The Terminal (2004)

An eastern immigrant finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Andrew Niccol (story), Sacha Gervasi (story),

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Viktor Navorski
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Amelia Warren
Stanley Tucci	...	Frank Dixon
Chi McBride	...	Mulroy
Diego Luna	...	Enrique Cruz
Barry Shabaka Henley	...	Thurman
Kumar Pallana	...	Gupta Rajan
Zoe Saldana	...	Dolores Torres (as Zoë Saldana)
Eddie Jones	...	Salchak
Jude Ciccolella	...	Karl Iverson
Corey Reynolds	...	Waylin
Guillermo Díaz	...	Bobby Alima (as Guillermo Diaz)
Honorine Bell	...	Nadia (as Rini Bell)
Stephen Mendel	...	First Class Steward
Valeriy Nikolaev	...	Milodragovich (as Valera Nikolaev)

Storyline

Viktor Navorski, a man from an Eastern European country arrives in New York. However after he left his country war broke out. Suddenly Navorski is a man without a country - or one that the U.S. cannot recognize, thus he is denied entrance to the U.S. However, he also can't be deported so he is told by the Security Manager that he has to remain in the airport until his status can be fixed. And also Navorski doesn't speak English very well, so he cannot talk to or understand anyone. But he somehow adapts and sets up residence in the airport, which makes the man who placed him there unhappy, as it seems he is in line for a promotion but Navroski's presence might complicate that. So he tries to get Navorski to leave but Navorski remains where he is. Navorski makes friends with some of the people who work in the airport and is attracted to a flight attendant he runs into whenever she comes in.

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Plot Keywords:

airport | flight attendant | passport | english | meal voucher | 

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Taglines:

Life is waiting.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief language and drug references

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks UIP [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Russian Bulgarian Spanish

Release Date:

18 June 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Terminal

Filming Locations:

Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,305,442 (Japan) (17 December 2004)

Gross:

$14,076,317 (Japan) (4 February 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Amblin Entertainment, Parkes/MacDonald Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Viktor is avoiding the security camera near the exit, the camera is of the Espree line manufactured by Pelco in Clovis, CA. The motor noises had to be added to the film, because the Espree PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) features operate virtually silently.

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Goofs

When Frank and Victor are in Frank's office toward the beginning of the movie, Frank mentions a Twilight Zone episode named Terror At 30,000 Feet. The episode is actually named Nightmare At 20,000 Feet

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Quotes

[first lines]
PA announcer: United Airlines announcing the arrival of Flight 9435 from Beijing. Customer service representative, please report to gate C42.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are unususally short, with just the studio name and the name of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Tom Hanks/Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Strangers in the Night"
Written by Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton & Eddie Snyder
Performed by Strings Unlimited
Courtesy of Countdown Media

User Reviews

Egoless waiting

I have to say it is a great one that first shows the meaning and beauty in our life about waiting and promise. Amelia is waiting for her dream to come true for eighteen years, for herself; Navorski's dad was waiting for something he honored so much for his life; and here comes Navorski, who waits for making his father's left dream come true, for fulfilling his promise, for the woman he fell in love, in a "crack" between the US and his own country.

He has done everything for others around him. If there is a great example of "egoless", he is one. Letting go ego, is the greatness that even Amelia found out when she gives up and scarifies something most important in her life to help Navorski.

This simple story conveys some wonderful philosophy for people living in this country busy around everyday for business, families, and so on, to slow down and reflect on something. As the retired officer said to officer Dixon, there is something we can learn from Navorski.