Flight Crew (Russian: Экипаж, translit. Ekipazh) is a Russian disaster film directed by Nikolai Lebedev and produced by Russia-1 Channel which released in April 2016. It stars Vladimir Mashkov, Danila Kozlovsky and Agnė Grudytė.
This was a remake of the 1979 Soviet film Air Crew and it was the second disaster film shot in the Russian Federation.
The film was shot with digital 3D cameras and became the second Russian film released in IMAX after Stalingrad.
The premiere took place on April 21, 2016, by Central Partnership. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the special effects, action sequences, acting, and the tense atmosphere. The film was a box office success, becoming the highest-grossing Russian film of 2016. At the 2017 Golden Eagle Awards, the film received 11 nominations including Best Feature Film, Best Director (Nikolai Lebedev) and Best Actor (Kozlovsky), winning five (Best Visual Effects, Best Supporting Actor for Sergey Shakurov, Best Music, Best Film Editing and Best Sound).
Contents
Plot
Alexey Gushchin, a talented young military pilot, is given a mission to deliver a cargo of supplies for charity, but the plane is also filled with cars for a general whose friend's daughter is getting married. During the mission, realising that the plane cannot go through the storm easily, he disposes of one of the cars in mid-air. For his actions, he is prevented from flying a military aircraft again and in spite of that, he asks his father Igor (a famous aircraft engineer) for help getting back on the scene. He applies to a passenger airline, with Leonid Zinchenko overseeing his examination in a simulation. During the test, Alexey demonstrates impressive flying skills, but fails the test when he is unable to prevent the plane from crashing into a building on landing. Leonid, under pressure from his peers, retries the test and also crashes, forcing him to hire Alexey as the second pilot-trainee on the Tu-204SM along with attendant Andrey under the guidance of Zinchenko. Meanwhile, Zinchenko is experiencing family problems due to his absence from home and his alienation from his son Valera, who has abandoned education. Meanwhile, Alexey begins a relationship with pilot Alexandra Kuzmina.
On one of their flights, Gushchin and Zinchenko evacuate tourists from an African country in a revolution, but Gushchin becomes appalled when he learns that Zinchenko refused to allow the locals to board the plane. Zinchenko tells him that he must just stick to his orders.
While preparing for a flight, Gushchin confronts a wealthy man who refuses to obey safety regulations. Eventually, this leads to a fight on a plane, and Gushchin is fired. At the same time, he and Alexandra strain their relationship. The next day, on the train, Gushchin is confronted by Zinchenko who, impressed with Alexey's abilities, wants him back. Zinchenko also plans to take Valera on the next flight as well to convince him to continue his education.
The crew boards the plane for a flight to Southeast Asia, during which they receive a message about a volcanic eruption on one of the Aleutian Islands called Kanwoo. The crew arrives at the Kanwoo airport, where they discover that many people were killed or injured. They must now evacuate the remaining people who are coming on minibuses. Gushchin goes to the airport, when suddenly a powerful earthquake destroys the airport's infrastructure and destroys one of the runways, while the other one is covered with burning oil.
Production
Development
Director Nikolai Lebedev wanted to make a disaster film, but did not negotiate with potential producers, until Leonid Vereshchagin and Nikita Mikhalkov suggested to work on a remake of Air Crew. The director started work with the support of Alexander Mitta, who directed the soviet film of the same name in 1979.
The movie received support from Russian Government which funded the movie through the National Cinema Foundation.
Casting
Danila Kozlovsky, Vladimir Mashkov and Agnė Grudytė who played the pilots started to work long before the filming had begun, after receiving training in flight school at the helm of an ultramodern flight simulator.
Aleksandra Yakovleva, the performer of one of the main roles in the 1979 film, the flight attendant Tamara, played a cameo role in the film of 2016. Her character, an aviation official, is also called Tamara.
Filming
Principal photography began on September 18, 2014, and ended on February 10, 2015. Location filming took place in Moscow, Moscow region and in the Republic of Crimean peninsula.
In the peninsula they filmed the earthquake-prone island volcano in the Indian Ocean. The crew 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).
Post-production
The film has been dubbed into English for international markets by LipSync Chemistry in London.
Release
The film has been released in Russia and other post-Soviet states in April, 2016. The movie was also released in China. Rights to theatrical distribution of The Crew have been sold to the Middle East, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia, Turkey, Baltics, Mongolia, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
The film was shot using an IMAX digital 3D camera and became the second Russian film shot using this equipment.
Financial performance
The film grossed 1.43 billion ₽ (US$21.6 million) in Russia and was the fifth highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing Russian film in the country in 2016.
The film was released in China on August 19, 2016, and it grossed CN¥30.8 million at the Chinese box office.
