Airport

This film did for flying like JAWS did for swimming in the ocean. Thks came out one year before I was born, I remember seeing them when I was a kid with re - runs. I haven't seen each of the films in forever so I decided to re watch them. I still have to watch The Concorde, and that is the last of the four. Each of the films are great, with top stars in each different film.

Being an ex flight attendant, loved the movie.

Had to be pulled by the ear and dragged into Radio City Music Hall in NYC by my mother to see this one in 1970. And I am so thankful that she did as AIRPORT proved to be a thoroughly engaging and entertaining production with an all-star cast. Among the stars were five Oscar winners---Burt Lancaster [ELMER GANTRY, 1960], Van Heflin [JOHNNY EAGER, 1942], Helen Hayes [THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET, 1931], George Kennedy [COOL HAND LUKE, 1967] and Maureen Stapleton [REDS, 1981]. The plot centers around a despondent, mentally unstable Joe who can't keep a job and provide for his family and decides to board a plane with a bomb to do the unthinkable so that his beloved but unwitting wife can collect the insurance money. In the meantime Burt Lancaster is the General Manager of the snowbound "AIRPORT" whose only safe and useable runway is blocked by a Jet stuck in the snow. He is being bombarded from all sides---by his neglected wife who doesn't get to see her interminably busy husband enough, by local politicians who want his airport closed due to complaints of noise pollution and even by colleague pilots and co-workers who question his decisions and probably sit in wait for him to make the gaffe that will send him to the gallows. The beautiful Jean Seberg plays his co-worker girlfriend who is always by his side. The passengers on the plane are fun characterizations and include the annoyingly intrusive loudmouth who stirs the pot, the perturbingly know-it-all teen, the 'Doc', the Priest, the nuns---many spoofed in the wonderfully delicious comedy classic, AIRPLANE [1980]. Dean Martin at first appeared miscast as the doomed jet's Captain but, being the fine actor that he is, was able to pull it off. He is also Lancaster's brother-in-law in the movie but is having a relationship with one of his stewardesses played by the ethereal British actress Jacqueline Bisset. There is some frank talk about abortion, its consequences and alternatives after she discovers that she is carrying his child. The terse and melancholic Heflin is terrific as the bomber aka "Guerrero, D.O.". His disappointed but always supportive spouse is played by Maureen Stapleton who should have won the best female supporting actress Oscar over Hayes for her short but wonderfully sensitive and poignant portrayal. Their talk in the Diner before his departure was evocative. Hayes was cute and endearing as the septuagenarian flimflam artist and stowaway. George Kennedy is a gas as Joe Patroni the ultra-experienced blue-collar 707 expert who is called upon to get the stuck-in-the-snow Jet out of the way so that the last runway, and the Airport, can remain open. This becomes an exigency when, after the bomber succeeds, that runway is the only hope for the disabled jet. Kennedy's riotous exchange with the pilots not willing to press the pedal to the metal and thrust the stuck jet out of the snow in fear that they will damage the structure is memorable and his last-chance personal 'let-it-all-hang-out' try is a blast. Hey, Joe Patroni is always welcomed in my house. Too bad that recollections of this excellent film have been blurred by the subsequent awful Airport sequeals and a slew of superficial disaster flicks over the years. This, the original AIRPORT, had it all: drama, romance, comedy, suspense...etc...truly great entertainment. Thanks to THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY [1954] for the inspiration. Congrats to Goodtimes Video for an excellent transfer [I purchased the full screen edition].

Great movie, shows the interactions between the plane and air traffic control, and noise and weather issues. This is the best of the four (?) "airport" movies.

"Airport" was basically the start of the 1970s disaster films. There had been "disaster" movies before: "San Francisco" with Clark Gable, "In Old Chicago" with Tyrone Power, and "The Hurricane" with Jon Hall, to name just three from the 1930s, but they really took off in the Seventies ("The Poseidon Adventure," "Earthquake," etc.). But what was at the heart of "Airport" was...heart. It came from an Arthur Hailey novel, one of those thick kind filled with character plots. Anyway, "Airport" brought together old and new stars in this story of an unhappy marriage, a love affair, a man so driven by desperation who brings a bomb on board to get insurance money for his wife, an old lady stowaway, and a heavy winter storm causing havoc on the runways of the airport.This was a very enjoyable film in its day and still is today. It was one of the major inspirations for "Airplane!" ("Zero Hour" was another.) The stars of this production were all perfect...except for one. Dean Martin, famous in show business life for his image as a harddrinker, as the co-pilot? (Mad Magazine had fun with that in their satire of the film, named "Airplot".) Burt Lancaster is the general manager of the airport, trying to balance the needs of the many in the terminal and up in the air with those of his demanding wife at home. Jacqueline Bisset is the stewardess whose affair with co-pilot Martin has resulted in her being pregnant. George Kennedy, Van Heflin, Maureen Stapleton, Dana Wynter, and Jean Seberg round out the cast. And, oh, yes, Helen Hayes as a charming old lady who has gotten quite good at slipping unchecked onto different flights in order to be able to see her family around the country. Hayes was so delightful that she won the Best Supporting Actress for her performance. (By the way, "Airport" was nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture.)There was one other element to making this picture successful and that was Alfred Newman's musical score. It comes in powerful at the beginning and plays under the dangerous landing, helping to project the tensions. He is also equally romantic in several sections. If you don't know of Alfred Newman, I highly recommend you watch movies with his scores. Actually, you probably do know one piece of his music without knowing you do. The 20th Century Fox fanfare at the beginning of a film is his. Some of the titles on Blu-ray with his scores are "How the West Was Won," "The Greatest Story Ever Told," and "The Robe" (one of his very best scores).The picture quality is very good, probably as good as we will get from this.Audio is excellent. While dialogue is front and center, you may not notice it but you do get a subtle use of music and sound effects that adds to the whole experience.Extras are on the extremely slim side. A trailer and two retrospective featurettes (100 Years of Universal: The Lot and 100 Years of Universal: The '70s).This package comes with a DVD and a digital copy.Very much recommended.