Finally all 4 of the 1970s era Airport disaster films are available on Blu-ray for the first time ever! The original film, Airport, had been previously available on Blu-ray as a single release, but the three sequels make their Blu-ray debut in this set.
Airport released in 1970 kick started the 1970s disaster movie craze bringing together many of the elements that made the genre so popular (all star casts, tense set pieces, great special effects and lots of drama). This film is done very seriously and depicts a series of mishaps at a busy airport including inclement weather, a plane that slides off a runaway and becomes stuck in the snow, protestors from a nearby community who want a runway shut down as the air traffic goes right over their homes, a stowaway, marital drama and a bomber on board one of the planes. Lots of great performances from the likes of Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bissett, George Kennedy, Van Heflin, Maureen Stapleton and Helen Hayes is marvelous as the elderly stowaway. This film was nominated for a number of Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1970 and was a promising start to the disaster genre, which eventually became high camp by the close of the 1970s.
Airport 1975, released in 1974, came out in the heyday of the disaster film (The Poseidon Adventure had already come out and also in 1974 the likes of The Towering Inferno and Earthquake proved the staying power of the genre). Airport 1975 again features an all star cast, but the plot this time is a little more straightforward, rather than dealing with the running of an airline at the airport terminal, this film tells the story of a midair collision and the crew and passengers must work to keep the plane in the air after the pilots are injured or killed. Charlton Heston leads the rescue operations on the ground along with George Kennedy while Karen Black attempts to fly the plane. A number of notable stars are passengers aboard the flight (Helen Reddy as a singing nun, Gloria Swanson as herself, Myrna Loy and Sid Caesar share seats together and Linda Blair is a terminally ill child on her way to receive an organ transplant). Despite the film heading into some campy territory with the singing nun character, the film was surprisingly entertaining and kept me watching the screen the whole time.
Airport '77, released in 1977, tells the story of a high end 747 loaded with important guests who have been invited by Jimmy Stewart to attend the opening of his new museum of art. However the plane is hijacked mid air by a group of thieves hiding in plain sight as crew members who attempt to gas the passengers and steal priceless works of art on board the plane and make their getaway all while the passengers sleep it off. However this goes awry when the plane clips an oil rig and crashes into the ocean where it proceeds to sink to the bottom. After the plane disappears Jimmy Stewart uses his pull to get help in finding the plane which includes George Kennedy back again this time in a very small role. Jack Lemmon is the pilot, Brenda Vaccaro the head stewardess and the passengers include Lee Grant, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, M. Emmett Walsh and Christopher Lee.
The Concorde: Airport '79 is definitely the worst of the bunch. Coming out in 1979 at the end of the disaster craze it was full of high camp and like many other disaster flicks of the time (The Swarm, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure and When Time Ran Out) it bombed spectacularly at the box office, successfully ending the franchise. This one features Susan Blakely as a reporter who receives intel that her lover (Robert Wagner), the head of a major corporation, is selling arms to terrorists and she plans to report on this upon arriving in Paris after a flight aboard The Concorde airplane. Robert Wagner uses various means to try and ensure she doesn't survive the trip including shooting experimental missiles at the plane and hiring rogue French jets to try and shoot them down. The film features French star Alain Delon and the returning George Kennedy as the pilots of the Concorde and a host of B-actors are on board as the passengers including (Jimmie Walker as saxophone player, Charo who attempts to smuggle on her pet dog, Eddie Albert as the owner of the Concorde, Avery Schreiber as the coach of a Russian Olympic team and Martha Raye who is hysterically out of place as a woman who suffers from incontinence. Martha Raye features in a scene so unbelievable it has to bee seen, she is seen tumbling around the airplane lavatory as the Concorde veers, darts, dives and spins to avoid the aforementioned missiles. This one is probably more for completists like myself who like to watch all movies in a series or for fans of bad movies.
As for the picture quality of the films Airport and Airport '77 look and sound amazing on my Home Theater set up. Airport 1975 is very good as well. The Concorde: Airport '79 is the worst in terms of picture quality as it is quite grainy in a lot of scenes, however all 4 films look better than their DVD counterparts.
All in all, this is a great set to add to your collection if you are a fan of the films, the 1970s or disaster films in general. OR maybe you grew up with these and want a great nostalgia ride back to the 1970s. Also a great price for 4 films, all around 2 hours each or longer in Airport's case.
Airport released in 1970 kick started the 1970s disaster movie craze bringing together many of the elements that made the genre so popular (all star casts, tense set pieces, great special effects and lots of drama). This film is done very seriously and depicts a series of mishaps at a busy airport including inclement weather, a plane that slides off a runaway and becomes stuck in the snow, protestors from a nearby community who want a runway shut down as the air traffic goes right over their homes, a stowaway, marital drama and a bomber on board one of the planes. Lots of great performances from the likes of Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bissett, George Kennedy, Van Heflin, Maureen Stapleton and Helen Hayes is marvelous as the elderly stowaway. This film was nominated for a number of Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1970 and was a promising start to the disaster genre, which eventually became high camp by the close of the 1970s.
Airport 1975, released in 1974, came out in the heyday of the disaster film (The Poseidon Adventure had already come out and also in 1974 the likes of The Towering Inferno and Earthquake proved the staying power of the genre). Airport 1975 again features an all star cast, but the plot this time is a little more straightforward, rather than dealing with the running of an airline at the airport terminal, this film tells the story of a midair collision and the crew and passengers must work to keep the plane in the air after the pilots are injured or killed. Charlton Heston leads the rescue operations on the ground along with George Kennedy while Karen Black attempts to fly the plane. A number of notable stars are passengers aboard the flight (Helen Reddy as a singing nun, Gloria Swanson as herself, Myrna Loy and Sid Caesar share seats together and Linda Blair is a terminally ill child on her way to receive an organ transplant). Despite the film heading into some campy territory with the singing nun character, the film was surprisingly entertaining and kept me watching the screen the whole time.
Airport '77, released in 1977, tells the story of a high end 747 loaded with important guests who have been invited by Jimmy Stewart to attend the opening of his new museum of art. However the plane is hijacked mid air by a group of thieves hiding in plain sight as crew members who attempt to gas the passengers and steal priceless works of art on board the plane and make their getaway all while the passengers sleep it off. However this goes awry when the plane clips an oil rig and crashes into the ocean where it proceeds to sink to the bottom. After the plane disappears Jimmy Stewart uses his pull to get help in finding the plane which includes George Kennedy back again this time in a very small role. Jack Lemmon is the pilot, Brenda Vaccaro the head stewardess and the passengers include Lee Grant, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, M. Emmett Walsh and Christopher Lee.
The Concorde: Airport '79 is definitely the worst of the bunch. Coming out in 1979 at the end of the disaster craze it was full of high camp and like many other disaster flicks of the time (The Swarm, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure and When Time Ran Out) it bombed spectacularly at the box office, successfully ending the franchise. This one features Susan Blakely as a reporter who receives intel that her lover (Robert Wagner), the head of a major corporation, is selling arms to terrorists and she plans to report on this upon arriving in Paris after a flight aboard The Concorde airplane. Robert Wagner uses various means to try and ensure she doesn't survive the trip including shooting experimental missiles at the plane and hiring rogue French jets to try and shoot them down. The film features French star Alain Delon and the returning George Kennedy as the pilots of the Concorde and a host of B-actors are on board as the passengers including (Jimmie Walker as saxophone player, Charo who attempts to smuggle on her pet dog, Eddie Albert as the owner of the Concorde, Avery Schreiber as the coach of a Russian Olympic team and Martha Raye who is hysterically out of place as a woman who suffers from incontinence. Martha Raye features in a scene so unbelievable it has to bee seen, she is seen tumbling around the airplane lavatory as the Concorde veers, darts, dives and spins to avoid the aforementioned missiles. This one is probably more for completists like myself who like to watch all movies in a series or for fans of bad movies.
As for the picture quality of the films Airport and Airport '77 look and sound amazing on my Home Theater set up. Airport 1975 is very good as well. The Concorde: Airport '79 is the worst in terms of picture quality as it is quite grainy in a lot of scenes, however all 4 films look better than their DVD counterparts.
All in all, this is a great set to add to your collection if you are a fan of the films, the 1970s or disaster films in general. OR maybe you grew up with these and want a great nostalgia ride back to the 1970s. Also a great price for 4 films, all around 2 hours each or longer in Airport's case.