Starflight One: The Plane That Couldn't Land (aka Starflight One) (1983)

The first hypersonic transport is flying from Los Angeles to Australia with a plane load of diverse passengers. But when a rogue rocket explodes, its debris smashes into the hypersonic flight and it finds itself pushed out of the planet's atmosphere into outer space where it orbits the Earth. Directed by Jerry Jameson (AIRPORT 77), this made for television disaster movie with a touch of sci-fi is loaded down with with boring characters spouting hideous dialogue. The technical aspects of bringing down the plane are not without interest but who cares what happens to the generic passengers. Characters are briefly introduced and then we never see them again! Most of the successful theatrical disaster movies had big stars (Newman, McQueen, Hackman, Heston etc.) but actors like Lee Majors as the plane's pilot and Hal Linden as the plane's designer just don't cut it. The only character I had the remotest empathy for was Tess Harper as Majors' cuckolded wife. The visual effects by John Dykstra (STAR WARS) are good but overall, it's a cliche ridden AIRPORT wannabe. The large cast includes Lauren Hutton, Ray Milland, Michael Sacks, Robert Webber, Gail Strickland, Jocelyn Brando and George DiCennzo.