MovieChat Forums > Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983) Discussion > The UX-1: I finally got the joke.

The UX-1: I finally got the joke.

posted 18 years ago by quietman77-1
21 replies | jump to latest

Don't ask me why I was thinking of this silly movie, but...

When I first saw Starflight One, I (briefly) thought it was odd that the space shuttle that shielded the airliner during re-entry was named UX-1. No big deal; I basically shrugged and got on with my life, but it did seem odd.

It dawned on me the other day - and I may be the last one to have figured it out - that this was a subtle joke. The UX-1 just sort of showed up at the very end, without any explaination and for no logical reason, and saved the day.

UX-1 = Deus Ex Machina

I wonder whose joke it was? Did the producers know they were making a dumb, though admittedly fun, movie and consciously put that name in? Or, possibly, did one of the writers sneak it past everybody?

Oh, well:
Q77

[–] masterjedi-2 17 years ago

With your explanation, I still don't get it.

[–] quietman77-1 17 years ago

"Deus Ex Machina" is a term that means either "Machine of God" or "Machine of the gods" - sorry, I'm not sure which is accurate - and is a literary device for something that saves the heros' lives, even though it doesn't necessarily make logical sense, or may appear completely out of context.

As I understand it, the original sources took place in ancient Greek and/or Roman stage plays. The hero or heros would be placed in a position from which there was no possibility of escape, when:

[cue melodramatic music]

Suddenly, a divine chariot, sent by the gods of Olympus would appear on the scene - often lowered onto the stage by wires or something similar - and the hero or heros would jump into it and ride off!!!

Tah-dah!!!

A more recent example, and just as absurd, was at the end of Saving Private Ryan. The heros have been pinned down by the German tanks, their position is falling, the squad is being killed, man-by-man, when:

[cue melodramatic music]

Suddenly, several P-51 Mustangs - aircraft that none of us had any clue were available, and that our heros made NO ATTEMPT WHATSOEVER to contact - swoop down from the sky, shoot up the German tanks, and thereby save Matt Damon from certain death!!!

Tah-dah!!!

You get the idea. The end of Starflight is pretty much the same thing. For the entire movie, the shuttle Columbia has been the only space vehicle available to carry out the rescue attempts. At the very end, it can't be turned around in time to save our heros, they're all going to die, when:

[cue melodramatic music]

Another space shuttle shows up out of nowhere, and saves the day! Tah-dah!!!

Deus Ex Machina isn't always so blatent, or so stupid. If you listen to the Director's Commentary from Terminator 2, James Cameron admits to putting one example in the movie. Sarah Connor has decided to kill Miles Dyson (the computer expert who eventually develops Skynet), and has his head lined up in the scope of her sniper rifle. Just as she's about to fire, he drops something off of his desk, bends down to pick it up, and Sarah's shot misses him.

[–] JPhillips1067 15 years ago

Ok, but what does the UX-1 have to do with the explanation?

[–] Lawdog1527 15 years ago

Pretty good explanation of Deus Ex Machina however SPR isn’t a good example. Capt. Miller only had to secure the bridge long enough for allied forces to arrive. While fortuitous they arrived when they did, it was well within the realm of possibility. (As to why tank busters would hit first, recon would have seen the armored Nazi column and air craft would be radioed in first.)

As to the UX-1... I don’t get the connection either.

[–] megArnold 15 years ago

The Terminator event isn't a deus ex machina either. A deus ex machina is a person or being or active object unexpectedly but actively saving the day, but not an incident. The guy just got lucky.

The shuttle is a deus ex machina, but I can't see what it's name has got to do with it.

[–] electrictroy 15 years ago

No I'm sorry but "UX" does not translate. If it was "DXM-1" then I could buy that it means Deus X Machina, but those are not the initials used in the movie.

---
Everything God creates is majestic and sinless,
and that includes the human body.

[–] quietman77-1 15 years ago

The reason I believe that the UX-1 was intended, by the writers, to be a Deus Ex Machina, is that the format of the name is completely atypical of space shuttle names. Also, maybe it will help if I spell the term:

deUs eX machIna

Also, it seemed very, very odd that, within the plot of the movie, one space shuttle was continuously used and reused - Columbia if I remember correctly - and that UX-1, which would have been a very useful addition to the rescue effort, isn't used, nor is it even mentioned, until the point where all hope seemed lost.

If I completely misinterpreted the film-makers' intent... my bad.

As for the DXM in Terminator 2, I only used that example because James Cameron used those exact words in the T2 commentary track. Yes, I will agree that it probably doesn't fit the strict definition of a DXM; however, I get the impression that Mr. Cameron believed that he was pushing the concept of "good luck" to the limit in that scene, and that's why he called it DXM.

As for Saving Private Ryan... I'm just calling it as I see it. Sure, soldiers have been saved from superior ground forces by air cover on countless occasions (the tank busters really should have been CGI P-47s or Typhoons, but oh well...)

Purely from a film-viewers' perspective, I called it a DXM because, if I recall correctly, support aircraft hadn't been used as a regular feature in the movie up to that point, and the on-screen characters did little, if anything, to vector in the aircraft. Again, if I'm wrong about that, oh well...

[–] Lawdog1527 15 years ago

To me the connection you make is a little… well, bible code. Your picking random letters then assigning meaning to them. But feel free to ask one of the writers should you run into them.

Now as to SPR, your forgetting the reinforcements weren’t there for Captain Miller or his unit. They showed up to defend the bridge. Ryan’s unit had been assigned to defend the bridge until those reinforcements arrived. So that was all in motion before Miller and his team even found Ryan. It was in no way a surprise or DEM.

[–] masterjedi-2 14 years ago

Yeah, the UX-1 doesn't mean squat in this conversation.

[–] Eric-62-2 14 years ago

And here's the ultimate reason why "UX-1" doesn't enter this. The vehicle's actual name is "XU-5".

I am one who likes old disaster movies, but this one is done so badly and so stilted, it's hard today to even watch it as a "guilty pleasure." Bad enough we had to have the conceit of a space shuttle being landed and relaunched in a matter of hours, coming up with one that hasn't been mentioned until the convenient climax is even worse (not to mention Lee Majors making sure only the stewardess he is shacking with gets off ahead of time while the other stews must stay behind and risk re-entry!)

[–] fubleduck 14 years ago

Interesting irony that the SS Columbia saved SF1 from the same fate it met itself about 2 decades later. In real life, do you really think the cost of sending the SSC up so many times to rescue commercial passengers on an experimental plane's maiden flight(NO! they did NOT DO that on a maiden flight![Will Smith sarcasm]) would be no object? I recall something something SL Jackson told Ghristian Bale in Batman begins. "No soldior's life is worth $300,000". Also-as has been pointed out-the SS doesn't have that kind of turn around capability.

Kyle: It's bigger than Cartman's @$$!
Eric: No it isn't you guys

[–] gatebanger 14 years ago

After all the foregoing, I have two observations:

1. Whoever started this thread didn't have to mention his age--he obviously must be young . . . the young see hidden codes everywhere, it seems.

2. Deus Ex Machina is MOST commonly taken to mean "God from the Machine." It is a literary device used by writers who have painted themselves into a corner and are too lazy or too inept to figure out how to fix things. Some writers also call it "rabbits from hats." This is not intended to be a compliment.

[–] omega2064 14 years ago

UX-1 can be translated that to mean. Unexpected One.

[–] yoncenator 14 years ago

It could also mean that these were really crappy writers and had no intention of making any reference except that UX-1 "SOUNDS" like an experimental futuristic craft. You know the postulation that the most likely explanation is usually the correct one? I think this applies here.

Who would ever believe that the space shuttle could launch on a moment's notice and then RE-LAUNCH again the second it landed.
This tv movie is like airplane except not funny at all. It's Airplane without any (intentional) jokes. Who the hell thought this could be a serious story??? It's truly amazing what made it on TV in 1983.

Did you tell LUKE..? Is THAT who you could tell??

[–] sjmills1 9 years ago

Oh my god! It really means Ugly Xylophone One! That's amazing! I smell a conspiracy.

[–] Eric-62-2 9 years ago

Um, people, watch the film once again if you dare. The actual name is XU-5. Not UX-1.

[–] sjmills1 9 years ago

I know. This entire thread is completely ridiculous. The film makers had no hidden agenda. XU-5 is just a nice spacy sci-fi sounding name.

[–] alanr4447a 8 years ago

Now if it were the DSX Mark 1...

[–] jeffworks 8 years ago

One has to wonder why the writers just didn't have Columbia still in orbit when Gilliam gets his plan.

[–] spodso 8 years ago

It makes perfect sense now! 3rd letter from the 1st word, 2nd letter from the 2nd word, and 5th "lookalike" letter from the 3rd word. Now I get it! LOLOL!

[–] muckydog2 10 years ago

It suddenly occurred to me, ''quietman77-1'', you cheeky bugger no wonder!!!