Boring

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is the story on how France in 1994 was able to avoid their "9-11" tragedy. Unfortunately the lessons learned from this incident didn't prevent our 9-11 as some critics have claimed it should have done. This story is told from 3 points of view. One is from the action on the plane itself in the runway in Algeria. The second is told from the story of Thierry (Vincent Elbaz) the French GIG (SWAT team) leader. The third and most important is the story of Carole (Mélanie Bernier) an assistant in the foreign minister's office. She was the one who realized this was really a suicide mission and there was no negotiating with the GIA terrorist group. She oversteps her authority and steps on a few toes in order to prevent a take off. I believe her role was a bit of a dramatization, but it made the film watchable as we end up with a woman, who is given no credit, saving Paris from burning.The story was good paced drama-thriller. The voice overs were no better than 1960 Italian film voice overs and has been an on going problem for every French film I have seen in the past few year. I know there are people who can do better voice overs.Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity.

This French film is notable for mixing its action-thriller narrative around an actual true event. In 1994 an Islamist terrorist group called the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) hijacked a plane travelling from Algeria to Paris, it had to land in Marseilles to refuel and it was here that the French special forces - the GIGN – executed an assault. It is later learned that the objective of the terrorists was to fly the aeroplane into the Eiffel Tower, so the parallels to the later world changing September 11th attacks on the USA are unmistakable. This feels almost a dry run that was thwarted.The story is presented from three different perspectives – from the point-of-view of the terrorists, through the eyes of a special forces man and via the experiences of a Ministry of the Interior employee. In this way this docudrama gives a wide overview of the events that happened over those dramatic two days. Having said that, the characterisations are fairly minimal and the approach taken is pretty lean overall, with little included which isn't absolutely necessary. An exception to this is probably the inclusion of the material about the wife and young daughter of the special forces guy; I guess this was intended to humanise him and give the whole story a domestic perspective which more people could directly empathise with.Stylistically, this one has been presented visually in quite an unusual way. Almost all colour has been drained from the screen, with the exception of a few instances, meaning that this is in effect in black and white with a few moments of washed out colour. It is a look which gives off a very downbeat feel to proceedings. Later on real TV footage of the news coverage is spliced into the flow in a seamless manner, this works well in adding to the authenticity. It could perhaps be said that too little emphasis is ultimately given to the assault itself, with an almost slightly rushed feel to the final proceedings. But all-in-all this is a very good thriller based around a true story which has been overshadowed by events that have occurred since, so it is pertinent that this film is out there reminding us of the near miss of a disaster of massive proportions which was averted mainly by the bravery and the actions of the French special forces.

I was fascinated and totally on the edge of my seat for this one. Despite flaws in the production and irrelevant scenes involving one of the GIGN member's wife and little daughter, included obviously for the sake of emotional pull, this film is an accurate reenactment of the Air France hijacking of 1994 and subsequent raid to free the hostages. This film is a stark reminder why we have to endure airport security and how crazy these Muslim religious fanatics are. The movie had a made-for-TV quality and could have done with higher production values; perhaps the budget was limited. The version I saw had dubbed voices which made the acting seem worse than it really was. I think it would be a lot better in French with subtitles. A lot of the technical details of the planning of the raid were just not explained, no doubt the film makers were more interested in dramatic effect. But the fact that it was an accurate reenactment of real events made these flaws appear minor and the events more gripping. At one point the French Government tries to appease the Terrorists by giving them a large sum of money without any hint or assurance that the hostages would be released. I said to myself, "Did that really happen? I mean, could they be that dumb?" Those leery of French politics will just have to groan and say "Not again!" But then at the time they didn't have the lessons of 9/11 to inform them.All in all I was immersed in this film and was quite willing to overlook its minor flaws in light of the important lessons it teaches. Historical accuracy counts for a lot in this kind of drama.

First, I was afraid before seeing this film. I was afraid of an American way of filming and showing the characters. See the topic: Four muslims fanatics take an airplane as hostage on a big airport. I was afraid of the clichés such as good policemen vs bad, nasty Arabs, terrorists. And I was damn wrong. What a good surprise. While watching it, I thought of Paul Greengrass' masterpiece: UNITED 93, where the terrorists and their opponents are very well described, in a way where you can make your own opinion. No useless pyrotechnics here, no over explosions, nor over talking. Just the real, authentic, genuine needed action packed sequences, breathtaking ones, I can assure you. All characters, on both sides, are convincing in this story based on actual facts.The young film maker, Julien Leclercq, is very promising.