Fear of flying and fear of large, tentacled sky beasts are just two of the themes explored in the film
Altitude, released on
Blu-ray and
DVD this week. The film is the debut feature from acclaimed comic book artist
Kaare Andrews and stars a number of young faces from US TVs 90210, Glory Daze and Degrassi: The Next Generation. Rookie pilot Sara (
Jessica Lowndes) offers to fly her four friends out to a Coldplay concert in a rented plane. Shortly into the flight, the planes instruments inexplicably begin to malfunction and a mechanical failure results in the plane heading into a steady, unstoppable climb. As the plane continues to ascend, a massive electrical storm closes in on their flight path and emotional tensions begin to rise within the confines of the small aircraft. But the problems onboard prove to be the least of their worries as outside, hidden in the depths of the storm clouds, a mysterious and monstrous force is lurking. Its sole purpose is to destroy the plane and its passengers. My biggest problem with Altitude is how unlikeable the characters seem to be. Each one falls into a typical American teen stereotype; we have the jock, the cool one, the nerd, the spoilt rich girl and the slightly kooky girl but this is no Breakfast Club. Due to the claustrophobic nature of the situation I would say it is essential that the characters should be well developed to hold the attention, unfortunately the five passengers on this flight are poorly drawn, self obsessed and so unappealing that I couldnt wait for them to start being killed off. Their conversations are ludicrous and their reactions to their situation are melodramatic and unconvincing.
The film totally fails to deliver on the promise of its initial concept and poster artwork. On paper it sounds like an intriguing idea worthy of a good episode of The Twilight Zone and the poster reinforces this with a great design showing the plane with a character dangling out the back door with tentacles reaching out of the clouds towards the plane. However the reality is its a dull film with awful characters and the promised creature only making an appearance for a few minutes. It only goes to show you should never judge a film by its poster. Altitude cant really decide if its a disaster movie or a monster film and as a result doesnt really work as either. By adding in the element of the creature it brings the film out of the real world completely which could have worked if it had been developed correctly but the lack of commitment to the idea is disappointing.
Altitude is an ambitious film and director Andrews does all he can to keep things interesting in such a confined space. The camera is constantly on the move and finds some innovative ways to convey the claustrophobic area inside the plane. The special effects are reasonable enough with their combination of model work and CGI on a budget but they cant save the film and only emphasise the fact that Andrews should have dedicated more screen time to the monster in the clouds. With ridiculous plot twists that are signposted throughout and a daft ending, the film wastes its initial promise. Ultimately Altitude is a real disappointment, what appears to be a great concept is totally let down by terrible characters and the promise of a monster that fails to materialise into anything satisfactory.
Quality
The film is presented in a widescreen ratio of 2.35:1 and has audio options of 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Stereo. The transfer is detailed and looks pretty good, however this shows up some of the special effects and the green screen scenes are fairly obvious. The sound design is also up to standard with the storm effects sounding particularly good in the surround speakers.
Extras
Director Kaare Andrews provides a full length audio commentary which is actually quite insightful and interesting. He literally talks through every aspect of the films production, special effects and development of the script. There is also a lengthy behind the scenes documentary with a running time of almost 50 minutes which covers much the same ground as the commentary. Here we are treated to interviews with the cast and crew as well as the opportunity to see footage of the production on location and soundstages. Other extras include a 10 minute featurette looking at the green screen process, an original concept art gallery as well as the obligatory trailer. All in all its a much bigger package than the film deserves. Altitude is released on Blu-ray
from Monday.