Plane [Blu-Ray]

Director: Jean-François Richet

Cast: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An

Release Date: March 28, 2023

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

In the white-knuckle action movie Plane, pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island – only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels, the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), an accused murderer who was being transported by the FBI. In order to rescue the passengers, Torrance will need Gaspare’s help, and will learn there’s more to Gaspare than meets the eye.

Please Note: Lionsgate Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘Plane’ joins pilot Brodie Torrance (Butler) along with his crew and passengers on what should be a fairly simple flight that goes horribly wrong when a lightning strike during a storm shuts down the power to the plane and forces Brodie to land in a remote, unfamiliar region. Believing that their biggest concern is being rescued in this unknown area after safely landing the plane, they soon discover that couldn’t be farther from the truth when a group of rebels that control the area take the passengers hostage. Now Brodie must hesitantly join forces with an accused murderer named Louis Gaspare (Colter) who was being transported on the plane by FBI as the two undertake a desperate attempt to save the passengers.

Directed by Jean-François Richet (Blood Father, Assault on Precinct 13 2005) from a screenplay by first time screenwriter Charles Cumming and J.P. Davis (The Contractor) and a story by Cumming, Richet does a great job at the helm of ‘Plane’ guiding along the thrilling, fast-paced fun and excitement with apparent ease. The film’s cast includes Gerard Butler (Copshop), Mike Colter (TV’s Luke Cage), Yoson An (Mulan 2020), Daniella Pineda (Jurassic World Dominion), Paul Ben-Victor (Emancipation), Tony Goldwyn (TV’s Scandal) and more, with the majority each providing capable and fitting performances for the most part in their respective roles.

‘Plane’ is a fun, tense and exciting action adventure that’s also a far better film than you might initially expect. As opposed to immediately diving into the action and chaos, it wisely takes its time to introduce you to the collection of characters within and actually establish them by offering some depth and story to at least our key leads which only helps to keep us more on the edge of our seat as things start to get chaotic due to the fact that we actually care about these individuals and where they might end up. Everything about the film looks quite spectacular for the most part as well, with the plane crash and turbulence looking anything but cheap and tacky and the more violent moments occurring later on looking sharp, stylish and up there with many notable action films in recent memory. It only further benefits from the capable guidance of director Jean-François Richet and a solid cast led by Gerard Butler and Mike Colter to adequately back it up and keep things from ever slipping or becoming even slightly dull or uninteresting throughout its duration. Each element and individual does their part to help form ‘Plane’ into a surprisingly well-crafted action-thriller that’s definitely well worth giving a shot.

Overall, ‘Plane’ is a smart, swiftly paced and thrilling ride that delivers all of the action-packed excitement that action junkies and fans might hope for, while also taking its time to give its characters some depth and humanity which only helps tremendously to allow viewers to actually care about what happens to them once things start getting increasingly more hectic. ‘Plane’ is definitely recommended, especially for anyone that enjoys a solid action film or suspense thriller that actually takes its time to do things right and offers a rewarding experience that’s as good as it is exciting and never loses its way throughout its course. This one should easily prove well worth your time and the cost of a rental if you’re already even somewhat interested in it but haven’t yet had the opportunity or were somewhat hesitant to give it a chance.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Plane’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks great as a whole and provides a smooth, clean and richly detailed presentation from start to finish that’s never plagued by any unexpected faults or problems arising along the way. It keeps everything within looking sharp and quite stellar from character specifics and clothing down to the jungle-like surroundings; holding up well even during the various darkly lit and fast moving sequences occurring throughout. Overall, this is a very nice High Definition video presentation that shouldn’t have any trouble pleasing fans of the film or first time viewers.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack makes a splendid complement to the onscreen tension and excitement and delivers a crisp, clean and frequently hard hitting audio presentation throughout. It repeatedly takes full advantage of all seven available channels in order to send music, gunshots, turbulence and other action related effects, along with bits of crowd chatter and nature content throughout the various speakers whenever appropriate and never resulting in any dialogue or other audio elements that might also be occurring becoming distorted or negatively affected. Overall, this is a wonderful Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that does its job well and should effortlessly satisfy fans and casual viewers alike.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Plane’ includes a few enjoyable extras in the way of Behind the Scenes Featurettes that explore the process of bringing the film to life, featuring interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are ‘This is Your Captain’ (running approximately 14 minutes in length), ‘Plane Clothes’ (running approximately 7 minutes) and ‘Brace for Turbulence’ (approximately 19 minutes). The film’s ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (approximately 2 minutes) is also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

–

Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

–

‘Plane’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Lionsgate Home Entertainment

–

*Screen-Connections.com is an Amazon Associate that earns from qualifying purchases