It doesn’t seem too long ago that we knew Liam Neeson primarily as a “serious actor”. He established that reputation via acclaimed roles in flicks like 1993’s Schindler’s List and 1997’s Michael Collins.

Then came 2009’s Taken, a hit thriller that made Neeson an action star at the semi-advanced age of 57. This altered Neeson’s career trajectory and plopped him in similar films, an arc that leads us to 2014’s Non-Stop.

After his young daughter died of leukemia, police officer Bill Marks (Neeson) soothed his pain via alcohol. This lost him his job, but he found work as an air marshal, a career he looks down upon as a glorified nanny in the sky.

During a flight from NYC to London, Bill receives a mysterious text message. It states that unless Bill convinces the government to send $150 million to a secret account, one passenger will die every 20 minutes.

Initially Bill scoffs at this outlandish concept, but once deaths start to occur, he takes it more seriously – and he becomes implicated when the perpetrator makes it look as though Bill owns the offshore account. Bill works against the clock to save lives and clear his name.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra began his career with a much-panned remake of House of Wax and never established much ability to create memorable movies after that. While some of Collet-Serra’s flicks work better than others – like the fairly good shark thriller The Shallows - I can’t claim any of them rise above the level of “formulaic but fun”.

Into that domain falls Non-Stop, a wholly silly tale that threatens the old 1970s disaster flicks in terms of goofiness. Not that the film wants us to view it as ridiculous, I suspect, for Collet-Serra plays things seriously.

Hpwever, the end result borders on camp, and the story takes us down so many hole-ridden paths that it becomes tough to accept it as anything substantial. Even the decision to make Bill a haunted alcoholic comes across as trite and cliché.

Despite all these marks against it, though, I must admit Non-Stop manages reasonable entertainment. Braindead as the whole enterprise may be, Collet-Serra finds enough thrills to keep the audience engaged.

A good cast helps. Neeson does absolutely nothing to stretch his talents, but he handles the part with the necessary gusto and makes Bill reasonably compelling despite the clichés.

The film partners him with Julianne Moore and gives her a role with more subtlety than Neeson’s. She and Neeson show nice chemistry and help elevate the material.

In addition, we find a solid supporting crew, with people like Corey Stoll, Nate Parker, Shea Whigham, Michelle Dockery, Corey Hawkins and others in tow. Heck, we even get future Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o in a small part as a flight attendant!

None of them allow the film to deliver any real substance, but they semi-ground the tale and make its outrageousness more believable. Not truly realistic, but at least less idiotic than it should be.

Though one shouldn’t take that as an endorsement that Non-Stop ever becomes anything more than a ridiculous thrill ride. It finds one implausible plot thread after another, all of which build toward a wholly absurd climax.

And yet, the movie still keeps us pretty entertained. Nothing about Non-Stop excels, and if you exert more than half a brain cell, you’ll find it tough to take, but as basic action fare, it manages some thrills.

Non-Stop appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not great, this became a largely satisfying presentation.

Sharpness turned into the most inconsistent element, as the film could seem a little on the soft side at times. However, much of this appeared to stem from photographic choices, and the majority of the image appeared accurate and concise.

The movie lacked jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. No print flaws materialized either.

In terms of colors, Non-Stop went with blue-teal to the exclusion of virtually all other hues. This seemed like an over the top choice, but the disc replicated the hues as expected.

Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows seemed fairly smooth. A couple of low-light shots felt slightly dense, but most boasted appealing clarity. No one will use this as a showcase, but it replicated the source pretty well.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it brought a fairly exciting affair – at times, at least. Given the thriller nature of the tale, much of the mix stayed semi-subdued, as it oftem favored music and airplane ambience.

When the track opted for more active material, though, it kicked to life well. The violent action boasted nice range and impact, so those moments allowed the audio to work as an involving aspect of the movie.

Audio quality satisfied, with speech that appeared natural and concise. Music showed nice range and dimensionality, as the score became a vivid aspect of the track.

Effects packed a good punch, with elements that seemed accurate and vibrant. This meant solid low-end response as well. Expect a strong soundtrack here.

We find two featurettes, and Non-Stop Action runs five minutes, 14 seconds. It provides notes from director Jaume Collet-Serra, stunt co-coordinator Mark Vanselow, producers Joel Silver, Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman, production designer Alexander Hammond, and actors Michelle Dockery, Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Nate Parker, Anson Mount, and Corey Hawkins.

“Action” looks the airplane set and stunts. Despite its brevity, it offers a pretty tight look at the topics.

Suspense at 40,000 Feet goes for seven minutes, 45 seconds and brings comments from Moore, Silver, Neeson, Hawkins, Collet-Serra, Parker, Rona, Dockery, Hammond, Mount, and actors Scoot McNairy and Omar Metwally.

With “Feet”, we get some notes about sets, story, characters/performances and the director. A few minor insights emerge, but this one feels mostly fluffy.

The disc opens with ads for Jarhead 2: Field of Fire, Lone Survivor, Sabotage, Bad Words, Scorpion King 4 and Suits. No trailer for Non-Stop appears here.

At no point does Non-Stop threaten to deliver a believable, serious dramatic tale. However, it manages enough brainless thrills to make it a fairly fun ride. The Blu-ray comes with mostly positive picture and audio but it skimps on supplements. Check your intelligence at the door and you’ll probably dig this goofy flick.