Mayday (2005)

just watch it!

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I don't believe a missile test conducted by the Navy can make a mistake like that.I don't believe the Navy would attempt to cover the mistake by destroying the plane, particularly so many witnesses around.I don't believe the Airline boss and the Insurance manager would try to crash the plane for the sake of money.I don't believe anyone could survive after the plane was hit by the missile, let alone dogs.I don't believe a weekend driver could drive the plane safely back to ground. I don't believe anyone would write a script like that.I don't believe that Lu can still look so pretty, despite her age.I don't believe.....................

While I do not have a degree in science, it was painfully obvious that those who put this "production" together had NO concept of physics. Other commenters have covered most of the glaring inaccuracies so I won't repeat them but will add that they are certainly on target. The producers and writers also had little understanding of current military technology and likewise had little comprehension of the Navy, its command structure, and how its people handle situations. I won't go into the multitude of reasons that the whole scenario the movie is built upon is so incredibly improbable that it borders on ridiculous. I will say the production crew and writers did NOT do their homework.Having spent 23 years in the Navy, and a good deal of that time with Navy pilots I think I can speak with a bit of authority when I say that the Navy would NEVER even think of trying to "resolve" the situation in this poorly contrived plot in the manner attempted. While there certainly could be a officer with the low morals of Dean Cain's character, there would not be a whole command that would blindly follow along with something as immoral as what Cain's character was proposing. The Navy teaches it's people to think and if given an order that is obviously immoral they are not required to obey it and are in fact supposed to report it to someone above their chain of command. In speaking with some Navy pilots I know, none of them would accept an order to shoot down the airliner if there was ANY chance someone might be alive. Even if they knew for a fact everyone was dead, they would ONLY shoot it down when it posed an immediate (not just possible) danger of crashing and causing civilian casualties on the ground and given they were over the middle of the ocean, that was not the case. As support to this I point to the sad story a couple of years ago where a pro golfer's private jet plane took off from Orlando, FL. The plane decompressed as it reached altitude, and apparently was on autopilot. Because the plane did not respond to air controllers, an Air Force F-16 fighter was scrambled to investigate. From the pilot's report after making contact, everyone was certain that all aboard were dead. But the plane was allowed to continue on for hundreds of miles, run out of fuel, and crash on its own in an uninhabited area. All the F-16 did was follow the jet to ensure it did not crash into any populated areas.It is an old, contrived, worn out plot to have the military make a mistake and then try to cover it up. Can't writers think of something new? That road has been used so often it has ruts in it. Is the Navy perfect? No. Do individuals try to hide mistakes, I imagine they do. But a mistake of this magnitude would never get as out of hand as was portrayed in this sorry excuse for a movie. I have seen worse than this and probably should have given it at least a 2, but the stereotypes were so predictable and bad, 1 out of 10.

The acting was excellent; the story was a fairly close parallel to the book & the movie was better than most that are in the theaters today.Nelson Demille as usual educates his audience while keeping them on the edge of their seats wondering how his yarn will spin out. His movie was not loaded with sex, violence or foul language and yet was able to keep an old fogy like me awake for 2 hours past my bedtime. Hopefully there will be more made for TV movies of his work or, better yet, movies in the theater displaying the talent of Mr. Demille. His John Corey series deserves to be made into some form of cinema as it is so relevant to today's times.Three cheers for Nelson; I am in awe of his talent.

This is a film that has the mark of an effort which runs as if it is a mini-series but suddenly realizes that, "Hey, our two-hour allotment is almost up, better end this thing quick." The first half of the film runs well, and engrosses the viewer, but there are too many threads left dangling and not enough time to tie them up neatly. What happens to the insurance people who want the plane to crash so that they can wiggle out of liability? What happens on Wake Island? Will the report go in about the errant missile? And wasn't the missile still intact when it hit the plane? How will they explain that? Too many holes and a movie that needed to run three hours at the least.