Blackout

source: Blackout

According to Wikipedia, the writer of this movie invested as an executive producer in his own work. This normally means there was "resistance" about getting it made. Why? Because the story exposes fundamental flaws in America's traffic control systems. As a writer and journalist myself, I have to wonder where he got his information from. Probably a whistleblower. Yes, the movie has its fluffy moments, but the story is technically accurate and the director and cast do a good job portraying a frightening public interest message that must have had the vested interests of Corporate flyers choking on their peanuts. This movie is definitely a must-see. I conclude by noting that, according to this IMDB page, the writer has no further credits after this movie. I leave it to the viewers to judge whether that was a price worth paying to get this message out there. I think it was and kudos to him for doing so.

I like "Charlie" Martin Smith and he hadn't been in much when this movie aired, so I was happy to watch, and even happier that this was a network TV movie, but not one about love interests, and affairs and sexual passions and all of that other junk that most fills most other network TV movies. Instead, "Blackout Effect" is a pretty interesting story about an air traffic controller(Mr. Smith) basically getting his life ruined because people blame him for causing a fatal plane crash. I don't know a thing about air traffic controllers, so I didn't exactly understand a lot of what was going on, but Smith does a nice job at his "troubled" character and co-star Eric Stoltz is very convincing as well. Add that with a smooth directing job from Jeff Bleckner(who's "Concealed Enemies" I quite wish I could have seen) and you get a film that's quite above average for the usual network-TV fair. An achievment.

I watched this one night when it appeared on TV and really enjoyed it. The storyline involves a air traffic controllers screen blanking out for three seconds causing two planes to crash. The authorities try to use the controller as their scapegoat and are prepared to let him take the rap. The crash investigator on the case notices some evidence is not what appears at first glance and decides to dig deeper uncovering some surprising results. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the viewer interested and the storyline raises it above par for a TV movie. The acting is very good and characters like team friends in the air traffic control room dominate a lot of the film. Ending up more like a whodunit/mystery than suspense but the finale is worth waiting for and you will be rooting for poor Henry, the air traffic controller.

This was recently shown on BBC so I had a chance to watch it. An Air Traffic Controler's life is one of the most stressful, as is illustrated in this drama. It has an interesting plot, which (I think) is well played out by the actors. Although Charles Smith's character is a little over the top. All in all it's a pretty good movie.

John Dantley investigates a midair collision between two planes that killed over 130 people. At first it appears human error is to blame, however the controller, Henry Drake, insists that a blackout causes one of the planes to disappear temporally from his screen. Dantley investigates to find a history of equipment failures and complaints has not been recorded and that Drake may be the most likely suspect. However with time things begin to look more complex than he first thought. The story essentially is a condemnation of lack of investment in air-traffic control in contrast with spiralling air traffic. It could have coldly looked at that and been damning in effect, but instead it tries to turn it into a thriller and ruins it's credibility as a serious film. The glitch that caused the plane crash is far to specific to have it represent the whole system of the failure and Drake is far to suspicious (what was he doing on the CCTV? It's never satisfactorily revealed) to be an `everyman' type - in fact Drake is totally misused as the film changes his character to create a `tense' `standoff' finish to the film. Why? Another example of the plot stretching to make it more of a TVM thriller than a serious movie is the way that Dantley's ex-girlfriend was on one of the planes that crashed. This adds nothing to the story and only succeeds in clouding the issue. The main point of the film is valid - that systems are close to breaking point and are not up to the job, but it's lost in a bigger conspiracy, Dantley's personal loss and Drake's unlikely actions at the end. Charles Martin Smith is good right up till the very unlikely last 30 minutes, but Stoltz is mixed. At times he seems OK but some scenes are terrible - the one near the end where he confronts the site manager with a forced emotion and bad dialogue is a good (bad) example. Overall, this has a valid point to make and it makes it well for much of the film. However the makers added too much baggage (a thriller climax, a dead ex etc) to make it work. Some scenes are great but mostly this is a C movie - and only for trying hard.

"Blackout Effect" gets off to a good start and ends confused about it's own purpose. With Stoltz at the center as an NTSB sleuth investigating a midair collision, the film takes the audience into the world of commercial aviation and air traffic control. However, once there, it becomes a mess of conflicts between ATC's and management, the NTSB and the ATC management, the quirky bad guy and everyone, and even a side plot about a relationship between the investigator and a passenger on the doomed flight which serves no purpose. The film loses itself when an agitated ATC threatens to disrupt aviation with a home made ray gun. Yeah, right. An okay watch with sufficient energy to keep the viewer awake, "Blackout Effect" will be most enjoyed by tech-heads and people interested in convoluted dramas, especially about aviation.

A p***ed off air traffic controller builds a system to control planes in flight. Kind of a poor mans Mission Impossible feel to it at the end. Maybe it was dull, but it was shown just 3 days before 9/11 WTC crash. So when I saw the first tower get hit, I thought of this movie, and started thinking of how those planes could have been under remote control. Smith controls the planes with a dish tied into the FAA's computer. It made me think...could this be possible? New commerical jets are all "fly by wire", computer controlled, where take offs and landings are all done by computer. Hack in and take over is what stuck in my mind about this movie.

The idea of the movie is quite good to me: finding a quick responsible for a mid-air collision (in this case, the air traffic controller). However, it was not exploited correctly. The entire movie is full of technical mistakes regarding the aviation and air traffic control domain. This shows that the producers didn't care about their lack of information. Also, the actors do not seem very sincere unfortunately. As to conclude, the entire movie is not worth watching it.

Going into Blackout Effect (Otherwise known as 747) I expected yet another plane related disaster flick. You know the ones, where there is something wrong with a plane and it's down to the crew and those on the ground to guide them home. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's not, it's a perfectly watchable little thriller. It tells the story of an air traffic controller who appears to make a mistake and causes two planes to collide. But the more investigation is done into the matter the more it appears there is more to the story. Starring Eric "I was almost Marty McFly" Stoltz and underrated Charles Martin Smith this thriller managed to get my attention from the get go. Truth be told it does get a tad far fetched by the end but never goes too far. Well written and tense this is well worth anyones time despite not being groundbreaking. The Good: Great idea Decent performances The Bad: Hit and miss in places Things I Learnt From This Movie: Air traffic controller jobs look insanely stressful