AIRBORNE

On a stormy night, several people gather in a small, quiet airport where they prepare to board the only plane flying that evening: Atlantic flight 686.

Among the passengers are two squaddies fresh from a stint in Afghanistan (including Andrew Shim from THIS IS ENGLAND), a middle-aged doctor called Kenny (Peter Barrett), an amorous young couple, East End gangster Max (Alan Ford) and his two henchmen, Luke (Craig Conway) and Gabriel (Forbes KB), wisecracking Alan (Simon Phillips), lone traveller Claire (Rita Ramnani), talkative yank Bob (Dominic Burns), and a nervous older chap by the name of George (Julian Glover).

In the airport’s nerve centre, air traffic controller Malcolm (Mark Hamill) checks in for his last ever shift on the job. His duty is to navigate the plane safely on its flight to New York. But that will not be easy …

Tensions are simmering from the moment this disparate bunch of folk first gets seated. Max, in particular, is disgusted that his access to the First Class area has been denied due to the stormy weather (not sure why that would be, but then I know nothing about flying commercial aeroplanes).

The pot boils over when Bob goes missing. No-one can explain how he vanished or where to, much less the bewildered-looking skeleton staff tending to the remaining passengers. Alan is especially upset by his acquaintance’s unexplained disappearance. And the rest of the gang become more unsettled when the young lovers are also noticed as having been absent for some time.

Tempers fray and mini-scuffles break out. Meanwhile, on the ground, Malcolm becomes increasingly baffled by the way the plane keeps dropping on and off his radar screens. The enigmatic Agent Moss (Sebastian Street) appears with some answers, but they’re not the type Malcolm wants to hear.

Meanwhile, back on the plane, an ancient vase and that age-old problem of basic human greed come to the fore of everyone’s mind as – shock, horror – the surviving passengers discover their pilots are dead …

Shot mainly on London soundstages for a reported £1.2 million, AIRBORNE looks decent enough for a straight-to-DVD feature. The sets are basic but successful enough to convey an element of claustrophobia, which does benefit the film during its paranoid second half.

Comparisons to THE THING become more prevalent during the final 30 minutes, changing the emphasis of the action from just another disaster flick and into something approaching the horror genre. Unfortunately, the script lacks the momentum required to scare the viewer or even make us feel for these fundamentally dislikeable characters at this point. The potentially intriguing thread commenting on flying in these terrorism-alert times is never sufficiently explored.

As well as those mentioned above, the cast also includes Billy Murray (in what is little more than a cameo role) and Gemma Atkinson of "Hollyoaks" fame. But Hamill’s the real catch here. Although he’s not in the film much, his role is a vital one and he attacks it with a sweaty kind of enthusiasm. Bless him, he hasn’t aged well – but that all adds to his character.

Aside from that, though, the film doesn’t really possess much character. Paul Chronnell’s script is pretty corny and predictable, while Burns’ direction struggles against the budget to bring in something that flirts with several genres: horror, action, comedy … it never really succeeds at any of them.

Still, there’s something that keeps this flatly shot, adequately acted affair watchable. Perhaps it’s the brisk pace and agreeably short running time (77 minutes). Perhaps it’s the increasingly ludicrous twists that cap it all off.

The region 2 DVD from Chelsea films presents AIRBORNE in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is enhanced for 16x9 television sets. It’s a sharp, keenly detailed offering. Although colour schemes are drab due to the predominantly interior nature of the filming, the presentation is never anything less than good.

English audio comes in choices of 2.0 and 5.1. Both proffer solid, evenly balanced mixes.

An animated main menu page opens the disc. From there, a static scene-selection menu allows access to the film via 12 chapters.

Extras are limited to a 2-minute trailer, which does its job of making the film look more exciting than it is.

AIRBORNE isn’t a good film but it is an occasionally enjoyable one, and there’s morbid curiosity guaranteed for anyone who wants to see Hamill in a modern-day genre film.

Review by Stuart Willis