I had a bad flight to Japan on United like that. All the video displays went down, so we had a 14 hr flight with nothing to do.
I flew on Pan Am from Agana, Guam to Los Angeles in 1977. The audio on the video system crapped out. Pan Am said “There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is there’s no audio for the movie. The good news is we aren’t going to charge you for the movie.”
We took off about 10 or 11 pm and all the passengers wanted to do was sleep. But they persisted in showing the movie with the flickering light keeping everybody without eyeshades from falling asleep.Remember these were the days of a single screen (maybe two) at the front of each cabin. This was even before there were drop-down screens hanging from the ceiling every ten rows or so.
so we had a 14 hr flight with nothing to do....Did you for get how to sleep? I have a good book to help you remember, Dreams From My Father, or some crap.
I would have enjoyed it. I just got home from a long bus ride in Panama (approx 7 hours) and had to sit through 3-1/2 movies, all in Spanish:
1. "Overboard", starring Swoosie Kurtz and Eva Longoria. Not a bad film but the "working girl tricks billionaire into falling in love under false pretenses" script is tiresome and utterly predictable. Didn't Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell do this flick back in the 80s?
2. (didn't see title, possibly "Benchwarmers"). If you're a student of film, this encapsulates everything awful about modern filmmaking. Start with a loser who was once a baseball star until he took a fastball in the groin and now has urinary problems which everyone thinks is hilarious. He winds up coaching a softball team full of fellow losers with every frickin' minority group and gender identity represented (like that really happens) complete with a fat guy in a motorized scooter to represent the mobility-impaired. In the end, the coach has to pinch-hit and scores the winning run in the ninth which impresses the hot chick with the 100-mph fastball and they live happily ever after.
3. "Dora the Explorer and the Lost Ruins". This also stars Eva Longoria (see "Desperate Housewives" and add 15 years). Actually the best of the films but I could tell it was not made or marketed for the U.S. How could I know? The entire cast was Hispanic and they weren't constantly bumping into blacks, gays, asians, the mobility-impaired and the rest of the alphabet and grievance crowds. No doubt, a Hollywood rendition would have demanded more "diversity".
4. "Inside Man", a New York City bank heist with ruthless Germans (aka white people) as the thieves. The good guys are FBI agents - a not-my-type blonde chick and a smooth-talking black guy. I didn't get to see the end but I think I can make a very accurate prediction since Hollywood is nothing but formulaic crap these days.
So, yeah, 14 hours of peace (with some sleep) suits me just fine.