Review: Robert Aldrich's 'The Flight Of The Phoenix' is Epic Filmmaking

Filmmaker Robert Aldrich, a rocksteady studio producer-director like no other, has been coming up time and again lately in critical conversations of his work. It's been a delight to see so many people rediscover, or discover for the first time, the filmmaker's brilliance, especially with classics like "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" sticking out like a proud sore thumb in Aldrich's oeuvre. But to this writer, Aldrich's prowess was and is frequently defined by his work with ensembles. Not only that, he had the unmistakable talent of injecting weirdness into every story.

The Criterion Collection presents Robert Aldrich's 1965 epic "The Flight of the Phoenix" on Blu-ray for the first time ever in the US. This new edition boasts a 2K restoration created from the original 35mm negative, plus a couple of spare special features that I'm sure Aldrich fans will enjoy. There's a terrific conversation between filmmaker Walter Hill and film scholar Alain Silver about the film that cracks right into why Aldrich was the perfect person to make the film.

As for the presentation itself, I'll agree that this looks wildly different than the 2016 Blu-ray from Masters of Cinema in the UK. Where the MoC disc had a strong golden-yellow look, the Criterion Blu-ray offers a cooler and more natural color palette that I think works better for the film. In addition, the Criterion Blu-ray seems to be slightly cropped when compared to the MoC disc. That's something to consider when purchasing the film, but I can still say with the utmost certainty that the Criterion presentation looks remarkably pleasing in motion. The contrast isn't too strong, keeping all the sand-swept sets from looking too sharp. This is an overall great presentation with those caveats in mind.

"The Flight of the Phoenix" follows pilot Frank Towns (James Stewart) and a band of unshaven character actors as their plane crashes in the Sahara desert and they must all work together to get help. Along for the ride are Richard Attenborough, Ernest Borgnine, Peter Finch, George Kennedy and Dan Duryea.

There's a certain workmanlike quality to "The Flight of the Phoenix," and many other of Aldrich's films, that make them rise above the crop. To Aldrich, communication between the characters is everything – especially in this film, where communication is often received wrong or is misinterpreted. As much as the high-flying action elevates the film, it's all a result of the work of the ensemble. And boy howdy, what an ensemble it is.

If you're a fan at all of survival or disaster epics, you owe it to yourself to pick up "The Flight of the Phoenix" from the Criterion Collection. Aside from the relatively spare list of special features and the caveats about the presentation, this is another great release from Criterion.

Other special features include:

� Trailer
� New interview with biographer Donald Dewey on actor James Stewart
� Booklet essay by filmmaker and critic Gina Telaroli

"The Flight of the Phoenix" is now available on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.