Higher Ground (1988/Thriller Telefilm/Sony DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: C
John
Denver loved airplanes and before flying an experimental craft in 1997 killed
him, he had it as a constant theme in his music and any other work he could
squeeze it into. Even after RCA Records
dropped him after so much success, he tried to negotiate to be able to fly in a
spaceship/space craft/satellite so he would have a new place to write songs. That never happened. However, he did continue to act long after
his peak with the underrated hit film Oh,
God! (1977) and Higher Ground
(1988) embraced airplanes in a very bad thriller.
The
footage of the airplane is the highlight, since the teleplay is a formulaic
wreck, but it has some good actors (John Rhys-Davies, Martin Kove, Richard
Masur as the bad guy), Denver fans might like his new songs here and it is
directed by the great British gentleman director Robert Day. His work on the big and small screen includes
several 1960s Tarzan films, Danger Man,
some of the best episodes of the original version of The Avengers, The Invaders
and Banyon telefilm. This is a professional production all around,
but even in that cannot overcome all of its problems. It is one of his last works to date and is
for the curious only.
The 1.33
X 1 Full Frame image is from a good print, by is a bit softer throughout
despite how clean the source is, but color is good and the best shots in
particular hold up. The Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono is a decent recording for its age, though it can be low sounding at times
and Lee Holdridge actually did the music.
There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
