Showing posts with label mark hamill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mark hamill. Show all posts
23 July 2012
Airbourne DVD Review
★★★★☆
Brit director, Dominic Burns' (How To Stop Being A Loser) latest feature, Airborne is not going to revolutionise the horror genre, but it does prove to be a nice slice of well executed, direct to DVD fun.
As a snow storm rapidly approaches the UK and airports begin to close, one last flight takes off from an East Midlands airport. On board are an eclectic bunch of characters from tough guy gangsters, disgruntled army men and a mysterious antiques dealer (Julian Glover) with an extremely expensive, ancient Chinese vase. As hell slowly starts to break loose at 30,000 feet, the air control team (lead by none other than Mark Hamill) are left to work out what is happening.
Airborne completely lives up to its billing as a Twilight Zone style thriller, boasting an unpredictable narrative that continually flips viewers assumptions. Burns' plays with genre - Airborne beginning as what feels like a terrorist focussed horror, that slowly turns into a serial killer flick with elements of mythical horror. While it may not be the sort of horror that will keep you awake at night, Burns has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek and embraces the B-Movie nature of the subject matter.
For a straight to DVD release, Airborne also features strong production values alongside convincing performances. Burns' film is well crafted, boasting parallels to the likes of Tom Holland's The Langoliers and Richard Donner's Twilight Zone episode, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. The young director executes a stirring sense of mystery and tension throughout the claustrophobic airborne settings.
Perhaps even more exciting than the sky high antics are the scenes in the British control centre. Here aviation chiefs and military argue about the possible high-jacking and Airborne becomes chock-full of conspiracy-filled twists and turn. It is a particular joy to see Mark Hamill back on-screen, with the iconic star bringing a welcome sense of credibility and gravitas to the somewhat far-fetched plot proceedings.
As well as Hamill, Airborne boasts a strong cast of British character actors from Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade's Julian Glover and also none other than Billy Murray (who it seems is bound by contract to appear in every direct-to-video Brit flick). It is highly entertaining to see these much-loved stars appear in fun, home-produced horror.
Whilst Airborne is unlikely to unsettle, it is otherwise a tense, unpredictable and thoroughly likeable horror. With Burns' tongue-in-cheek style and exciting performances from Mark Hamill, Julian Glover and Billy Murray - Airborne is an extremely worthwhile watch.
Andrew McArthur
Stars: Mark Hamill, Julian Glover, Gemma Atkinson, Billy Murray
Director: Dominic Burns
Certificate: 15 (UK)
Release: 30th July 2012 (UK DVD)
Pre-Order/Buy:Airborne On DVD
Airborne (2012) -Official Trailer [HD] Published via LongTail.tv
21 June 2012
Mark Hamill Going AIRBOURNE This July
Hell quite literally breaks loose at 30,000 feet as passengers on board a Trans-Atlantic bound for New York come face-to-face with an ancient evil. But wait we have a Jedi Master on hand so will the terrified passengers be rescued only one way to find out is to watch Mark Hamill's first stint in front of the camera in many years in Brittish chiller AIRBOURNE.
As a severe storm front rapidly closes in on the UK, all flights out of East Midlands airport are cancelled – all save Atlantic Sky Airways Flight 686, bound for New York. Shortly after take-off, several passengers become concerned when one of their number inexplicably goes missing. Their anxieties are further increased when it becomes apparent that the flight has veered off course and it is revealed that the plane is carrying an interesting item of cargo: a rare and extremely valuable ancient Chinese vase. The assumption is that terrorists are responsible, but nobody on board is showing their hand – for now. With tensions rising amongst the passengers and crew, violence soon breaks out, forcing those behind the deadly plot to expose their identities.
Meanwhile, on the ground, concerned aviation chiefs and the military have together authorised the launch of fighter jets to deal with what they believe could be a deadly hijack situation. But hijacking is soon proved to be the least of anybody’s worries when the owner of the vase recounts a myth surrounding its ancient origins.
In the fine tradition of other high-altitude thrillers such as“Executive Decision”, “Snakes On A Plane”, “Passenger 57”, “Red Eye” and “Con Air” and the winner of the British Lion Award at the 2012 British Independent Film Festival, Airborne is a Twilight Zone-esque thriller with a hint of the supernatural and some amazing production values that, for us, places it leagues ahead of what we’ve come to expect from the usual “gangster flick-centric” British indie genre movies. To top it off, it also features a welcome return to the screen for Mark Hamill who in recent years has almost been reclusive while establishing himself as one of the most in-demand voiceover artists in the business.
21 August 2011
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