introduced to a tough looking character (Sylvester Stallone) as he boards a plane. He is the hero
who is revealed to be a veteran ex-cop.
® After beginning fine, mid-flight the lights in the cabin start to blink ominously. The captain can then be heard overhead reassuring the passengers that someone is on their way to fix it.
® The narrative then switches to a flashback of the past to provide a back-story for the film, which shows the cop, Allen Murphy, being briefed with other cops about a knife-loving mass-murderer (Mickey Rourke) on the loose and he has to find and arrest him.
® Back to the flight, an alarm goes off and the captain reports an emergency. Murphy asks to check it out and is shown a stabbed dead body. A blackout then occurs temporarily and a loud female scream can be heard.
® Flashback: after following a lead, Murphy and other cops storm into the murderer’s hideout but are unable to apprehend him as he escapes laughing. Murphy becomes angry. He returns to the police HQ to the chief irritated that they haven’t caught the murderer. Chief has sad news that Murphy is deemed too old for service and has been asked to retire, which he does reluctantly.
® On the plane, Murphy finds the stabbed airhostess, causing panic among the passengers. Murphy calms the people down only in time for another blackout. Murphy has a flashlight in hand which he found. This time, a shadowy voice can be heard overhead (the murderer). He threatens to kill everyone one-by-one slowly in his ‘playground of death’ (referring to the plane). He also ‘welcomes’ Murphy to the plane, saying how it’s a pleasant coincidence that he could never find him until now and that he will enjoy killing him the most. The voice laughs evilly, lights return and a couple are seen dead. Murphy is outraged and smashes something. He realises that the murderer cannot be in two places at once because the speaker system is too far from the couple so he must have help from others.
® Murphy gives the flashlight to one of the airhostesses (Scarlett Johansson) and asks her to fix the lights. The camera follows her journey to the lights control panel. However, she is engaged in a fight with one of the bad guys resulting in the lights being damaged and only temporarily blinking. She wins and returns a bit injured and tired to Murphy.
® During the cheering in the cabin that the lights are fixed, a tall dark figure (the murderer) walks from the shadows with two knives, stops for a stare down with Murphy. He congratulates the cop for foiling the plan making him reveal himself. They engage in a fight where the cop can only use improvised shields/weapons to fight. The fight shifts towards the pilots’ cabin and results in their cruel deaths causing the plane to plummet towards the sea. There is an epic fight scene between the two, with lights blinking and alarms sounding. The murderer is killed, Murphy just saves the plane from total destruction and the remaining people remain safe waiting for rescue. Happy ending J
Arash - this is now workable as a claustrophobic action thriller/revenge drama. I would have liked to see a clearer analysis of Todorov and Propp in addition to the edited synopsis. You have worked hard on this pitch, and possibly with a bit more of British spin, it should be a very useful idea for the exam.
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