Skyjacked (film)
| Skyjacked | |
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 1972 poster |
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| Directed by | John Guillermin |
| Produced by | Walter Seltzer |
| Written by | Stanley R. Greenberg |
| Based on | Hijacked by David Harper |
| Starring | Charlton Heston Yvette Mimieux James Brolin Claude Akins Jeanne Crain Walter Pidgeon Leslie Uggams Mariette Hartley Nicholas Hammond Roosevelt Grier Susan Dey John Fiedler |
| Music by | Perry Botkin, Jr. |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling, Jr. |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | May 24, 1972 |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.7 million |
Skyjacked is a 1972 disaster film starring Charlton Heston, James Brolin, and Yvette Mimieux. The film is based on the David Harper novel Hijacked.
[edit] Plot
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This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (November 2011) |
Global Airways Flight 502—using a Boeing 707—takes off as a routine flight from Oakland, California, to Minneapolis/St.Paul, Minnesota, with Captain Henry O'Hara (Charlton Heston) and his flight crew at the controls. In the middle of the flight, Captain O'Hara becomes aware of a bomb threat when he goes into the women's bathroom (on the advice of a stewardess) and sees "Bomb on plane divert to Anchorage Alaska. No Joke, No Tricks. Death." He interprets this to mean that he has to divert his course immediately to Anchorage, Alaska, or otherwise the bomb will explode on board. O'Hara changes course immediately to Anchorage and manages to carry out a perfect landing there, despite terrible weather and other circumstances.
A disillusioned soldier, Sgt. Jerome K. Weber (James Brolin), a Vietnam veteran driven into insanity by his war trauma, is responsible for hijacking the plane, and threatens to blow it up with a bomb. In Anchorage, the majority of economy class passengers escape via an emergency slide. The remaining passengers are allowed to leave including the three coach class stewardesses, Jane, Lovejoy and Hazel. Weber then keeps all first class passengers as hostages, amongst them United States Senator Arne Lindner (Walter Pidgeon), and Senior Stewardess Angela Thatcher (Yvette Mimieux) and insists to be flown to Moscow, as he intends to defect to the Soviet Union.
Although the airline doesn't receive clearance to fly into Soviet airspace, Weber insists to be flown straight ahead to Moscow, threatening the pilots with death if they do not comply. Upon entering Soviet airspace, Soviet military aircraft appear to intercept the 707. Finally, O'Hara lowers the landing gear and flaps to a full landing configuration to make the Soviet interceptors aware that this is a US civilian aircraft and not a military intruder, as the Soviet authorities had thought and had ordered the plane to be shot down. O'Hara's actions result in the Soviet aircraft realizing that they have been confronted with a hijacked US civilian airplane.
The Soviet military aircraft escort the 707 to their nearest airport, Moscow Airport. There, all passengers are finally released. It becomes clear that O'Hara (Charlton Heston) and Senior Stewardess Thatcher have been in love for some time but O'Hara separated from Thatcher in order to save his marriage. Thatcher is now in love with first officer Sam.
After landing, O'Hara and Weber are the only persons to remain on board of the 707. Weber eventually realizes that he is unable to achieve the confidence of the Soviet authorities and his attempt to seize the 707 was futile. When O'Hara finally tries to kick him out of his 707, Weber shoots him. Both men stagger down the gangway, where finally Weber is shot and killed by Soviet forces. O'Hare survives, just wounded in his shoulders, and he is looking up into the sky, with a great smile of relief, when he sees a plane just after takeoff.
A World Airways 707 was used as the Global 707.
[edit] External links
- Skyjacked at the Internet Movie Database
- Skyjacked at AllRovi
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