A Masterpiece!

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

These disaster movies almost always start the same way. People involved in the coming catastrophe are just getting out of bed and ready for the day. In this case it's the airline pilot, bulky Ernest Borgnine (R.I.P.) and his pretty wife, Carol Rossen, tumbling around in bed with their children. Usually, the characters are cheerful and in love, as this unlikely couple are. Except that Rossen has a strange feeling -- "Don't go out today." That's typical too, but usually occurs later than the first two minutes. However, this made-for-TV production is anxious to get to the calamity and its hallucinatory aftermath, so we have to rush a little bit through Borgnine's shower and shave. Nice to see Kim Basinger in an early role. She was my supporting player in the poetic masterpiece, "No Mercy." Flight 401 leaves New York for Miami but in approaching the airport they notice a light on the panel indicating that the nose wheel is not down. A frequent cause is that the light bulb or its contact is defective, more of an irritation than a cause for alarm. The captain puts the plane on autopilot and bends over to help the engineer extract the noisome bulb. He sends co-pilot Borgnine down into the electronic bay to try to visualize the nose wheel. Meanwhile the airplane is descending from its assigned 2,000 feet over the Everglades, ineluctably, until it flies at cruising speed directly into the swamp and crashes.The film doesn't make clear how the accident happened, being more interested, I suppose, in the human drama. What happened is that the autopilot, once set, keeps the airplane at a steady altitude and direction. But the controls are sensitive to touch, in case the pilot has to yank them quickly, and the autopilot is instantly and automatically disengaged. Someone fiddling with the light or on his way to the electronic bay brushed against the controls and disengaged the autopilot, so the airplane began a slow descent. As the altitude decreased to dangerous levels, a signal -- chimes -- was sounded but no one heard it because they were busy elsewhere. It was a juxtaposition of unfortunate events.The dialog is predictable. Borgnine is lying in a hospital bed, dying, his wife and a priest at his side, and he gasps out his last words: "I love you." The writer responsible for this garbage is Robert M. Young. But every once in a while, when no one is looking, he unbuttons and slips in a droll line or two. "Money can't buy everything -- it can't buy poverty." And, "So now you're the perfect company man?" "Well, nobody is perfect." And, "Jordy, that's like saying, 'Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?'" The irregular appearance of Borgnine's ghost on later flights turns frightening. At first he's glimpsed sitting silently in a passenger seat, then he begins to issue warnings and proclamations. Finally, it becomes irritating enough that a séance of the principal participants lays the ghost.Was the apparition "real"? The first college classroom I ever entered was at San Mateo Community College at Coyote Point, just south of San Francisco International. The class was in introductory psychology and the instructor, Dorothy Miller, gave us a brief questionnaire. One of the questions was, "Do you believe in ghosts?" My answer was, "No." It was the wrong answer. The correct answer was, "Undecided." I learned a lot from that one question: namely, to keep an open mind. That said, it has to be added that sometimes the imagination hijacks our perception. My forthcoming volume -- "Beware The Naked Boogeyman" -- explains it all.

I remember seeing this movie as a teenager and I was riveted. It's based on a true story, and Ernest Borgnine plays Dom Cimoli, the flight engineer who, in the movie, went into the cargo hold to inspect the landing gear and put it down by hand if needed. The best part was the odd appearances of his ghost in other planes, which the other characters find out have parts salvaged from flight 401. Even his wife, we eventually learn, feels his presence in the bed beside her at night. It's as if he's making sure he keeps taking care of his family and continues his devotion to the airline he loved. As usual, a typically good Borgnine plays even a ghost and makes you like him.

I give "The Ghost Of Flight 401" (Based on the book by John Fuller) a 10-star rating based on hearing these stories first-hand. Having been a Flight Attendant with Eastern Air Lines for well over seven years (1980 to early 1988), I can state with confidence that this Emmy Nominated, Made-For-TV Movie (1978) gives an accurate portrayal of these fateful events -- not to mention those who experienced the situation first-hand.The sets are excellent. I liked working on the L-1011 for the lower-galley, which is accurately portrayed (set-wise) in the film. The aircraft cabin is equally impressive. Everything for which an experienced crew member can find fault in the usual "airplane" movie is covered here with accuracy and attention to detail. Other sets include the homes of employees, not to mention the offices of our once-beloved Eastern Air Lines. Although not a carbon copy of our Corporate Offices, the sets provide a believable backdrop to both story line and characters alike.As for Character Depth, the actors portray those involved with a genuine sense of suspense, worry and concern for what is happening to them. This is refreshing, seeing as another TV Movie based on these events proved to be nothing short of a prime time Soap Opera. In "The Ghost Of Flight 401," you feel what the characters feel. It is a realistic portrayal of the fear and fascination these people experienced in dealing with said events.No spoilers here...you have to see this one for yourself. Very well done from the aspect of one who flew with and heard stories from those who experienced these events first-hand. Fantastic as the events may seem, it was real to the actual people involved. Well produced, the film takes you along for the ride. One thing is for sure: "The Ghost Of Flight 401" will definitely have you on the edge of your seat. Much like the book -- a real page-turner -- you can't help but wonder what will happen next.Great entertainment all the way around the board.

The true story of an Eastern Airlines L-1011 which crashed in the Everglades while making a long approach on Miami International Airport. It is surmised the pilot while distracted because of nose gear warning, inadvertently disengaged the auto pilot resulting in the plane crashing. Sightings of the dead crew were reported over the next several years by several dozen Eastern employees, who had known them. A true mystery of the supernatural. A film well worth watching.