Cargo Truck Sequence

Lore & Background

The film follows Captain Frank Towns and co-pilot A.J., who are sent to shut down an unproductive Amacore oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. En route to Beijing, a dust storm disables one engine, forcing them to crash land their C-119 Flying Boxcar in an uncharted area of the Gobi Desert. The survivors include Amacore executive Ian, rig supervisor Kelly, Rodney, Davis, Liddle, Jeremy, Sammi, Rady, Kyle, Newman, Dr. Gerber, and Elliott, a hitchhiker.

Kyle falls to his death and the crash kills Dr. Gerber and Newman. They are 200 mi off course with only a month's supply of water. After Davis dies in a sandstorm, Elliott, claiming to be an aeronautical engineer, pitches rebuilding the wreckage into a functional aircraft. The group builds the new aircraft, named Phoenix, over several weeks, facing dust storms, lack of water, and conflict.

After finishing, they discover Elliott's design experience is limited to model aircraft, but the plane proves airworthy. They escape after a risky takeoff, and the survivors return to civilization with revitalized lives.

Reader's Guide

The film was released in the United States on December 17, 2004, by 20th Century Fox. It was filmed on location in the Namib Desert. The film grossed $21,009,180 in the US and $14,012,317 outside the US, for a worldwide total of $35,021,497. It received generally mixed reviews, with critics negatively comparing it to the original 1965 film but praising the updated visuals, shorter runtime and action sequences.