SYNOPSIS:
From
the acclaimed director of "Waterboys" and "Swing
Girls" comes an all-new adventure comedy Happy Flight!
The cabin attendant Etsuko Saito is nervous about her first
international flight and tries hard not to mess up. On the
same plane, co-pilot Kazuhiro is due for promotion. But before
he can get his captain's wing, he has to get through a flight
evaluation with the tough-as-nails captain and things are
not exactly going his way. An unexpected crisis puts the flight
in danger as the captain discovers a hurricane is brewing
just off the coast... Can they safely land before the storm
hits the airport? Watch as the entire crew bustles back and
forth with various problems and gripes- all to make this ordinary
yet fateful flight a safe and happy one!
MOVIE REVIEW:
Have
you ever wondered how much time and manpower it required to
ensure the smooth-operation of a single flight prior to its
take-off from the tarmac? Perhaps after watching the delightful
"Happy Flight", you will have a better idea of it.
Directed
and written by Shinobu Yaguchi who gives you "Waterboy"
and "Swing Girls", "Happy Flight" tells
a sweet tale of the various land and air crew who are responsible
for the charted flight 1980 to Honolulu. Flight stewardess
Etsuko Saito is serving her maiden international flight and
with a stern supervisor on board, it doesn’t help the
nervous Saito much. Co-pilot Kazuhiro Suzuki under the evaluation
of the tough Captain Harada on the other hand is undergoing
his final test before he earns his stripes as a Captain. Adding
to Saito and Suzuki is a group of ground crew including airplane
technicians, meteorologists, counter staff and aviation experts
with each and everyone has their own story to tell.
Unlike
other ensemble movie, Yaguchi never lets the wide array of
characters get lost in the 103 minutes duration. Thanks to
his ample research, we get to see the 'ugly'side of being
a glamourous stewardess, the stress a pilot has to bear during
an emergency and the intensive hunt require by the technicians
if a single piece of tool is lost in the hangar among many
other facts in the aviation industry as revealed by the movie.
Technically,
Yaguchi even tries to awe you with words like 'pitot tube'
and how the measurement of airspeed serves as an important
data to the pilots. There is even a side gag that involves
the importance of aviation geeks and photography enthusiast.
Strictly
speaking, I wouldn’t blame you if you conclude this
is a just a huge PR stunt in promoting ANA (All Nippon Airways
provided much assistance to the filming of this movie). Then
again, Yaguchi is such an old hand in crafting likeable characters
and believable scenarios that all is forgiven once Frank Sinatra
sing his "Come Fly With Me" accompanying the closing
credits.
For
a jovial and educational time, please feel free to get onboard
"Happy Flight".
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Comes with a disposable Photo Gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
"Happy
Flight" flies in with Dolby Digital 2.0 which reproduces
the bulk of dialogue and occasional ambient effects clearly.
Visual is bright and natural in this DVD transfer.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Posted on 24 May 2010
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