Turbulence

Turbulence is a 1997 American action thriller about a Christmas Eve flight from New York to Los Angeles carrying two prisoners: Ryan Weaver, a convicted serial killer, and Stubbs, an armed robber, escorted by federal agents. When Stubbs tries to seize the aircraft, Weaver turns the situation to his own advantage, killing his guards and the pilots and locking the remaining passengers away. The only crew member left alive is flight attendant Teri Halloran, who must keep the Boeing 747 in the air while Weaver terrorizes her from the cabin, guided from the ground by an air traffic controller. As the plane drifts toward a storm, authorities on the ground weigh whether to destroy it.

Robert Butler directed the film from a screenplay by Jonathan Brett, with David Valdes and Martin Ransohoff producing for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Rysher Entertainment. Butler's earlier directing credits include The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and Up the Creek, making this the third of the three features listed in his filmography. Ray Liotta plays Weaver, Lauren Holly plays Halloran, Brendan Gleeson plays Stubbs, and Héctor Elizondo, Rachel Ticotin and Ben Cross appear in supporting roles. The production carried a budget of 55 million dollars and returned about 12 million worldwide, a small fraction of its cost.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 5 out of 10 from roughly 13,000 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 5.4 out of 10 from around 295 votes. A critics' rating of 4 out of 10 from 21 reviews places it slightly below what general audiences recorded on both sites.