Stars: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones

Director: Steven Spielberg

Summary: When Viktor Navorski arrives at JFK airport in New York, little does he realise that his life is about to get very complicated. Having left a country that has just declared war he now finds that he is unable to enter the United States or depart from it. Stuck in the airport he adapts to his new surroundings and finds friends and romance.

Viktor Navorksi (Tom Hanks) falls into a bureaucratic crack in the system when his plane lands at New York's JFK airport from the fictitious country of Krakozhia. Unbeknownst to Navorski, his country fell prey to a military coup while he was in flight, causing it to be wiped from the map. This effectively renders his passport null and void, meaning he cannot legally enter America, nor return to his now nonexistent home. Barely able to speak English, the hapless Navorski is offered a sanctuary of sorts by kindly staff who allow him to freely inhabit the airport. With little money to his name, Navorski has to quickly shed his feelings of displacement, confusion, and alienation to survive. Fortunately he has a resourceful nature, and makes a meagre amount of money for food by returning baggage carts. As time passes he becomes more comfortable with his surroundings, even finding time to pursue a passing stewardess, Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who has captured his heart. But airport denizens such as customs chief Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci), who is a constant thorn in Navorski's side, remind him of his outsider status throughout the ordeal. Director Steven Spielberg uses the airport setting of THE TERMINAL to represent a microcosmic view of the immigrant experience in American society. Drawing on a fine performance from Hanks, and a supporting cast who provide plenty of laughs, Spielberg handles some delicate subject matter with an acute sensitivity, providing a heartfelt tale in the process.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Like an airport running at peak efficiency, The Terminalglides on the consummate skills of its director and star. Having refined their collaborative chemistry on Saving Private Ryanand Catch Me if You Can, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks mesh like the precision gears of a Rolex, turning a delicate, not-very-plausible scenario into a lovely modern-age fable (partly based on fact) that's both technically impressive and subtly moving. It's Spielberg in Capra mode, spinning the featherweight tale of Victor Navorski (Hanks, giving a finely tuned performance), an Eastern European who arrives at New York's Kennedy Airport just as his (fictional) homeland has fallen to a coup, forcing him, with no valid citizenship, to take indefinite residence in the airport's expansive International Arrivals Terminal (an astonishing full-scale set that inspires Spielberg's most elegant visual strategies). Spielberg said he made this film in part to alleviate the anguish of wartime America, and his master's touch works wonders on the occasionally mushy material; even Stanley Tucci's officious terminal director and Catherine Zeta-Jones's mixed-up flight attendant come off (respectively) as forgivable and effortlessly charming. With this much talent involved, The Terminaltranscends its minor shortcomings to achieve a rare degree of cinematic grace. --Jeff Shannon

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interactive menu
Year:	2004
Release Date:	March 5, 2007
Runtime:	123 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D S L 1528
Keywords:	Comedy, General, Wide, Screen, Terminal
Genre:	Comedy