by Moe Zilla

Created on: April 05, 2008

In 1943 an American plane left Libya for a bombing raid on Italy. But on its return flight, the bomber got lost and ultimately crashed in the middle of the desert. Survivors of the crash attempted to cross the desert, and walked over 75 miles in the hot African sun. None survived.

The missing aircraft ultimately inspired an eerie movie called "Sole Survivor." After World War II ended, the plane's hull lay undiscovered for more than 16 years. In 1959 an oil crew stumbled across the wrecked aircraft - the "Lady Be Good" - and recovered the bodies of eight of its nine crewmen. "Sole Survivor" imagines a chorus of ghosts waiting for 16 years for their bodies to be recovered.

The plane crash had inspired another movie five years earlier called "Flight of the Navigator." But that movie presented the possibility of escape, as the survivors attempt to build a second aircraft with parts salvaged from the wreck. In "Sole Survivor," the bitter ghosts live in limbo, knowing that one of the crew still walks among the living. He arrives with a military inquiry about the failed mission. The ghosts blame him for their fate, and hope his treachery is exposed.

William Shatner appears in the film, as a skeptical Colonel who's anxious to end the inquiry. Just one year after the end of "Star Trek," Shatner is struggling to avoid typecasting. He enthusiastically inhabits the role of a former orphan who's now intensely loyal to the military. He gives a surprisingly understated performance, creating a believable obstacle to his more idealistic partner. He argues that the survivor, now a general, "represents the power - the system. That means hands off."

He wants his pension, and his partner observes that they're "all trapped by the past." This is more true than he realizes, as the ghosts have observed a futile routine for the last 16 years. The movie opens with an ominous wind blowing across the aircraft's hull. But will the ghosts be able to make themselves heard, and avenge their long-ago betrayal?

It's an interesting premise, creating some very original moments of suspense. The film imagines a dark fate for the soldier whose body wasn't recovered. But it sidesteps the issue of mortality, moving to a larger question about meaning. It's eerie to see soldiers living in a wasteland for 17 years - but it raises an even better question.

What will it take for their ghosts to rest?

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