Robert Aldrich · 1965 · survival

Robert Aldrich's 1965 film. When a cargo plane crossing the Sahara is forced down in a sandstorm, its pilot and passengers are stranded deep in the desert with dwindling water and no hope of rescue. Led by a coldly brilliant aircraft designer, the survivors stake their lives on a desperate plan - to build a smaller aircraft from the wreckage of the old and fly themselves out.

1. 1
   The oil field

   An aging twin-engine transport takes off from a remote Saharan oil-drilling camp, carrying a mixed bag of roughnecks and travellers on what should be a routine flight north across the desert to safety.

2. 2
   The crash site

   A raging sandstorm chokes the engines and slams the plane down far off course, deep in an empty sea of dunes. Marooned with little water and a dead radio, the survivors begin to turn on one another as the desert sun kills them.

3. 3
   Deliverance

   Goaded by the icy designer Dorfmann, the men rebuild a single flyable aircraft from the wreck of the old - the Phoenix - and against all odds coax it into the air, lifting off the sand to carry the last of them out alive.