''Free Fall'' is a 1999 American-Canadian-German

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

Mario Azzopardi Mario Philip Azzopardi (born 19 November 1950) is a Canadian-Maltese television and film director and writer. Early life and emigration Azzopardi was born in Siggiewi, Malta, and was educated at St Aloysius' College ( Birkirkara, Malta), and the ...

, based on a story by Mark Homer, and screenplay by Ken Wheat and Jim Wheat. The film stars Jaclyn Smith, Bruce Boxleitner, Scott Wentworth, Hannes Jaenicke and Hayden Christensen. The film documents an unusual series of crashes that involves sabotaged airliners."Angst über den Wolken" (in German).
''Prisma (prisma-online.de).'' Retrieved: July 18, 2010.

Plot

After Trans Regional Airlines is hit by a series of mysterious aircraft crashes,

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

safety expert Renee Brennan ( Jaclyn Smith) calls for the grounding of the airline's aircraft, despite opposition from the CEO of the airline, Richard Pierce ( Chad Everett). Her plans are thwarted by current boyfriend Mark Ettinger ( Bruce Boxleitner), a

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

inspector who repeatedly countermands her orders. At the latest crash scene, Renee receives a call from a "fan" who appreciates her work and asks if she appreciates his. She then realizes that the crashes are the work of a madman. After Mark is himself killed in a crash, Renee and FBI agent Scott Wallace (Scott Wentworth) track down the saboteur, Michael Ives (Hannes Jaenicke), a former pilot seeking revenge against the airline for labelling a fatal plane crash in Seattle as pilot error and the pilot was his wife, Karen. The pair are themselves caught in a trap the killer set for them at 33,000 feet.

Cast

* Jaclyn Smith as Renee Brennan * Bruce Boxleitner as Mark Ettinger * Scott Wentworth as Scott Wallace * Hannes Jaenicke as Michael Ives * Hayden Christensen as Patrick Brennan * Nigel Bennett as Donald Caldwell * Chad Everett as Richard Pierce * Brett Halsey as Chief of Security Tom Mason * Tanja Reichert as Stewardess Holly Nesbitt *

Robyn Stevan Robyn Stevan is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role in the film '' Bye Bye Blues'', for which she won the Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 11th Genie Awards in 1990.Elizabeth Aird, "Jesus of Montreal in near sweep: ...

as Polly James * Philip Craig as Captain Markham * Rod Wilson as Captain Meyers * Paul Hubbard as Co-Pilot * Anne Ross as Stewardess Janet Reardon * Lori Hallier as Stewardess Kelly Mason * Kate Trotter as Widow * Brett Porter as Hutchings * Maria Syrgiannis as Karen Ives * Kirk Dunn as Flight Controller Dawson * Peter Van Wart as Frank Greene

Production

''Free Fall'' was filmed by Falling Productions Inc on locations in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, at

Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden Horseshoe. Pearson is the ...

’s old Terminal 1 and in

Uxbridge, Ontario Uxbridge is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham in south-central Ontario, Canada. Communities The main centre in the township is the namesake community of Uxbridge. Other settlements within the township include the following: ...

. The use of stock footage of airliners is evident. The crash scenes including the first crash is edited from '' Fearless'' (1993), while scenes from '' Miracle Landing'' (1990) are also used. The primary aircraft flown by "Trans Regional Airlines" is an

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

, although the shots of cockpits and interiors are from other aircraft. Other aircraft that are seen include a Learjet 35,

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

and

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 747 ...

.Ortega. Sergio
"Free Fall (Movie review)."
''airodyssey.net'', August 6, 2005. Retrieved: September 28, 2014. The film was distributed by Fox Family Channel and first released in the US on January 17, 1999, with 1999 releases in Italy as ''Freefall - Panico ad alta quota'' and in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as ''Angst über den Wolken''."Angst über den Wolken" (in German)"
''Zelluloid (zelluloid.de)''. Retrieved: July 17, 2010. The film had its video premiere in Spain in 2000, followed by video releases in France as ''Crashs en série'', Germany as ''Freefall: Todesflug 1301'',"Freefall - Todesflug 1301" (in German).
''New-Video (new-video.de)''. Retrieved: July 17, 2010. Japan, and New Zealand. It had its television premiere in Sweden on February 19, 2007.

Reception

''Free Fall'' was considered a typical "

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

" production, and received decidedly mixed reviews. Film reviewer Hal Erickson simply called the film, "Made for cable."Erickson, Hal
"Free Fall".
''AMG AllMovie Guide''. Retrieved: September 28, 2014. Film reviewer Sergio Ortego said ''Free Fall'' "deserves no more than 3 out of 10." He further commented: "This film was indeed very poorly made ... a complete flop, with ridiculous special effects, bad acting, terrible one-liner dialogs, and nearly impossible plotlines, or shall I say, plotholes."

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Oster, Clinton V., C. Kurt Zorn and John S. Strong. ''Why Airplanes Crash: Aviation Safety in a Changing World''. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1995. .

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, freefall_2012 1999 films 1999 action films American action films American aviation films Canadian action films Canadian aviation films English-language Canadian films English-language German films Films directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s Canadian films English-language action films