Flight of the Phoenix

Aroview: Workmanlike remake of the 1965 Aldrich near-classic, in which a plainload of oilworkers crashland in the desert (here the Gobi), leaving them stranded and having to hastily and fractiously improvise a means of escape.

Although never trumping the richly-characterised mix of the original, this has cast-power enough to sustain the ticking-clock story, as water slowly runs out and the crew have to rely on a madcapped scheme to repair the mangled plane and try to get it off the ground again. Quaid and Otto in particular acquit themselves, though this never achieves a great altitude overall.