Flight of the Phoenix seems inappropriately named. It should be called Crash of the Phoenix, because that’s what the plane does. At the very beginning of the movie. It stays crashed until the end of the movie. The creators of LOST cited Castaway as their primary influence for the show, but Flight of the Phoenix seems to fit the bill much better, because it’s pretty much the exact same premise: The passengers of an airplane crash in a harsh environment with no hope of rescue. The surviving passengers and crew make a primitive living for themselves until conditions improve. Select survivors war for leadership of the group. Different people take different approaches and lines are drawn. A lot of people go crazy and/or die. Flight of the Phoenix is an expertly acted movie by well-cast actors a bit a group of diverse people who learn that their very survival relies on cooperation.

A blackout occurs. Many people in a fancy hotel are pulled out of their rooms to figure out what in the world just happened. Among them is our protagonist, as portrayed by Gregory Peck. He is heading out of the building. On his way, he meets up with a mysterious woman who claims to know him. Our hero tries to correct her, claiming he’s never met her at all. The woman takes offense, refusing to believe the story. She quickly leaves the scene, and the power comes back on, once he leaves the building. He notices people crowding around a dead man who has evidently just jumped from the building he’s left. He enters a bar for unknown reasons. A nearby conversation triggers a flash in the man’s disoriented head. At this point in the story, you’re just as in the dark as the audience of the movie is, but all will be answered in due time.

This supenseful thriller, appropriately dubbed Mirage, is truly a masterpiece of mystery. Our hero weaves his way through seemingly unrelated events, but becomes more and more aware throughout these events of the trouble he’s in, and the lie he’s been living. As the movie progresses, questions are brought up and answered in their due time, all cleverly plotted until everything falls into place at the end of the film. I was astounded by this movie, but not everyone in SVU agreed. The very fact that everything falls perfectly into place at the end gave ground to some debate which followed the viewing of Mirage. Some people were disappointed by the way the plot fell together, thinking that everything fell into place too perfectly. It left no mystery to the end of the movie. Everything was clear-cut. Some people didn’t want a perfect, detailed answer. In the end, this just depends on the kind of person you are: scientific, or philosophical. If you’re scientifically minded, you’ll like Mirage, because it leaves no stone unturned.