''Ground Control'' (''Jet'') is a 1998 American

disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by Richard Howard and starring

Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox drama series ''24 (TV series), 24'' (2001–2010, 20 ...

Bruce McGill Bruce Travis McGill (born July 11, 1950) is an American actor. He worked with director Michael Mann in the films '' The Insider'' (1999), '' Ali'' (2001), and '' Collateral'' (2004). McGill's other notable film roles include Daniel Simpson "D-D ...

Kristy Swanson Kristy Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and appeared in the 1996 film ''The Phantom''. Her first starring role was in ...

, and

Robert Sean Leonard Robert Lawrence Leonard (born February 28, 1969), known professionally as Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Neil Perry in the drama film ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989) and Dr. James Wilson in the med ...

. The film also features a cameo by former

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Steve Sax Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960) is a retired American Major League Baseball player and coach. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1994, celebrated as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he won ...

in the role of an airline

co-pilot In aviation, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is a pilot in addition to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of the aircraft. Requirement Hi ...

Plot

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

Jack Harris (

) was cleared of liability for an ill-fated flight under his authority which resulted in the loss of Transair flight 290, a Lockheed L-1011 with all 174 souls aboard. He subsequently left the job and went on to design air control software, until five years later when T.C. Bryant (

), his ex-colleague who had since transferred to Phoenix, pleads for help on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

, due to a critical staff shortage and with torrential weather predicted. Jack's return to the control room is met with both warmth and disdain, particularly when he experiences flashbacks of the crash. The atmosphere rapidly becomes much more serious as the storm approaches and, with the control tower suffering power cuts, the team is forced into manually directing busy air traffic through severe turbulence.

Cast

as Jack Harris *

as T.C. Bryant *

as Julie Albrecht *

as Cruise *

Kelly McGillis Kelly Ann McGillis (born July 9, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her film roles such as Rachel Lapp in ''Witness'' (1985), for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations; Charlie in ''Top Gun'' (1986); ''Made in Heaven' ...

as Susan Stratton *

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and musician. In her Stand-up comedy, stand-up routines she critiques social and political problems, especially about race and sexuality. She starred in the Ame ...

as Amanda *

Charles Fleischer Charles Fleischer (born August 27, 1950) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, musician, and writer, best known for his recurring role as Carvelli in '' Welcome Back, Kotter'', and for appearing in films such as ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', ...

as Randy *

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, producer, director, and author. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), Winkler has distinguished himself as a character acto ...

as John Quinn *

Farrah Forke Farrah Rachael Forke (January 12, 1968 – February 25, 2022) was an American actress best known for her roles as Alex Lambert on the NBC sitcom '' Wings'' and Mayson Drake on '' Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. She also voice ...

as Laura Franklin * Michael Gross as Murray *

Jack Plotnick Jack Plotnick is an American film and television actor, writer, and producer. Career Plotnick is possibly best known for his role as Edmund Kay in the 1998 period drama '' Gods and Monsters'', which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Scr ...

as Curtis *

Brian George Brian George (born 27 July 1952) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Pakistani restaurateur Babu Bhatt in ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), the Indian gynecologist father of Raj Koothrappali in ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), th ...

as Shamaal *

John Bennett Perry John Bennett Perry (born January 4, 1941) is an American retired actor, singer, and model. He is the father of the late actor Matthew Perry. Early life Perry was born on January 4, 1941, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, the son of businessman, ...

as Senator Rutherford *

Eleanor Mondale Eleanor Jane Mondale Poling (January 19, 1960 – September 17, 2011) was an American radio personality, television host, actress, and political activist. Biography Mondale was the only daughter of Joan Mondale and former Vice President W ...

as Christine *

Alex Wexo Alex Wexo is an American movie and television actor and producer. He is sometimes credited as Al Wexo. He is the founder of WexoFilms. Life and career At age five he and his family moved to London, England, where he was raised. After graduatin ...

as Flight 393 Pilot * John Nielsen as "pissed off" pilot * Drew Snyder as David, Pilot, Flight 47 *

as Co-pilot, Flight 47 * Ruben Paul as Sam * Vito D'Ambrosio as weather analyst

Production

The primary cast of

and

was announced in late 1997. Filming had begun at

LAX A lax is a salmon. LAX as an acronym most commonly refers to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California, United States. LAX or Lax may also refer to: Places Within Los Angeles * Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles' main tr ...

, but after shooting permits were rescinded, producer Talaat Captan finished the film using locations at

Ontario International Airport Ontario International Airport is an international airport east of downtown Ontario, California, Ontario, in San Bernardino County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino. It is ow ...

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Release

''Ground Control'' had its theatrical premiere on August 26, 1998 in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

as ''Rischio d'impatto'', followed by video releases in 1999 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as ''Jet'' and in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

as ''Lennonjohto'', and in 2000 as ''Kollisionskurs - Panik im Tower'' 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 ...

and ''Ground Control'' in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It had its

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

television premiere as ''Ground Control'' in December 2003 on PAX, and in the United States in December 2005.

Critical response

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin () is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

compared ''Ground Control'' unfavorably to a similar film, ''

Pushing Tin ''Pushing Tin'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Newell. It centers on Nick Falzone ( John Cusack), a cocky air traffic controller who quarrels over proving "who's more of a man" with fellow employee Russell Bell (Billy ...

'', calling it "easily the second-best film about air-traffic controllers to be released over the past few months", but added that the film was a "competent, unremarkable disaster movie." He noted that the film's characters were "one-dimensional" and that the dialogue was bland and the plot predictable, but that the film was "nevertheless effective". ''The Movie Scene'' made reference to

's role in the television series '' 24'', writing that "even

Jack Bauer Jack Bauer is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Fox television series '' 24''. Throughout the majority of the series' running, Bauer serves as a key member of the fictional CTU and other institutions. Bauer's job usually involv ...

couldn't rescue this". They noted that the film suffered from a tight budget, with limited locations and scenery that were "unbelievably fake", and that the film's use of quick cut-aways made the storyline seem disjointed. They suggested, however, that once viewers got past those deficits, the use of poor sets was "actually quite amusing" and added to the film's "quirky charm". The reviewer was surprised that the "quite impressive names" that made up the cast list were relegated mostly to minor roles and that the film spent "all its time focusing on Kiefer Sutherland". The greatest problems of the film were seen in its weak plot and poor dialogue, but this could have been averted had the supporting characters been given more depth. Apart from Sutherland, the only major name in the film who managed to make any impact was

in his role as airport engineer John Quinn. The reviewer concluded that, despite the film's obvious problems and predictability, it had a "certain amount of low budget charm," and that "even the cheesiness of the plot and fake special effects doesn't totally spoil this film and at times it makes it even more enjoyable." Finnish newspaper ''

Kaleva Kaleva or Kalevi may refer to: * CWT Kaleva Travel, a travel management company based in Finland * Kalevi (mythology), the great king of Kainuu in Finnish, Karelian and Estonian mythology * ''Kaleva'' (wasp), a wasp genus in the subfamily Pteromal ...

'' remarked that the stress and operations of air traffic ground control were a perfect backdrop for a drama film. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' wrote that the film's characterizations were "strait-laced and noble" and that the film "could have been commissioned by the Air Traffic Controllers' Benevolent Association." They made note of the film's story and plotline being derivative, its "threadbare production values" and "artless" special effects, and its use of "stock characters", but admitted that, despite those weaknesses, the film "does manage to whip up a little suspense".Pardi, Robert
"Review: 'Ground Control'."
''

''. Retrieved: February 9, 2012.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0137799, title=Ground Control
Rotten Tomatoes - Review of Ground Control

/nowiki>]
A review by Nathan Rabin March 29, 2002
1998 films 1990s disaster films 1998 independent films 1998 thriller films American aviation films American disaster films American independent films American thriller films Disaster thriller films Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films shot in California Films set in Phoenix, Arizona Films set around New Year Air traffic control in the United States 1998 drama films 1999 drama films 1999 films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Films scored by Randy Miller (composer) English-language independent films English-language thriller films