The Stream: Why is this movie released now?

The Big Screen: The setting and editing keep the tension high for this movie’s short runtime.

The Final Bill: 7500 is a tense, claustrophobic thriller that you’ve seen before.

-Trip Fontaine
Director: Patrick Vollrath
Writers: Patrick Vollrath, Senad Halilbasic (co-writer)
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Omid Memar, Aylin Tezel, Carlo Kitzlinger | See full cast & crew »
Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: R
Platform: Amazon

7500 was recently released on Amazon Prime. I watched it. Here are my thoughts.

7500 is a thriller about a plane flying from Berlin to Paris that gets hijacked by some Islamist terrorists. If you haven’t rolled your eyes already, then you should be good watching this.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as the young co-pilot on the flight who has to fight the hijackers and get the passengers to safety. The film is directed by Patrick Vollrath who co-wrote the script with Senad Halilbasic. As you can tell by the short synopsis, the script isn’t very important. This film is all mood and tension. It does that really well. When characters are actually talking, it is more cliched and less successful. Gordon-Levitt acts out panic well and he summons that adrenaline-fueled bravery that is needed in this situation. Since he spends most of the screen time alone, his ability to convey a sense of dread is important. It is impossible not to feel that.

This setting in 7500 helps keep the tension high. The majority of the film takes place in the cockpit. Gordon-Levitt’s character can only see what’s happening in the rest of the plane from the security camera in the cockpit. The helplessness adds to that sense of dread. The good editing and the runtime of 7500 being less than 90 minutes makes it feel even more urgent. Realistically though, why was this movie about Islamist terrorists hijacking a plane being made and released now? It feels like it is 10 years or so late, and the story of the hijacker and the hijacked has not evolved any sense even those same movies from the 1990’s. 7500 doesn’t bring anything new to this story.

If you have less than 90 minutes to spend, 7500 isn’t a bad way to spend it. It is very tense and it flies by in a clip. There is nothing new about the story, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt give a good performance. A handful of popcorn will do.