''Turbulence'' is a 1997 American

action thriller 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 ...

film directed by Robert Butler, and starring

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He first gained attention for his role in the film '' Something Wild'' (1986), which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. He was best known for his portray ...

and

Lauren Holly Lauren Michael Holly (born October 28, 1963) is an American actress. She has played the roles of Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart in the television series ''Picket Fences'', NCIS Director Jenny Shepard in the series '' NCIS'', and Dr. Betty Rogers ...

. It was produced by

Rysher Entertainment Rysher Entertainment, Inc. was an American film and television production company and distributor. It was founded in 1991. In 1993, Rysher was acquired by Cox Enterprises, and was subsequently closed in 1999. That same year, Viacom entered an ag ...

and distributed by MGM Distribution Co.

Plot

Ryan Weaver, an accused

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

and rapist, is arrested in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

despite his claims of innocence. Even though police lieutenant Aldo Hines broke protocol during the arrest by assaulting Weaver, the authorities have enough hard evidence to have him

extradited In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to face trial. Weaver and another prisoner, a bank robber named Stubbs, are escorted by four U.S. marshals onto a TransContinental Airlines

747 747 may refer to: * 747 (number), a composite number * AD 747, a year of the Julian calendar * 747 BC, a year in the 8th century BC * Boeing 747, a large commercial plane Arts and media * 747s (band), an indie band * ''747'' (album), by country m ...

. Even though it is

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, the 747 is nearly empty, with only eleven people on board. During the flight, Stubbs breaks free while using the bathroom and begins a shootout with the marshals. A stray bullet punches a hole in the fuselage, causing

explosive decompression An uncontrolled decompression is an undesired drop in the pressure of a sealed system, such as a pressurised aircraft cabin or hyperbaric chamber, that typically results from human error, structural failure, or impact, causing the pressurised v ...

, before the hole is sealed with a

briefcase A briefcase or an attaché case (/əˈtæʃeɪ/) is a narrow hard-sided box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name. Bu ...

. Amidst the chaos, the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

is fatally shot and the first officer is knocked out when his head slams into the yoke, disengaging the

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...

in the process. Weaver frees himself and attempts to save the last remaining marshal, but fails when Stubbs shoots him dead after being shot himself. Weaver enters the cockpit and finds the co-pilot unconscious but breathing. Weaver appears to be horrified by the ordeal, increasing the passengers' trust in him. With the flight crew lost, Teri Halloran, a

flight attendant A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...

, makes her way into the cockpit and learns she is the only one left capable of keeping the 747 from crashing. The co-pilot is heavily implied to have been murdered by Weaver off-screen. To make matters worse, the plane is heading into a storm which threatens severe

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

. Weaver's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and paranoid, suffering

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

s. He locks the passengers in the crew's cabin, then attacks and strangles Maggie, one of the other flight attendants, to death. Weaver then calls Hines at the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

control center 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 ...

and threatens to crash the 747 into their facility, stating that he is willing to do anything to avoid being arrested. Weaver reveals to Teri that he committed the murders and attacks her, but she manages to trap him below deck. After the plane survives severe turbulence, Teri must be instructed by radio on how to reprogram the autopilot to land at LAX. Her task is complicated by Weaver's obscene and constant interruptions. Weaver breaks into the

avionics bay Avionics bay, also known as E&E bay or electronic equipment bay in aerospace engineering is known as compartment in an aircraft that houses the avionics and other electronic equipment, such as flight control computers, navigation systems, communic ...

and smashes the

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides requested information for other programs or devices, called clients. Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending custome ...

running the primary autopilot software, rendering the first landing attempt unsuccessful, and forcing a last second

go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on Final_approach_(aeronautics), final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for var ...

. The plane skims a rooftop Japanese restaurant and a multi-story parking garage, but regains the air, though the landing gear picks up a

Ford Ranger The Ford Ranger is a compact or mid-size pickup marketed globally by Ford over a series of generations, varying between both in-house or outside development and manufacturing — and with a hiatus in North America from 2011–2018. Debutin ...

pickup. The backup autopilot engages, allowing Teri to make efforts to turn the plane around. However, an

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

officer at LAX sends an

F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, tandem two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...

to intercept the 747. Teri begs the authorities not to have her shot down, insisting she can land the plane. Weaver breaks into the cockpit with an axe and tries to kill her, but the F-14 destroys the truck instead, shaking the 747 and giving Teri a chance to attack. Teri retrieves a .38 revolver and, in the midst of Weaver's assault, manages to load a bullet and shoots Weaver through the head, killing him. She returns to the pilot's seat and, with radio assistance, safely lands the 747 using the autopilot. Despite Weaver's claims that he killed them all, the other crew and passengers are found alive.

Cast

as Ryan Weaver *

as Teri Halloran *

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor. He has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Aw ...

as Stubbs *

Hector Elizondo In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

as Detective Aldo Hines *

Rachel Ticotin Rachel Ticotin Strauss (born November 1, 1958) is an American actress. She has appeared in films such as '' Fort Apache, The Bronx'', '' Total Recall'', ''Falling Down'', and ''Con Air''. She has appeared in the NBC legal drama '' Law & Order: L ...

as Rachel Taper *

Jeffrey DeMunn Jeffrey P. DeMunn (born April 25, 1947) is an American stage, film, and television actor known for playing Captain Esteridge in '' The Hitcher'' (1986), Sheriff Herb Geller in '' The Blob'' (1988), Andrei Chikatilo in '' Citizen X'' (1995), Harry ...

as Brooks *

John Finn John Joseph Finn (born September 30, 1952) is an American character actor known as one of the leads of the television programs ''Cold Case'' and '' EZ Streets''. Finn has also had supporting roles in the films '' The Hunted'' (2003), ''Analyze ...

as FBI agent Frank Sinclair *

Ben Cross Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film ''Chariots of Fire'' and for playing Billy Flynn in the or ...

as Captain Sam Bowen *

Catherine Hicks Catherine Mary Hicks (born August 6, 1951) is an American retired actress. She played the character Annie Camden on the long-running television series '' 7th Heaven''. Other roles included Dr. Faith Coleridge on the soap opera ''Ryan's Hope'' ...

as Maggie * Heidi Kling as Betty * J. Kenneth Campbell as Captain Matt Powell *

Michael Harney Michael John Harney is an American actor of film, television, and theater. He is best known for starring on the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black'' as Corrections Officer Sam Healy. In 2019, he had a recurring role in the Apple ...

as Marshall Douglas * Grand L. Bush as Marshall Arquette

Production

The spec script was purchased by

for $1 million. The film was announced to be in development in May 1995. Filming began in spring 1996 and ended in Autumn 1996. The film was part of a four picture distribution deal between Rysher and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

(MGM).

Music

The music score was composed and conducted by

Shirley Walker Shirley Anne Walker (née Rogers; April 10, 1945 – November 30, 2006) was an American film and television composer and conductor. She was one of the few female film score composers working in Hollywood during her career. Walker was one of ...

. In 1997 a promotional CD was released containing almost the entire score in a non-chronological order Later, in 2013, specialized music label La-La Land Records released the full score in its entirety and in chronological order

Reception

Box office

''Turbulence'' grossed $11 million domestically on a $55 million budget.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

, gave ''Turbulence'' an approval rating of 18% with four positive and 18 negative out of 22 reviews; the average rating was 4 out of 10. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Both

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

and

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

rated the film one star out of four, denouncing the implausible storyline as well as the casting of Lauren Holly as an action heroine. G. Allen Johnson of the

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

called the film "an absolute bore". Lauren Holly's performance in the film earned her a

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzi ...

nomination for Worst Actress, though she lost to

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...

for '' G.I. Jane''. ''Turbulence'' was also nominated for Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property but lost to ''

Con Air ''Con Air'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich in the lead roles. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a pr ...

''. At the

Stinkers Bad Movie Awards The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards (formerly known as the ''Hastings Bad Cinema Society'') was a Los Angeles–based group of film buffs and film critics devoted to honoring the worst films of the year. The society was founded by Mike Lancaster and R ...

, Holly was nominated for Worst Actress but lost to

Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further pro ...

for '' Excess Baggage''.

Sequels

Despite its box office failure, the film did well enough on home video to become a trilogy with two new direct-to-video sequels. They are '' Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying'' and '' Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal'', each with a different cast.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turbulence (1997 Film) 1997 films 1997 action thriller films 1997 crime thriller films 1990s disaster films American aviation films American action thriller films American crime thriller films American disaster films 1990s English-language films Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films about murderers Films about aircraft hijackings Films set on airplanes Films shot in California Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Rysher Entertainment films Films scored by Shirley Walker Films directed by Robert Butler Films produced by David Valdes 1990s American films English-language crime thriller films English-language action thriller films