James Wong’s 2000 thriller has stood strong over the course of the past twenty years and is still regarded by many to be a strong presence in thriller/horror circles. Wong is able to reach audiences emotionally as the students, on Flight 180 to France, visibly struggle with the difficulties that befall them at the start of the film. With next to none of the young actors having made a major splash in Hollywood to this point (with the exception of Sean William Scott--best known for his role as Stifler in American Pie just a year prior), it allowed audiences to see each of the young actors as only who they were meant to portray in this film. While the acting was far from perfect, the moments in which emotion was meant to take over and feed the audience’s attachment to the film were done incredibly well. Devon Sawa (Alex Browning) came through and perfectly executed scenes of deep despair and loss. Ali Larter (Clear Rivers) and Kristen Cloke (Valerie Lewton) were nearly as successful in portraying each emotional scene as Sawa and effectively brought waves of emotion to the film and audience. As audiences follow Death’s blood-thirsty design they are subjected to horrific scenes of violence, torture and, of course, death. Each and every scene is done deliberately and, in many ways, the death of each character has its own mind and makes each scene just as enjoyable as the next. The film not only provides its audience with savage death scenes or a thriller-esque journey through Death’s plan, it causes audiences to think about their own reality as much as they are thinking about the film’s reality. The film forces audiences to mull over the idea of death and mortality and whether or not we have the ability to change anything. Every aspect of the film is done with the intention of keeping the film and each character’s story cohesive. Wong was successful in effectively using the stories from each of the characters to create a coherent story in which audiences felt they played a role. Hints about upcoming deaths are sprinkled throughout the film and allow audiences to play detective alongside Daniel Roebuck’s Agent Weine and Roger Guenveur Smith’s Agent Schreck, giving them another reason to remain invested in what was happening. As Wong’s big screen directorial debut, it is clear that he was successfully able to reach audiences and compete with the likes of The Blair Witch Project (1999) and The Sixth Sense (1999). Wong made a name for himself in this debut that has carried him through the past twenty years and landed him on successful television shows such as American Horror Story (2013). He, with the help of the young talent he chose to surround himself with, created a film that appears will remain high in the ranks or horror films for the foreseeable future. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195714/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
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