If there were a set of immutable commandments provided by the cinema gods, the first and foremost would be Thou Shalt Not Remake Classic Movies. Unfortunately, such a list does not exist and the result is that classic movies like The Flight of the Phoenix (1966) get remade into watered-down goulashes of cliche and hackneyed plotting.

The new Flight of the Phoenix uses the framework (a brilliant script by Lukas Heller) of the original, but removes the taut plotting and powerful characterizations that made the original an instant classic.

The movie follows the plight of a group of oilfield workers and executives in the wake of a near fatal airplane crash in the Gobi Desert, and their efforts to cobble together a new aircraft out of the old one while battling the elements, bloodthirsty nomads, and one another. The situation is rife with dramatic possibilities.

But the new script by Scott Frank and actor Edward Burns (who does not appear in the movie) is loaded with useless screaming, pointless action, and comic flourishes that don't belong in this type of movie. Flight of the Phoenix is lacking an impending doom or despair. The plane, piloted by Dennis Quaid, crashes hundreds of miles off course. Quaid and co-pilot Tyrese Gibson are unable to radio to home base before they crash, so they are literally left at the end of the world with no hope of rescue.

The oilfield zeroes that make up the passengers don't seem concerned or inconvenienced. Instead, they set up a makeshift canteen, where they happily devour canned peaches and hearts of palms, and yell at each other when they feel dramatic.

When it is decided by Quaid, for an absolutely gutless reason, that the group will build a new airplane from the old under the supervision of a bizarre aircraft designer played by Giovanni Ribisi, who conveniently joined the flight at the last moment, the crew blithely begins the task. Much of the movie's tone is inappropriately light—including such scenes as the men playing golf, listening to music, and going to the bathroom—contrasted with moments of extreme violence, such as the summary execution of a captured nomad.

Instead of focusing on the dramatic clash of personalities, director John Moore focuses on physical action, including a shootout with nomads and a wild electrical storm, giving the movie a lack of dramatic focus or, for want of a better term, soul. This makes the proceedings rather dull. As any viewer of Survivor can tell you, the reason to watch that show is not the physical competition, but the castaways' psychological turmoil.

The acting is uniformly flat with Quaid and Ribisi, the dramatic core of the movie, giving performances verging on the catatonic. The revelation of the movie's twist is handled so poorly that it derails the intended impact. The rest of the cast, with the exception of the always reliable Hugh Laurie, is interchangeable and, thus, forgettable in largely stock roles. To its credit, the aerial photography is excellent, but there is too little of that to lift this movie to any heights.