Flight of the Phoenix

Having watched the 2004 version of Flight of the Phoenix I have found several similarities to other movies i have previously viewed. Firstly, the setting definitely brings about the same feeling as Lawrence of Arabia because the entirety of the movie takes place in the Gohabi Desert. One plot similarity between the two movies is the struggles of both movies include battling not only the harsh desert conditions but all of the companions and a couple of bandits as well. Like the beginning of Lawrence of Arabia and most of this film water plays a very strong role as it would in any desert setting.

Unfortunately, color was not given its due time in the making of this film . Unlike Lawrence of Arabia or Fistful of Dollars color took a back seat to plot development instead of working with plot development hand in hand. To the unassuming movie viewer this may not be as evident because of the constant action and short frame cuts.

There were though a few scenes worthy of mention, including the "lightning storm" and "bandit negotiation scene". In the lighting storm scene as Davis leaves the wreckage during a lightning storm to urinate trips over a rock and falls, tumbling down possibly sand dune after sand dune until he is completely lost and the complete lack of light, except for the flashes of lightning leaves him in one direction, death. He is last shown during a double flash as a decrepit and decayed corpse standing up, reminiscent of the beginning of The Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney's Magic Kingdom. The scene is very fitting because many members of the crew had blamed him for jinxing them just before take-off.

The second scene which was the "bandit negotiation" scene was shot during a very interesting time of day. It was shot during the wee morning hours when the light is a very light hue of blue and the entire scene is shot this way. It is very fitting because they were very unaware of what might happen or what these men were all about. A very interesting time of day to shoot a scene and even entrancing in a way, reminiscent of the scene from Vertigo in Judy's apartment as far as the color goes, except for the horribly misplaced green. This seems more effective in this scene though becasue it was done through natural light rather than retouching.

One scene that uses heavy symbolism was when Liddel wanders off and Towns finds him. The symbolism is not only "to look over the untraveled path" but also when they find the scattered books it symbolizes the vast differences of thoughts about what the survivors should or shouldn't do and when the two walk back together it symbolizes that they have agreed on an idea. At the center of all the books however is Kyles body from when he originally fell out of the aircraft and it symbolizes that no matter what death is not only omnipresent but that death is center stage to all.

Much of the plot reminds me of Lord of the Flies in that it gives the scenario that when government ceases to exist that the true wild takes over man. Towns and Elliot remind me of from Lord of the Flies in that they have not only a power struggle between each other but between themselves and their subconscious. Elliot parallels Jack and Towns parallels Ralph, although they do not parallel the each other to the tee the general ideologies over power exist between them both in the plot and subplot.

Overall the movie did have several misplaced storms and a strongly misplaced rainstorm that became so ineffective that they loose all bearing on the film, which having been used in the correct context could have really impacted the film and made the film more effective to the viewer. Though, despite many of its faults the film did have some minor cinematographic successes.

Lawrance of Arabia Review

In Lawrence of Arabia there are several themes that are accomplished using cinematographic effects.

One theme would be a death. This can be seen when Lawrence is forced to execute one of his own men and as the execution is finished you can see the lighting go dark as Lawrence's eyes bulge from the stimulation of the event and other people try to console him. Another instance would be when they attack a small village in which they could have gone around but Lawrence had a thirst for blood and he leaves the village ravaged and the look of death comes over the picture as you see carts smoking and black is everywhere and the sun hides behind thick dark clouds as gloom sets in for Lawrence. Throughout the many journeys between the cities and towns as the men travel the deserts many men find themselves lost in sandstorms, it is as if the sandstorms represent death or the grim reaper themselves. Once you are swallowed by the storm rarely do you make it out alive if you become separated from the group. The sandstorm played and important role when Lawrence decided to go back to save on of the soldiers he traveled back to essentially save this man from death. He finds the man and on there way back they encounter a sandstorm eventually they get out of that sandstorm and the man is "freed" from death. Lastly, at the beginning of the film we see Lawrence ride a motorcycle to his death and it shows that his true passion was for the people of Arabia.

During that same storm Lawrence looses he compass. The significance in that represents change. Lawrence's change began when he was given the white robe and it represented honor, he had become an honorable member of their group, he had become an accepted figure. Then as mentioned above when he loses his compass it represents that he has lost his loyalty to the crown, but rather he now his loyalty is held with the people of Arabia. Lastly, they began to call him "La Arance" and he is viewed as a well respected leader of the tribe, they begin to call him this after he saved the man from the desert.

The Music that is played for the beginning as well as the intermission portions of the movie is something that now producer today has tried to replicate, but plays a special role in Lawrence of Arabia. In the beginning the music is quite a tease and plays on your emotions of wanting to "hurry up and watch the movie already", it plays to excite you and get you to immediately want to dive in as soon as the first frame is displayed. Sort of like smelling cookies baking in the oven or a pizza cooking at lunch time, all you can think about is why can't i eat that right now. Then, the intermission music is there to wake you up and redraw you interests as well as give you a few minutes to analyze what has happened so far in the film. Both the intermission and the introduction music play both to both a creative as well as a practical purpose.

Lawrence of Arabia has several different themes that play strong roles in developing a the plot of the story and are useful in pointing out key situations and points of great intrest.