The Twilight Zone: Nightmare At 30,000 Feet - 7 Big Changes To The Original

Nightmare At 20,000 Feet, in all three of its earlier incarnations, is a story very much punctuated by a sense of hopelessness. A man is trying to prevent the actions of a creature that he can't physically reach, and his best idea is to warn people who won't listen to a word he says. The passenger has no other option but to sit and watch as a destructive force dismantles the engine cowling outside of his window.

The 2019 update puts the passenger in a more active role. Justin takes notes on details that he thinks could be relevant. He moves about the cabin, talking to people who might be of interest. Generally speaking, he spends far less time in his seat than any of his three predecessors.

Having Justin play an active role in solving a mystery, as opposed to sitting idly by and observing the actions of a creature he can't control, is something of a mixed bag. It moves the story along at a nicer pace, but fails to capture the utter desperation of a man being forced to sit and watch a calamity that nobody else seems to care about.

Even knowing the time of the plane's disappearance doesn't create the sense of panic that it should. By replacing the gremlin's unpredictable chaos with a literal ticking clock, Nightmare At 30,000 Feet forgoes all sense of hopelessness by allowing Justin to form the dubious theory that he might alter his fate by simply changing a few minor events before 11:15 p.m. Lack of control can be frightening, but this type of egregiously naïve optimism is most certainly not.