Crash Landing (1999 film)

Crash Landing (simplified Chinese: 紧急迫降; traditional Chinese: 緊急迫降; pinyin: Jǐnjí pòjiàng; lit. 'emergency forced landing') is a 1999 Chinese thriller film directed by Zhang Jianya.

Crash Landing
Directed byZhang Jianya
Written byHao Jian
Produced byZhu Yongde
Li Dianliang
StarringShao Bing
Xu Fan
You Yong
CinematographyYang Tao
Edited bySun Huimin
Music byPan Guoxing
Production
company
Release date
  • 1999 (1999)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryChina
LanguagesMandarin
English

A Shanghai Film Studio production, Crash Landing follows the contours of many airplane disaster films, such as the Airport series, and stars Shao Bing, Xu Fan, and You Yong.

Plot

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Crash Landing follows the tense hours on board a stricken passenger aircraft that was on a routine flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Shortly after taking off, the pilot (Shao Bing) discovers that the plane's landing gear is unable to be retracted. Unable to continue, but unable to land, he and his flight attendant wife (Xu Fan), are forced to circle Shanghai.

Meanwhile, on the ground, a troubleshooter (You Yong) is called to see if he can get the aircraft safely back on the ground.

Inspiration

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The aircraft in question, registered as B-2173.

The film is inspired by the first emergency landing in China. On September 10, 1998, China Eastern Flight 586, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-11, flying from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport, suffered a nose gear failure after take-off. The aircraft landed back in Shanghai with the nose gear up on a foamed runway.

Reception

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Due to the film's scale and budget, Crash Landing was seen upon its release as a prime example of the growing sophistication of China's mainstream film industry,[1] with one western media review calling it "one giant leap for Chinese cinema."[2]

References

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  1. ^ Elley, Derek (2000-10-02). "Crash Landing Review". Variety. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  2. ^ Short, Stephen (2001-10-29). "Have Kitsch, Will Travel". Time. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
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