Hero of this movie.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Flight of the Phoenix
Altho73 — 19 years ago(April 04, 2007 12:29 PM)
The hero of this movie - no question of a doubt, Dorfmann.
The villain of this movie - Frank Towns.
Dorfmann may not be the ideal diplomat or travelling companion, but let's face it - he came up with the idea of re-building the aircraft, drew up the plans for doing so, supervised the building and most importantly his plan WORKED and succeeded in getting most of the people out. Without him they would all have died in the desert.
Frank Towns on the other hand reminds me of the boy in school who was never quite good enough to get into the baseball team, who constantly criticised and belittled the achievements of the team out of sheer jealousy. What exactly did Frank Towns do to get the group into a situation that would enable them to get out of the desert? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. In fact his constant opposition to Dorfmann's scheme actually jeopardised their chances of getting out. -
chelseaal — 18 years ago(April 08, 2007 12:16 PM)
On British TV today (8th April 2007) I have never seen this before, and was bowled over just how good it was.
I had Hardy Kruger the hero as he believed in what he was doing, unlike some of the snivveling passengers who were resigned to their fate. -
alpha_1976 — 18 years ago(April 09, 2007 03:24 AM)
Before you read my post: Serious Spoilers in
I agree! However, movie was very clever to make everyone hero of some sort. For example, Richard Attenb. put hell lot of work to make the piece between the two otherwise there would have been no escape. Same way, James Stewart used his skills cleverly at the end where he was successfully able to take off and also he did admit that he was being too proud for no reasons. The two guys who were working at the top of PHOENIX worked hardest among all, I guess. This is the first movie I have seen where everybody gets his/her share.
We're talking about unchecked aggression here, dude.
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alpha_1976 — 18 years ago(April 09, 2007 05:36 AM)
Thanks a lot, man. As I saw this movie quite long time back, I couldn't remember all the characters. Now when I was going to have my lunch I thought of his character and I thought I would post my views which you have already posted (more or less). Thanks.
We're talking about unchecked aggression here, dude.
http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=6221274 -
LionHearted99 — 18 years ago(July 16, 2007 02:31 AM)
I can see your point about Dorfman. But had it not been for Towns considerable flying experience in all kinds of aircraftthey might have all died in the opening of the film when the plane crash landed in the remote desert. Furthermoreit was Towns savvy that was able to start the rebuilt plane and successfully fly them out. Rather than heroes or villainswe have here a clash of consciousnesses. Both were needed to resolve this dilemma.
"We'll end our friendship now." "For friendship's sake?" "Yes." "You're daft." -
porfle — 17 years ago(August 13, 2008 03:16 PM)
Both Dorfmann and Townes act like jerks at different times. But it's definitely due to Dorfmann that they survived.
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dawgpoundjohn — 16 years ago(May 15, 2009 11:00 AM)
I think they were all heroes, just in differing areas. The villian was the desert.
Towns didn't try to sabotage the mission; he just didn't want the group to waste their time in a futile effort. As captain, he was responsible for the safety of the crew and passengers. The doctor convienced Towns that listening to Dorfmann would at least lift their spirits until the desert won.
I think that Towns' didn't want to give up the position of leader. Towards the end, he realized that to fulfill his job as captain, he needed to allow Dorfmann to take charge. -
drystyx — 16 years ago(June 19, 2009 10:57 PM)
Definitely, this film is a classic example of characters as opposed to "heros and villains".
But if we're at a banquet and giving hero and villain of the film award, while I liked your hero, I'll go with:
Hero: Attenborough. He tried to keep the peace between the pilot and the genius. Okay, so his flaw was maybe a few drinks that may have blurred his viewpoint of the weather report, but he was the one who kept it going, who mediated.
Villain: Tough call. Watson maybe, but I'll go with RATBAGS, who was always so negative, and never supportive. I know he was just kidding, and not a bad guy, but he comes closest to villain I think.
Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time
that's not funny! -
sawyertom — 15 years ago(September 14, 2010 07:48 AM)
With the exception of the cowardly Sgt., I don't think there were any villians. In their own ways and through teamwork they were all heroes at different times. They were characters who had both their bad and good sides exposed during stressful times. Towns and Dorfmann were talking to each other friendly after they returned, knowing that it was personal when they were mad and arguing, but the stress of the situation. if anything they were battling the elements for survival as if in a war, so it wasn't personal, just their frustration witht he events. I would say they were allheroes except the Sgt, who while he did help and work was pretty much a malingerer when it came to the Captain.
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LesterFester — 10 years ago(March 16, 2016 10:41 AM)
Dorfman is by far the hero of this film. He is the one who by far used the tools that he was born with (his mind) to ensure the survival of himself and the group. He alone assessed the damage, made notes of the resources at hand and formulated a plan/design of a new aircraft. And then supervised the building of the craft.
Just because the others were there and willing to lend a helping hand does not make their actions heroic.
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