It’s disaster time!

In 2001’s Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534, a plane is making its way across the country.  The pilot is the arrogant Jack Brooks (Kevin Jubinville), who is convinced that all a pilot has to do is let the instruments and the plane’s computer run the flight.  He has total faith in technology.  His first officer is Mike Hogan (Eric Roberts), a veteran pilot whose career went downhill after he was unfairly blamed for a crash in Boston.  Mike is old school.  He doesn’t have much use for all this technology nonsense.  Mike thinks that a pilot has to listen to his own instincts and be willing to improvise.  That sounds dangerous!  It’s a good thing that Jack’s in charge of this plane!

Unfortunately, turbulence and a concussion temporarily puts Jack out of commission.  Mike is going to have to conquer his own fears and insecurities to land this plane.  Fortunately, he has the support of the head flight attendant, Katy Phillips (Alexandra Paul).  Also, one of the passengers has some flight experience!  Grant Blyth (Dean McDermott) is willing to help out.  Of course, Grant is also a convicted murderer who was being flown to prison but whatever.  I just find it interesting that, in the movies, convicted murderers and their handlers are always put on commercial flight.  That seems kind of irresponsible to me.

Rough Air is a throwback to the old disaster movies of the 70s.  The airplane is full of people who have to set aside their differences to work together and try to avoid a disaster.  There’s a soccer star (Mark Lutz) and an engineer (Russell Yuen) and a rich guy (Carlo Rota) who only exists that he can be told to shut up whenever he doubts Mike.  Unfortunately, this film isn’t quite as fun as any of those old disaster movies.  There’s one funny moments where Jack wakes up and deliriously demands to be allowed to fly the plane but otherwise, this is a pretty boring flight.  Not even Eric Roberts giving a typically committed performance can save this flight from being forgettable.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

1. Star 80 (1983)
2. Runaway Train (1985)
3. Blood Red (1989)
4. The Ambulance (1990)
5. The Lost Capone (1990)
6. Love, Cheat, & Steal (1993)
7. Voyage (1993)
8. Love Is A Gun (1994)
9. Sensation (1994)
10. Dark Angel (1996)
11. Doctor Who (1996)
12. Most Wanted (1997)
13. Mercy Streets (2000)
14. Raptor (2001)
15. Wolves of Wall Street (2002)
16. Mr. Brightside (2004)
17. Six: The Mark Unleased (2004)
18. Hey You (2006)
19. Amazing Racer (2009)
20. In The Blink of an Eye (2009)
21. Bed & Breakfast (2010)
22. Enemies Among Us (2010)
23. The Expendables (2010) 
24. Sharktopus (2010)
25. Beyond The Trophy (2012)
26. The Dead Want Women (2012)
27. Deadline (2012)
28. The Mark (2012)
29. Miss Atomic Bomb (2012)
30. Bonnie And Clyde: Justified (2013)
31. Lovelace (2013)
32. The Mark: Redemption (2013)
33. The Perfect Summer (2013)
34. Self-Storage (2013)
35. A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
36. This Is Our Time (2013)
37. Inherent Vice (2014)
38. Road to the Open (2014)
39. Rumors of War (2014)
40. Amityville Death House (2015)
41. Deadly Sanctuary (2015)
42. A Fatal Obsession (2015)
43. Las Vegas Story (2015)
44. Stalked By My Doctor (2015)
45. Enemy Within (2016)
46. Joker’s Poltergeist (2016)
47. Prayer Never Fails (2016)
48. Stalked By My Doctor: The Return (2016)
49. The Wrong Roommate (2016)
50. Dark Image (2017)
51. Black Wake (2018)
52. Frank and Ava (2018)
53. Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge (2018)
54. Clinton Island (2019)
55. Monster Island (2019)
56. The Reliant (2019)
57. The Savant (2019)
58. Seven Deadly Sins (2019)
59. Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare (2019)
60. The Wrong Mommy (2019)
61. Exodus of a Prodigal Son (2020)
62. Free Lunch Express (2020)
63. Her Deadly Groom (2020)
64. Top Gunner (2020)
65. Deadly Nightshade (2021)
66. The Elevator (2021)
67. Just What The Doctor Ordered (2021)
68. Killer Advice (2021)
69. Night Night (2021)
70. The Poltergeist Diaries (2021)
71. The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
72. A Town Called Parable (2021)
73. Bleach (2022)
74. My Dinner With Eric (2022)
75. D.C. Down (2023)
76. Aftermath (2024)
77. Devil’s Knight (2024)
78. The Wrong Life Coach (2024)
79. When It Rains In L.A. (2025