''Turbulence'' is a 1997 American

action thriller Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...

film directed by Robert Butler and starring

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primet ...

and

Lauren Holly Lauren Holly (born October 28, 1963) is an American actress. She has played the roles of Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart in the television series ''Picket Fences'', NCIS Director Jenny Shepard in the series '' NCIS'', Dr. Betty Rogers on '' Motiv ...

. It was distributed by

MGM Distribution Co. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

Plot

Ryan Weaver, also known as the Lonely Hearts Strangler, an accused serial killer and rapist, is arrested in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

despite his claims of innocence. Even though police lieutenant Aldo Hines at one point broke protocol during the arrest (which later enraged Weaver), the authorities have enough hard evidence to have Weaver transported to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to face trial. He and another prisoner, a bank robber named Stubbs, are escorted by four

US marshals The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on a

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

-200 on a commercial flight. Even though it is Christmas Eve, the 747 is nearly empty, with only eleven people on board. During the flight, Stubbs breaks free while using the bathroom and begins a shootout with the marshals. A stray bullet fired from one of the marshals' sidearms punches a hole in the fuselage, instantly triggering an explosive decompression before the hole is sealed with a

briefcase A briefcase is a narrow hard-sided box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name. Businesspeople and other white collar pr ...

. Amidst the chaos, the captain is fatally shot and the first officer dies when his head slams into the yoke, disengaging the

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...

in the process. Weaver frees himself and attempts to save the last remaining marshal, but fails when Stubbs shoots the marshal dead, after being shot himself. Weaver appears to be horrified by the ordeal, increasing the passengers' trust in him. With the pilots dead, Teri Halloran, a flight attendant, makes her way into the cockpit and learns she is the only one left capable of keeping the 747 from crashing. To make matters worse, the plane is heading into a storm which threatens severe turbulence. Weaver's behavior becomes increasingly erratic since he is paranoid of being sentenced to death upon landing and occasionally suffers nervous breakdowns. He then locks the passengers in the crew's cabin then attacks and strangles Maggie, one of the other flight attendants, to death. Ryan reveals that he did in fact commit the murders that he's accused of, although he continues to insist that the evidence against him was planted by Hines. He then calls the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

control center at

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

and threatens to crash the 747 into their facility since he is now willing to do anything to avoid being arrested. His motives had become clear to Teri after she speaks, via the aircraft's radio, with Hines. Teri must be instructed by radio from Captain Bowen how to reprogram the autopilot to land at LAX, but her task is complicated by Weaver's obscene and constant interruptions. After the plane barely survives turbulence during the storm, Weaver breaks into the avionics bay and smashes the

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

running the primary autopilot software, rendering the first landing attempt unsuccessful, and forcing a last second

go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for various reasons, such as an unst ...

. It skims a rooftop Japanese restaurant and a multi-story parking garage, but regains the air. The plane's landing gear picks up a

Ford Ranger Ford Ranger is a nameplate that has been used on multiple model lines of pickup trucks sold by Ford worldwide. The nameplate has been used for distinct model lines of vehicles worldwide since 1982 from the compact and mid-size pickup category. ...

pickup, which hinders the next landing at LAX. The backup autopilot has now engaged, and Teri makes efforts to turn the plane around. The LAX airport chief sends an

F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...

to intercept the 747. Teri begs LAX not to have her shot down, insisting she can land the plane. Weaver breaks into the cockpit with an axe and tries to kill her, but the F-14 destroys the truck instead, shaking the 747 and giving Teri a chance to attack. Teri retrieves a .38 revolver that one of the marshals was forced to unload and turn over to the captain upon boarding, and, in the midst of Weaver's assault, manages to load a bullet that fell out of the marshal's pocket. She finally shoots Weaver through the head and kills him. Teri returns to the pilot's seat and with Bowen's radio assistance, safely lands the 747 using the autopilot. Despite Weaver's claims that he killed them all, the other crew and passengers are found alive.

Cast

as Ryan Weaver *

as Teri Halloran *

Catherine Hicks Catherine Mary Hicks (born August 6, 1951) is an American actress. She played the character Annie Camden on the long-running television series '' 7th Heaven''. Other roles included Dr. Faith Coleridge on the soap opera ''Ryan's Hope'' (1976–1 ...

as Maggie *

Héctor Elizondo Héctor Elizondo (born December 22, 1936) is an American character actor. He is known for playing Phillip Watters in the television series ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–2000) and Ed Alzate in the television series '' Last Man Standing'' (2011–2021) ...

as Lieutenant Aldo Hines *

Rachel Ticotin Rachel Ticotin Strauss is an American film and television actress. She has appeared in films such as '' Fort Apache, The Bronx''; '' Total Recall'', '' Falling Down'', and ''Con Air''. She has appeared in the NBC legal drama '' Law & Order: LA'' ...

as Rachel Taper *

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two British Independent Film Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and four times fo ...

as Stubbs *

Ben Cross Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English stage and film actor. He was best known for playing Billy Flynn in the original West End production of the musical ''Chicago'', and his portrayal of the British Ol ...

as Captain Samuel Bowen *

Jeffrey DeMunn Jeffrey DeMunn (born April 25, 1947) is an American stage, film and television actor known for playing Captain Esteridge in '' The Hitcher'' (1986), Sheriff Herb Geller in ''The Blob'' (1988), Andrei Chikatilo in '' Citizen X'' (1995), Harry Terwi ...

as Brooks *

John Finn John Joseph Finn (born September 30, 1952) is an American character actor known as one of the leads of the television programs ''Cold Case'' and ''EZ Streets''. Finn has also had supporting roles in the films '' The Hunted'' (2003), '' Analyze T ...

as FBI Special Agent Frank Sinclair * Heidi Kling as Betty * Gordy Owens as Carl *

Michael Harney Michael John Harney is an American actor of film, television, and theater. He is best known for starring on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' as Corrections Officer Sam Healy. In 2019, he had a recurring role in the Apple TV ...

as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Marty Douglas * Grand Bush as Deputy U.S. Marshal Al Arquette * Richard Hoyt-Miller as Deputy U.S. Marshal Riordan * Michael Francis Kelly as Deputy U.S. Marshal Green *

J. Kenneth Campbell J. Kenneth Campbell (born July 22, 1947) is an American film, stage, and television actor who has been cast in over 80 roles. He was born in Flushing, Queens, Flushing, New York (state), New York. Campbell studied acting under theatrical fight dir ...

as Captain Matt Powell * James MacDonald as 1st Officer Ted Kary *

George Cheung George Kee Cheung is a Hong Kong actor and stuntman with an extensive career in American television and film dating back to 1975, often playing Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian parts. His career has focused primarily on televis ...

as The Party Guest (uncredited)

Production

The spec script was purchased by Rysher Entertainment for $1 million. The film was announced to be in development in May 1995. The film was part of a four picture distribution deal between Rysher and MGM.

Reception

Box office

''Turbulence'' grossed $11 million domestically on a $55 million budget.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

, gave it an approval rating of 17% with three positive and 15 negative out of 18 reviews; the average rating was 3.2 out of 10. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Both Roger Ebert and

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...

rated the film one star out of four, denouncing the implausible storyline as well as the casting of Lauren Holly as an action heroine. G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Examiner called the film "an absolute bore". Lauren Holly's performance in the film earned her a

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

nomination for Worst Actress, though she lost to

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Br ...

for ''

G.I. Jane ''G.I. Jane'' is a 1997 American war drama film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and Anne Bancroft. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo special operations training similar to the ...

''. ''Turbulence'' was also nominated for Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property but lost to ''

Con Air ''Con Air'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a prison break aboard a ...

''. At the

Stinkers Bad Movie Awards The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards (formerly known as the ''Hastings Bad Cinema Society'') was a Los Angeles-based group of film buffs and film critics devoted to honoring the worst films of the year. The society was founded by Mike Lancaster and Ray ...

, Holly was nominated for Worst Actress but lost to Alicia Silverstone for '' Excess Baggage''.

Sequels

Despite its box office failure, the film did well enough on home video to become a trilogy with two new direct-to-video sequels. They are '' Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying'' and '' Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal'', each with a different cast.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turbulence (1997 Film) 1997 films 1997 crime thriller films 1990s disaster films American aviation films American action thriller films American crime thriller films American disaster films 1990s English-language films Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films about murderers Films about aircraft hijackings Films set on airplanes Films shot in California Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Rysher Entertainment films Films scored by Shirley Walker Films directed by Robert Butler Films produced by David Valdes 1990s American films