Well known EAA correspondent Mac lays out his review of the new aviation movie Flight.

http://macsblog.com/2012/11/are-we-really-that-boring/

This movie so far does not seem to be getting great aviation reviews. So between that and the commercials I will be staying away from it.

Honestly, an inverted pull out with a roll in a regional airliner at low altitude and high speed?! Excuse me?!
And why must the pilot be riddled with drug use, alcohol abuse, and other immoral flaws?!

Anheuser-Busch Isn’t Thrilled That Denzel Washington’s Functional Alcoholic Character in Flight Drinks So Much Budweiser


Quote:

Apparently, all publicity is not good publicity if you're one of the fine and Moral corporate types at Anheuser-Busch. It seems as though their trademark product, the mediocre but perfectly acceptable Budweiser, is prominently featured in the new film Flight, which is about a functional alcoholic named Denzel Washington who flies planes for a living, or something along those lines. One of Washington's self-destructive beverages of choice is Budweiser, a fact which has the company all in a tizzy because, you see, despite spending hundreds of millions a year to push Bud on anyone who watches any sort of sporting event, Anheuser-Busch is all about responsible boozing. The company is so upset that their product, which is designed to get you drunk, is associated with a drunk that they're asking Paramount Studios to remove or blur any Budweiser image in all future and digital versions of the film ...

It must be pretty bad if the product placement company is complaining.

Budweiser - that now Foreign owned Company, owned by Inbev.

I'll bet its because of something else !

Bud, never used to complain about their products in movies, long before Inbev, bought them out, movies like Urban Cowboy(1980), and a host of other thru out the decades. Don't ever remember hearing Coors complain & whine about their products showing up in a movie ??

Maybe InBev/ Budweiser just wants their % of sum Moolah $$$$, for using their beer logos in a movie ,, more of that over the top  Copyright / trademark infrigement stuff~ola,,, anything for a Buck !

Could be.  I haven't seen the movie and based on the reviews I probably won't until it's released on home media.

Commercial products usually want their logos displayed in movies and pay for product placement (Demolition Man/Taco Bell).  I assume they have some control of how their products are displayed.

So maybe Budweiser didn't pay for product placement and is unhappy with the way it is portrayed.

I'll wait for the $5 DVD at Walmart.

"Realism goes out the window almost instantly when Whip conducts the walk-around in the downpour while his copilot is snug and dry in the cockpit. Whip hits the oxygen mask in a further recovery attempt."

This is the only realism that I found in the write-up, although it is taken from two places. In the company I work for, the captain has to do the walk around and the second part, many moons ago in a life that involved a blue suit and single seaters, I lost count of the number of pilots I strapped in that went to 100% oxygen as soon as they had sat down............... ;D

As Bud said, I will wait, but wait until it hits the $1 bucket at the DVD rental  ;D

Matt

wahubna wrote on Nov 6^th, 2012 at 2:47pm:

Honestly, an inverted pull out with a roll in a regional airliner at low altitude and high speed?! Excuse me?!

In such a horrific situation, it really did happen. But, sadly, not with the same results as depicted in the movie. From the Wiki:

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashed after a jackscrew in the horizontal stabilizer failed. The crew, in an attempt to maintain controlled flight, flew inverted for a time before control was lost completely. The plane plunged nose down into the Pacific Ocean at very high speeds. All on board perished.

While I appreciate realism in movies, I'm not wound up so tight to not be able to enjoy Flight. I think everyone should take a deep breath and say, "It's only a movie." If it bothers you THAT much, maybe better to stick to watching documentaries.  >:(

I look forward to seeing Flight, mostly for Denzel Washington's great performance on screen, always entertaining.

:) :) :) :) :) Right on' believe ya hit the nail on the head !! :o :o :o

ftldave wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2012 at 7:08pm:

While I appreciate realism in movies, I'm not wound up so tight to not be able to enjoy Flight. I think everyone should take a deep breath and say, "It's only a movie." If it bothers you THAT much, maybe better to stick to watching documentaries.  >:( I look forward to seeing Flight, mostly for Denzel Washington's great performance on screen, always entertaining.

Yes, but because both my in-law family and my own family all know what my major is because of this movie I will have several very long, frustrating, and awkward conversations about the flying in this movie. This has happened every time a main-stream movie centered on flying appears...all my friends do the same...
"oh there is a plane I must call Adam!"
:-?
For example, after the latest Discovery Channel show: Curiosity Plane Crash, aired I had these conversations with my grandmother, father, most of the in-laws (extended family too), and half of my friends (most not in aero).

So with 'Flight' I am 198% sure I will be pestered constantly about the flying scenes...which are pure BS.

Point there is that I do not have to see it to be bothered by it, it just has to hit the screens and the irritation will be brought to me  ::)

More concerning to me is that the main-stream public's perception of aviation is very poor and movies like this only make it worse.

I have not talked to a pilot yet that was happy with the way an airline pilot was portrayed in this movie. I understand it is just a movie, but people are slow and know zilch about aviation other than what is on prime-time shows, sitcoms, and big hollywood movies like 'Flyboys', 'Top Gun', 'Red Tails', and now 'Flight'.

Mean while, excellent aviation movies and shows are pushed out of the main-stream. Classic cases: Discovery Wings dying, a Sport Aviation show that used to be on PBS quietly died, Speed used to have tons of aircraft shows, One Six Right will likely never be on a standard cable network, and finally: air racing is completely unknown to a great many folks as are other major flying competitions even though ESPN and other sports networks cover dang near every other motor sport or sport involving balls.

It all frustrates the tar out of me especially considering it is the main-stream public that makes the vast majority of airports possible (as in they have us by the short hairs).