7500 – A Review by John Strange
Some fears in our world affect everyone equally. The plane you are flying on getting hijacked is one of them. This is the heart of the new film, 7500 (the code pilots use to tell flight controllers that the plane is being hijacked), that is premiering on Amazon Prime. What is a new spin on the story is we see it “fly on the wall-style” from the cockpit as First Officer Tobias Ellis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) endures what is hopefully the worst day of his life.
Tobias is a young American, flying for a European airline, with a girlfriend who is a flight attendant (and mother of his young son) and working in the main cabin on this flight. With ten years on the job, this 31-year-old pilot has enough time in the air to be a calm professional. But nothing prepares you for two armed men bursting into the cockpit.
The pilots manage to subdue their assailants and get the door closed and sealed but at a high cost. Tobias, with a damaged arm, tries to help the captain, Michael Lutzmann (Carlo Kitzlinger), and then he must tie up the unconscious terrorist in the passenger seat at the back of the cabin.
After he gets the plane on course for the closest airport, Tobias must then deal with the Captain’s condition and the two remaining terrorists still in the main cabin. The situation is extremely tense as the terrorist tire of banging on the cockpit door and decide to escalate to threats to kill passengers.
This film is dark and gritty. Tobias must endure would break most people. The acting in this film is very good, especially the flight crew and flight attendants.
The main set is actually pretty minimal, only the cockpit and the hall area immediately outside (we see people coming in and in their seats, but only the first few rows). The cool part is that this set IS a real airplane. To get their set visually correct, the producers bought a jet and cut off the front third to us for their set!
Add in the early set-up scenes showing the terrorists walking through the airport, then through security, a few views out the cockpit windows (that could have been shot at any decent-sized airport) and you have the film’s “world”.
This is a really good movie, one that will make you take a second look at the flight crews of any future flights you take. I give 7500 a strong 5-star rating.
Directed by: Patrick Vollrath
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Omid Memar, Murathan Muslu, Carlo Kitzlinger, Aylin Tezel
MPAA Rating: R (for violence/terror and language)
Selig Rating: 5 Stars
Runtime: 92 Min.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Vz9nPw2lg
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie, well worth the price.
4 Stars – Good movie
3 Stars – OK movie
2 Stars – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
1 Star – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn’t paid for it.
