Do movie titles get more generic than Plane? Not really, though at least we can assume the action-thriller will involve aircraft.

Former RAF pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) now flies commercial jets for Trailblazer Airlines. On a sparsely-populated flight from Singapore to Hawaii, the craft boasts an unusual passenger: Louis Gasparre (Mike Colter), a convicted murderer.

Along the journey, lightning strikes the plane and this forces Brodie to perform an emergency landing onto a Pacific Island. As Brodie, passengers and crew try to contact help, they also need to deal with a threat from Philippine rebels, a danger that forces Brodie and Louis into an uneasy alliance.

When I first heard about the film, I posted on the Home Theater Forum that if Plane provided a good movie, I’d eat a bug. After so many mediocre or worse Butler action flicks over the years, I found little room to hope this one would deliver anything different.

Did I find myself obligated to consume an insect? No, as Plane doesn’t become a strong enough film to qualify as good.

That said, Plane becomes completely not terrible. Given what I anticipated from it, I view that as a victory.

Indeed, I might even raise Plane to a level above “not terrible”. It actually becomes “perfectly watchable”.

Again, don’t take that as major praise. It all comes down to the context of the exceedingly low expectations I bring into Butler action movies.

Nonetheless, Plane does rise above most of that pack. While it doesn’t excel in any particular way, it still largely keeps us with it.

The best aspects of Plane connect to the scenes related to the damage that impacts the aircraft. We all can imagine the terror involved in such a scenario, so these elements provide some white-knuckle thrills.

After that, Plane goes more into the typical Die Hard mode. The fact the film pairs Brodie with Louis adds some complexity, but not much.

Face it: while the film wants to paint Louis as a Bad Man, we know we will eventually learn his backstory and find out something else. Sticking Brodie with a convicted criminal feels unnecessary, as the basic survival/disaster plot seems like enough, especially since we know the film will inevitably reveal Louis as a decent dude.

Still, Coulter adds a reasonable counterpart for Butler. The movie would work fine without the complication of the Louis role, but he doesn’t bog down the proceedings.

Plane might throw too much at the audience along the way, however. It doesn’t feel satisfied with a simple story and tosses out too much unnecessary complications.

Still, Plane manages to largely keep the viewer with it and it offers decent thrills. While it fails to turn into a memorable action flick, it delivers a watchable effort.

Plane appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered a solid presentation.

Sharpness worked fine, as the film seemed accurate and well-defined. Only a little softness entered into the occasional low-light interior.

I saw no signs of jaggies or moiré effects. The film lacked edge haloes and print flaws.

If you suspected Plane would come with the modern standard teal and orange palette, you’ll get what you expected, though these remained semi-restrained tints. The Blu-ray handled the tones well.

Blacks came across nicely, as dark tones were deep and rich, without any muddiness or problems. In addition, low-light shots gave us smooth, clear visuals. All in all, this became a positive transfer.

I also felt happy with the solid Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Plane. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the mix offered plenty of opportunities for lively auditory information, and it took good advantage of these.

After the plane disaster early in the film, matters remained subdued for a while. However, the movie’s second half boasted gunfire, explosions and the like, so the mix filled the speakers on a frequent basis.

The track placed information in logical spots. The mix blended all the channels in a smooth, compelling manner.

Audio quality was also positive. Music sounded lively and full, while effects delivered accurate material. Those elements showed nice clarity and kick, with tight low-end.

Speech was always distinctive and concise, too. This mix worked well for the film.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we locate three featurettes. This Is Your Captain runs 14 minutes, 18 seconds and provides comments from producer Marc Butan, cinematographer Brendan Galvin, director Jean-François Richet and actors Mike Colter, Oliver Trevena, Gerard Butler, Lilly Brug, Daniella Pineda, Evan Dane Taylor, Yoson An, Tony Goldwyn, and Kelly Gale.

“Captain” discusses Butler and what he brings to a movie production. We get a couple minor insights and some good footage from the set, but most of the comments just praise Butler.

Plane Clothes goes for six minutes, 51 seconds. It features Butler, Colter, Trevena, Richet, Krug, Pineda, Goldwyn, costume designer Erinn Knight, and actors Amber Rivera and Joey Slotnick.

With this piece, we learn about costumes. This turns into an informative little reel.

Finally, Brace For Turbulence lasts 19 minutes, 14 seconds. Here we find remarks from Butler, Krug, Pineda, Taylor, Trevena, Galvin, Richet, Slotnick, Colter, An, Butan, stunt coordinator Jim Churchman, and actors Remi Adeleke, Amber Rivera and Pete Cobell.

“Brace” tells us about stunts and action as well as sets, locations and photography. It mixes useful details with a bit of happy talk, though it comes with enough worthwhile material to largely work.

Nothing about Plane elevates the action genre. Nonetheless, it delivers a moderately exciting experience, so expect a mildly entertaining adventure. The Blu-ray delivers very good picture and audio along with a lackluster set of bonus materials. Go into Plane with subdued expectations and you’ll likely enjoy it to a degree.