ALTITUDE: DANGER IN THE SKY

There are several high profile titles being released this week that I could talk about. But the odds of you being able to pick one of those up to watch are slim. So I thought why not mention a title no one (or few) have heard of, an effective little thriller that should hold your attention and provide an evening’s entertainment? Something like ALTITUDE.

Denise Richards stars as Gretchen Blair, an FBI agent who is on her way down for doing what she felt was right rather than following orders. Forget the fact that her actions resulted in a hostage taker not being gunned down nor the hostages being shot. That taking place she is sent packing back to Washington, D.C., and a desk job.

She boards a late plane and finds the seat she’s supposed to be sitting in occupied by a slob with no intention of giving up the window seat even though it isn’t his. After threatening the man Gretchen is asked to step away by the flight attendant, then surprised to find she’s upgraded her to business class rather than giving her a hard time. Apparently she’d always wanted to treat a poor customer the same and was glad to see it happen.

While sitting in her seat the man next to her makes small talk. Terry (Kirk Barker) seems to be trying to make a move on her which she passes up with short notice. He then takes note of the flight attendant that has moved into their area and gets suddenly nervous. He asks Gretchen is she would like to make $5 million by protecting him.

At first not taking him seriously he then tells her about the attendant who is apparently his ex, Sadie (Greer Grammer). He then points out another man who has just go on the plane, Matthew Sharpe (Dolph Lundgren) as well as their apparent muscle, Rawbones (Chuck Liddell). It seems the four of them were part of a team doing something illegal.

Caught between loyalties to the FBI, the money put on the table she could earn and the sense of honesty she is possessed by, Gretchen agrees to at least look into it. As she begins moving through the plane she finds another attendant dead in the back. She seeks help from the US Marshall on the plane.

But things don’t turn out as planned.

Eventually Gretchen along with Terry must fight for their lives as well as those of the other passengers on the plane. The issue with the movie is how do you make a convincing cat and mouse game between two sets of characters with the limitations of space to move around in. ALTITUDE makes that believable here switching from passenger area to cargo hold and various passage ways between them.

Eventually the gang takes control of the plane and keeps the passengers unaware of their activities. They drop below the ceiling that radar can keep track of them and begin their search for Terry and the package he’s carrying, the payoff from their last job. Once found the question of what to do with a plane filled with potential witnesses comes into question. Is Gretchen enough to end this plan?

What we have here is a more or less direct to DVD feature that probably wouldn’t have stacked up against fare like WONDER WOMAN at the box office. But it is a nicely made film that shows quite a bit of quality on the screen. The technical aspects of the film are very well done, even more so when you consider the limited space that a camera crew would have to work with shooting this film.

The actors all turn in solid performances as well. Richards, sadly known more for her personal life than her acting skills, honestly does a good job her making her character more real than some would give her credit for. Lundgren has always been given the muscle roles in the past that Liddell is saddled with this time around. As Sharpe he displays a fine performance that few would give him credit for. Barker, who I’m not familiar with, does a fine job as the bad guy we’re rooting for. And Greer Grammer (daughter of Kelsey Grammer) offers a chilling performance as a woman with few scruples.

All in all this movie is a pretty good film and better than a number of made for TV films out there. Note that with an R rating it isn’t kid far (almost all for the language with who knows how many F bombs dropped from start to finish). But if you’re looking to watch something after the kids are in bed then this might be something to give a try, especially once you discover all of the major releases are gone. And even if they aren’t this one would be worth giving a watch.

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