CRASH LANDING

A banner production for state-of-the-art mainstream filmmaking in China, Crash Landing is a highly enjoyable riff on 1970 disaster classic Airport, with impressive digital effects, OK model work and a script that has smoothly reprocessed every cliche to which the genre is heir. Reputedly based on a real-life event, pic gets right down to business with brief prelims sketching the rocky marriage between pretty air hostess Qiu Yehua and her hunky pilot hubby, Li, prior to their ending up on the same Bluesky Airlines flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Soon after takeoff, Li discovers the landing gear won't lower, so the plane turns back and troubleshooter Liu Yuan is summoned to the control tower to solve the problem. The aircraft has two hours' worth of fuel and 137 passengers on board. Given that the ending is hardly in doubt, pic pulls its most audacious stunt two-thirds in, when Liu simulates for airport authorities what would happen if the forced landing were to go wrong. Effects work here is pretty impressive, and pic has some difficulty cranking up enough spectacle for the real ending; instead, the finale focuses more on human details, such as the stewardesses' twittering commands to passengers and the general panic inside the craft. Performances are largely functional, with You best as the cool troubleshooter. Beyond the f/x work, film is glossily mounted, with smooth lensing and editing, plus a rousing orchestral score by Pan Guoxing, who's clearly studied his Ron Goodwin and John Williams. Reputedly based on a real-life event, pic gets right down to business with brief prelims sketching the rocky marriage between pretty air hostess Qiu Yehua and her hunky pilot hubby, Li, prior to their ending up on the same Bluesky Airlines flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Soon after takeoff, Li discovers the landing gear won't lower, so the plane turns back and troubleshooter Liu Yuan is summoned to the control tower to solve the problem. The aircraft has two hours' worth of fuel and 137 passengers on board. Given that the ending is hardly in doubt, pic pulls its most audacious stunt two-thirds in, when Liu simulates for airport authorities what would happen if the forced landing were to go wrong. Effects work here is pretty impressive, and pic has some difficulty cranking up enough spectacle for the real ending; instead, the finale focuses more on human details, such as the stewardesses' twittering commands to passengers and the general panic inside the craft. Performances are largely functional, with You best as the cool troubleshooter. Beyond the f/x work, film is glossily mounted, with smooth lensing and editing, plus a rousing orchestral score by Pan Guoxing, who's clearly studied his Ron Goodwin and John Williams.