of the "Global Airways" airliner. With 90% of the filming done inside a 707, Charlton Heston compared his work there to what director Alfred Hitchcock had achieved in filming Lifeboat (1944). Current Air National Guard operational North American F-100 Super Sabres of the 188th Fighter Squadron were repainted as the Soviet interceptors. Oakland International Airport was used for the airport scenes. Filming took place in early 1972. Charlton Heston wrote about the experience in his diary: January 4: I've never done a film with so many scenes I wasn't in. Still there was the 707, all becrewed and passengered. I did get a chance to try my uniform on. I look OK...January 5:...My first scene today consisted of walking out of the cockpit and into the can. Very demanding bit of emoting there. January 20: The opening shots went well, John Guillermin utilizing his talent for richly textured full shots, most with a moving camera. He provided a good introductory scene for me. I'm beginning to realize this is not a rich role, of course. Nonetheless, if the film comes off, it'll help me. I'm beginning to think it will, too...Skyjacked looks surprisingly good, I was relieved to see...It seems very tight. A pleasure for a change to be in a film that runs under two hours...it's been some time." Reception Critical Filmink called it "is a solid piece of classical entertainment which is one of the best movies made at MGM under the regime of James Aubrey...Charlton Heston was born to play a pilot." Paul Mavis writing for Movies & Drinks appreciated its non-glossy approach to the disaster genre: "This is a straightforward, simple, mean little suspense thriller, extremely well-told by director John Guillermin and screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg, and unpretentiously unembellished." Box office The film was profitable. It was one of MGM's bigger hits of 1972, along with Shaft and Kansas City Bomber. See also List of American films of 1972 References Notes Citations Bibliography Eames, John Douglas. The MGM Story: The Complete History of Fifty Roaring Years. London: Octopus Books Limited, 1982, First edition 1979. . External links North American F-100 Super Sabre 1972 films 1970s action films 1970s disaster films American action films American aviation films American disaster films Films about aircraft hijackings Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films based on American novels Films directed by John Guillermin Films scored by Perry Botkin Jr. Films