TheDisappearanceofFlight412

The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974)

So I’m a sucker for TV movies and I’m also a big fan of cheesy flicks from the 70s dealing with either Bigfoot or UFOs. So a TV movie that deals with UFOs would seem to be right up my alley. The only thing is that this movie isn’t at all what I thought it was going to be. Instead of getting all creepy with the little green men the movie focuses on the Air Force and how they attempt to cover up a couple of missing aircraft by diverting the crew of a radar plane to an isolated base. There the crew is subjected to repeated interrogation until their stories become what the Air Force wants them to be rather than the truth. There is a second storyline about their commander and how he tracks down his missing plane and crew. After demanding their release he pushes even further trying to figure out why they were treated that way, only to meet a dead end.

This isn’t a bad movie and is actually kind of interesting. I also have to admit that the runtime of 72 minutes goes by pretty quickly. Given the amount of terrible and boring movies I subject myself to this was a nice change of pace. Still while it isn’t bad the movie isn’t all that memorable either. I was expecting something sort of creepy with aliens and UFOs flying about, but it turns out to be a government conspiracy flick instead. To be honest I was sort of disappointed. What isn’t disappointing is the excellent cast of actors. Screen legend Glenn Ford plays Colonel Pete Moore, the officer trying to track down his missing crew. Ford appeared in some rather questionable movies towards the end of his career, but made everything he was in better. Also keep an eye out for a couple of actors that appeared in some killer TV genre projects David Soul (Salem's Lot) and Bradford Dillman (Moon of the Wolf).

This is a movie of the week from network television and it looks like one. The budget was low, plenty of stock footage was used, and the sets look like sets. But you also get decent camera work and lighting. The networks used to crank these things out and the crews really knew what they were doing, which shows in the final product. Since there is a distinct lack of onscreen UFOs or aliens that is about all I have to say about the technical bits.

This isn’t a must see flick or even one of the better TV movies from the 70s. In fact I find it kind of average at best. But then if like myself you consider yourself a coinsure of bad 70s TV then you will want to check this one out. It is available on a couple of the budget sets from Mill Creek Entertainment. For more information check them out at http://www.millcreekent.com/

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer