Being away from home all the time can get lonely, but happily, technology has mitigated that problem for us. With so many different portable gadgets, we can bring our own collections of music and movies with us on trips, and even set up our own little entertainment centre in the hotel room (for a range of new inventions available out there, stay tuned for “Watch this space” in the May issue of Business Traveller Asia-Pacific). If we can’t find anything we like on the in-flight entertainment system, we can just prop up the tablet and choose from our own private library.
Some films, however, might not be suitable for viewing when you’re cruising 13,000 metres above ground – unless you’re into self-torture. Here are five of them… oh, spoiler alert!
FLIGHT
Release date: October 2012
Cast: Denzel Washington
The story: Airline captain and recreational drug user Whip Whitaker (Washington) wakes up with a hangover on a workday, so he has a jolt of “upper” and drags himself to the airport. After takeoff Whitaker goes for the old-fashion “hair of the dog” and a nap, letting his co-pilot fly the airplane. He is soon awakened when the plane suddenly goes into a steep dive, but he brings himself together enough to avoid a crash and manoeuvre an emergency landing. At first, Whitaker is hailed as a hero, but soon, vodka bottles and toxicology screen test expose him, landing him at a court hearing for alcohol, drug and manslaughter charges. At the crossroads, he has to make a choice for his life.
Disturbing thoughts: A near plane crash and drunk pilots
Debriefing: When you fly a lot, you’ve just got to have faith in your airline and it staff, especially those of reputable standing. But sometimes, there are also destinations that you can only reach via a flight operator you’re not so sure about – and those are usually ones whose aircraft have no IFE, and hence the iPad. You might not have the option of another carrier, but at least you can choose to watch a cartoon instead.
SNAKES ON A PLANE
Release date: August 2006
Cast: Samuel Jackson, Nathan Phillips, Byron Lawson
The story: Sean Jones (Phillips) has witnessed gangster Eddie Kim (Lawson) beating a prosecutor to death, and is escorted by FBI agents onto an airplane to go to Los Angeles to testify. To silence Jones, Kim arranges a time-release crate full of venomous snakes to go onto the cargo hole of the plane, attempting to bring down the flight. When the slithering reptiles are let loose, they instantly go on a killing spree and take down two mile high club members. As the body count quickly piles up, surviving passengers have to wreck their brains to find ways to block the snakes’ advances. When the pilots are killed, it’s up to FBI agent Neville Flynn (Jackson) to improvise and save the day.
Disturbing thought: Snakes on a plane!
Debriefing: Ok, this storyline is a little far-fetched, but it does remind us of a complaint letter we once saw circulating online and stating an incident in which cockroaches roamed the cabin of a flight – and got even more agitated when meal service began. We have never had any similar experiences, so we are sure that the incident, if it turns out to be true, was a one-off. Always wear long sleeves and long trousers when flying if you’re scared.
FLIGHTPLAN
Release date: September 2005
Cast: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard
The story: After her husband’s death from a fall off the roof of the building they live in in Berlin, aircraft engine engineer Kyle Pratt (Foster) decides to take the body back home to Long Island for burial, flying there with her young daughter Julia and on a double-decker plane she herself has helped design. Kyle wakes up after falling asleep to find that her daughter is missing. At first, she thinks Julia might have gone off to play with other kids – it’s a huge plane – but as minutes pass without a trace of her little girl, Kyle begins to panic. She asks the flight crew and fellow passengers for help, but no one remembers her daughter. The passenger manifest also has no record of Julia. Kyle freaks out as everyone thinks she’s delusional, and becomes erratic and angry. Air marshal Gene Carson (Sarsgaard) turns up to restrain her, but appears to be willing to help her. As it turns out Carson is the baddie, and is collaborating with one of the flight attendants onboard to frame Kyle for hi-jacking and scam a ransom.
Disturbing thoughts: A missing child, being called crazy, and baddies on the plane
Debriefing: In the age of jumbos and superjumbos, losing a child for a few minutes on the plane might not be so implausible, but one must be pretty darn special to be ganged up against with such an elaborate scheme.
RED EYE
Release date: August 2005
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Rachel McAdams
The story: Lisa Reisert (McAdams), an acting manager at a hotel in Miami, is taking a red-eye flight back from her grandmother’s funeral. At the airport, she meets charming stranger Jackson Rippner (Murphy) and has a chat with him over drinks. She later finds out that they are seated together on the plane. Rippner becomes creepier by the minute after take-off, and as it turns out, he is a terrorist with a plan to assassinate the US deputy secretary of Homeland Security, who happens to be staying at Reisert’s hotel. Rippner threatens Reisert with arms, as well as knowledge of her father’s whereabouts, to call her hotel from the plane and move the Homeland chief into a designated room where he is to be killed. She manages to escape after landing and rushes back to the hotel in hopes of stopping the assassination.
Disturbing thoughts: Sitting next to a bipolar passenger, making exorbitantly priced calls from the plane and being coerced into killing someone
Debriefing: Again, it’s a rather incredible storyline, but hey, it is a crazy world, too. If you’re paranoid, choose an airline with standalone suites.
FINAL DESTINATION
Release date: March 2000
Cast: Devon Sawa
The story: A high school senior Alex Browning (Sawa) boards a flight in New York with his classmates and teachers for their field trip to France. Before takeoff, he has a vivid premonition dream of the airplane exploding in midair. Alex tries to warn everyone onboard, but ends up being removed, alongside with his best friend, his girlfriend, a teacher and others who believe him. When his warning becomes reality, he’s being questioned by the FBI, but released soon after. Then one after one, those who have escaped the explosion die of strange circumstances, including decapitation and being stabbed by multiple sharp objects at home, seemingly according to their seat numbers on the ill-fated flight. When the fatal sequence goes out of order, Browning and two remaining friends think they have finally cheated death and go to Paris to celebrate – only to be met with more strange happenings.
Disturbing thoughts: Midair explosion, freaked out passengers on the plane, and making it to Paris and still having to die
Debriefing: Only the beginning part of the film is about the aircraft accident, the rest of it is mostly about strange ways people die. After so many deaths, you become numb and fall asleep.
Reggie Ho and Nino Lin
