Flight Crew (film)
| Flight Crew | |
|---|---|
 poster from 2015 | |
| Directed by | Nikolai Lebedev |
| Produced by |
Nikita Mikhalkov Leonid Vereshchagin Anton Zlatopolskiy |
| Written by |
Tikhon Kornev Nikolai Kulikov |
| Starring |
Vladimir Mashkov Danila Kozlovsky Agne Grudita Katerina Shpitza |
| Edited by | Irek Khartovich |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
Cinema Fund Central Partnership LipSync Chemistry |
Release dates |
(Moscow) |
Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
Flight Crew (Russian: Экипаж, translit. Ekipazh) is a Russian disaster film produced by Russia-1 Channel which released in April 2016. Inspired by the 1979 Soviet film Air Crew, it was the second catastrophe film shot in the Russian Federation.
The film was shot in digital 3D IMAX camera and become the second Russian film shot using this equipment.
Plot
Talented young pilot Alexey Guchshin does not accept authority and acts in accordance with a personal code of honor. For failure to comply with an absurd order, he is prevented from flying military aircraft and only through the connections of his father (famous aircraft engineer) does he get a chance to fly a passenger airliner. He has to start his flying career again: Alexey becomes the second pilot-trainee on the Tu-204SM under the guidance of an experienced crew commander, the pilot Leonid Zinchenko. Their work relationship is not easy, but due to Alexey's talent, Leonid chooses to keep him at his side, even after more cases of insubordination (again, failure to comply with absurd orders).
During the flight to Southeast Asia, the crew receives a message about an earthquake on a volcanic island and decides to go to the epicenter of the disaster to evacuate people before the expected volcano eruption. Together, the two pilots manage to escape the island on two planes, however, the smaller cargo plane has not enough fuel. Using a risky maneuver, the crew manages to transfer passengers via sky line between the two vessels in air moments before the cargo plane would run out of fuel and crash into the ocean. After the rough, but successful landing in lightning storm the two are terminated from their positions as pilots (as they both disobeyed a direct order), and are transferred to Aeroflot as flight interns.
Cast
- Danila Kozlovsky - Alexey Guchshin
- Vladimir Mashkov - Leonid Zinchenko
- Agne Grudita - Alexandra
- Katerina Shpitsa - stewardess
- Sergey Kempo - Andrey, flight attendant
- Dmitry Zolotukhin
- Elena Yakovleva - Zinchenko wife
- Sergey Shakurov
- Nina Grebeshkova
Production
Filmings
Director Nikolai Lebedev wanted to make a film-catastrophe, but did not negotiated with potential producers, until Leonid Vereshchagin and Nikita Mikhalkov suggest to work on a remake for "Air Crew". The director started work by support from Alexander Mitta, who directed the soviet film of the same name in 1979. The movie received a support from Russian Government which funding the movie through the National Cinema Foundation.
Filming started on September 18, 2014 and wrapped on 10 February 2015. The filmings took place in Moscow, Moscow region and in the Crimean peninsula. In the peninsula they filmed on as the earthquake-prone island volcano in the Indian Ocean. The crew has shot the flight scenes in two planes: The Tupolev Tu-204SM (RA-64151 board) and decommissioned Tupolev Tu-154 of Kosmos Airlines (RA-85796 board).
Danila Kozlovsky, Vladimir Mashkov and Agne Grudite who playing the pilots started to work long before filmings had begun, after receiving training in flight school at the helm ultramodern flight simulator.
The film was shot in digital 3D IMAX camera and become the second Russian film shot using this equipment after Stalingrad (2013) by Fedor Bondarchuk.
Post-Production
The film has been dubbed into english for international markets by LipSync Chemistry in London.