical poster
Genre
  • Science fiction
  • Thriller
Written byPeter R. Brooke
Robert M. Young
Directed byJerry Jameson
StarringLee Majors
Hal Linden
Lauren Hutton
Ray Milland
Gail Strickland
George DiCenzo
Tess Harper
Terry Kiser
Music byLalo Schifrin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersAllan Manings
Henry Winkler
ProducersPeter Nelson
Arnold H. Orgolini
Production locationsLaird International Studio - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California
CinematographyHéctor R. Figueroa (credited as Hector Figueroa)
EditorJohn F. Link
Running time105 min.
Production companiesOrgolini-Nelson Productions
Orion Pictures
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseFebruary 27, 1983(1983-02-27)

Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land(also known asStarflight OneorAirport85[1][Note 1]) is a 1983television film(for theABC Sunday Night Movie) directed byJerry Jamesonand starringLee Majors,Hal Linden,Lauren Hutton,Ray Milland,Gail Strickland,George DiCenzo,Tess Harper,andTerry Kiser.The film also features anall-starensemble television cast in supporting roles.

Jameson had become known for his work on "... movie-of-the-week phenomenon and group-jeopardy suspense and terror." His work with Lee Majors had begun with the television seriesThe Six Million Dollar Manin 1973, with the actor starring in three of Jameson's later films.[2]

Plot[edit]

Starflight,the firsthypersonic transport,is being prepared for its maiden flight fromLos AngelestoSydney, Australia.On board are the pilot, Cody Briggs, cheating on his wife Janet with Erica Hansen, media-relations representative for Thornwell Aviation. Passengers include designer Josh Gilliam, who is apprehensive about the engines not being under ground control, and satellite TV baron Freddie Barrett. Takeoff is delayed so that the body of the deceased Australian ambassador and his wife, Mrs. Winfield, can be taken aboard - something that Del, the first officer, considers a bad omen.

Bud Culver, Freddie's partner in Australia, tells Freddie he must scrub that day's launch of a TV satellite because weather is closing in; Freddie orders an immediate launch without NASA approval. Cleared by NASA for liftoff,Starflightclimbs to 23 miles using itsscramjetengines, then levels off. Freddie's rocket runs into trouble with the second stage and has to be destroyed. NASA reports that destruction of the rocket has produced debris which is headed forStarflight.Cody lets NASA guide their maneuvers. Engineer Chris Lucas recommendsStarflightclimb out of danger. Cody engages the scramjets again, but debris from the failed launch hits the underside of the aircraft. When NASA says they are clear, Cody orders the jets shut off, but they keep firing because the debris has severed the controls. Their hydrogen fuel runs out just asStarflightreaches orbit.

NASA dispatches theColumbiaSpace Shuttle to refuelStarflight,while bringing Josh Gilliam back to Earth to work on the problem. Flight engineer Pete tests the airlock transfer but is killed when the hatch malfunctions and breaks free. Improvising, Cody sends Josh toColumbiainside the ambassador's coffin.Columbiareturns to Earth with Josh aboard. He discovers Thornwell's universal docking tunnel, a flexible conduit that could be attached betweenStarflightandColumbia.Cody gets power restored, electrifying a cable in the section damaged by rocket debris.

Columbiaand six astronauts arrive with the tunnel, intending to rescue twenty passengers. Five passengers, including Hal, are successfully brought through. The next five, including Freddie Barrett, are lost when the flexible tunnel swings too close to the sparking electric line and ignites. Forty-seven passengers remain aboard. Josh is frustrated but an exchange with his wife Nancy reminds him of a fuel tank built by Culver Aviation that can be repurposed to carry people.Columbialaunches again with the container and takes on 38 more passengers, leaving only nine aboard.

Cody sends electrical engineer Joe Pedowski onEVA,in aspacesuitleft aboard byColumbia,to repair the damaged section. Josh suggestsStarflightfollow a shuttle on re-entry, believing the shuttle's heat shield would offer protection.Columbiacannot launch in time, but another shuttle,XU-5,in orbit on a military mission, arrives to assist just asStarflightis to hit the upper atmosphere. The two craft ride in together andXU-5veers off once the worst has passed, leaving Cody to flyStarflightthrough a harrowing steep descent that finally ends in a successful landing.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

The visual effects inStarflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Landwere attributed to noted effects artist John Dykstra and Brick Price Movie Miniatures.

The film's visual effects were supervised by veteran effects guruJohn Dykstra's Apogee effects house.Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Landmade use of stock footage of launches by the space shuttleColumbiaand anApollo-eraSaturn Von the launch pad.Columbiamakes three launches in 24 hours to helpStarflight(something completely impossible given turnaround times for shuttle launches). TheSaturn Vshown at theKennedy Space Centerwas depicted as carrying the communications satellite from a fictitious launch site near Sydney. Each timeColumbialands, the touchdown footage is from the early shuttle days when they landed on the dirt runway at Edwards AFB, rather than the concrete runway that Thornwell would be expected to have. Footage of theapproach and landing testswith the shuttle prototypeEnterprisewas used. A chase plane is also visible.[Note 2]

Reception[edit]

The New York TimessaidStarflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Landwas "... still another reworking of the escapist adventure stuff that proved so popular in the filmAirport."[3]A later review by Dave Sindelar noted that the film was a cross betweenMarooned(1969) and theAirportmovies. It also relied heavily on stock NASA footage to its detriment. Also,Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Landwas "... slow-moving, mired by disaster-movie style cliches, implausible, and has plenty of dead spots."[4]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Landwas also released worldwide in theatrical form under a number of different titles: in Germany asStarflight One – Irrflug ins Weltall,and in Japan asStarflight 1: Kiken'na Uchuu Hikou(スターフライト1: Nguy 険な vũ trụ phi hành ).
  2. ^Each time the shuttle launches, it has a white-painted external fuel tank, only used on the first two shuttle launches; beginning with the third flight,STS-3,the external tank was orange, which is the natural color of the foam on the tank.

References[edit]

  1. ^Rigg, Thomas (2007)Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television
  2. ^Roberts 2009, p. 279.
  3. ^O'Connor, John J.""A big night for movies ".The New York Times,February 25, 1983.
  4. ^Sindelar, Dave."Starflight One (1083)."Fantastic Movie Musings & Ramblings,August 31, 2013. Retrieved: December 8, 2014.

Further reading[edit]

  • Roberts, Jerry.Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors.Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2009.ISBN978-0-81086-138-1.

External links[edit]

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