Sole Survivor (1970 TV Movie)
10/10
A gem worth tracking down to see
20 January 2015
Dear reader, if you are like me, you saw this a long time ago once, maybe twice and were hooked for life thereafter. But if you're not, if you have only ever sat on the edges of the discussion about this film or frankly have never heard of it till now ... you must watch this film. It does what so few stories have achieved before and since, it keeps you watching even if you've seen it before.

Sole Survivor is not about the sole survivor of a plane crash come to identify the wreck as IMDb and so many others say, it's about the desire for closure, for a return home as expressed by the 5 crewmen stranded in the dessert for the last 17 years. They are the centre around all else revolves and they are the reason you will never forget this film once you've watched it.

Fairly quickly if you're smart, and maybe not so fast if you're not paying attention, you figure out they're dead and have been waiting around for somebody, anybody to find their corpses and take them home, but when the man who ditched into sea leaving them to their fates shows up with investigators, they want to make sure the truth comes out.

Several scenes that have stuck with me over the years centre around how the world had changed in 17 short years, and if your family are among those that still think the Dodgers are traitors for going west, you'll be hard pressed not to smile at one point. These men display the same curiosity and awe they held in life and that is why I suspect so many feel so strongly about Sole Survivor. The cast and the writer have contributed to making these guys come to life in what could have easily been a one set, three act play doomed to put people to sleep by "What do you miss most about home".

Featured strongly outside of the dead airmen are the performances of the General and that of those of the investigators come to draw a line under the whole thing. Fans of Star Trek will look forward to the familiar acting style of William Shatner who only lapses into Shat speak maybe once or twice.

I can't and won't ruin the ending for you as the ending is entirely up to your interpretation of what happens next, I on the balance of evidence think the last soul, the sole survivor if you like, goes home too. But even if he doesn't, if you have a heart, if you have ever come that close to something but had to wait just a bit longer and wondered if you could stand it.... you too will not soon forget this film.
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