Airport Terminal Pack (Airport Airport '75 Airport '77 Airport '79 - The Concord)

Buy This Item Airport Terminal Pack (Airport Airport '75 Airport '77 Airport '79 - The Concord)  List Price: $19.98  Available from Amazon  $15.49  on 12-6-2008     Features Actors: Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, Sylvia Kristel, George Kennedy Directors: David Lowell Rich, Jerry Jameson, Jack Smight Format: Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC Language: English Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Number of discs: 2 Rating: Studio: Universal Studios DVD Release Date: February 10, 2004 Run Time: 472 minutes Average Customer Review:   55 Reviews 5 star:  (23) 4 star:  (11) 3 star:  (8) 2 star:  (5) 1 star:  (8) See all 55 customer reviews...   (55 customer reviews) Reader Reviews Here they are in all their brazen glory, everybody's favorite cinematic whipping posts, those relics of '70's kitsch, the "Airport" films. Each of these cinematic atrocities belong in a time capsule, if for no other reason than to provide future generations with hours of unintentional laughs and the pathetic sight of some of our greatest actors at the end of their careers, attempting against all odds to maintain some dignity while prolonging the inevitable end of their careers for just one more film. Here's a brief rundown of each: "Airport" (1970) is actually a decent and entertaining film, although it DEFINITELY did not deserve its plethora of Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture!). Burt Lancaster stars as the general manager of a Chicago airport who deals with every crisis in the book in one memorable night: a snowstorm, a disabled plane blocking the main runway, an elderly stowaway (Oscar winner Helen Hayes), his obnoxious b*tch of a wife, his lout of a brother-in-law (Dean Martin) who is also an airline pilot, neighborhood critics who want the airport shut down due to noise, his brother-in-law's pregnant girlfriend (Jacqueline Bisset), his comely assistant whom he clearly wants to bed (Jean Seberg), and oh, yes, the plane that just took off with a mad bomber (Van Heflin) on board. If you like old-fashioned, episodic, "Grand Hotel"-like soap operas with diva-like acting and melodrama-galore, you'll love this one. Unfortunately, Lancaster didn't, and called it his worst film. It's no wonder, since he's a real stiff here, and competes with a drunken-looking Martin for worst performance of the year honors. And while Hayes won the Oscar for her equally horrid performance, Maureen Stapleton, George Kennedy (as an airline troubleshooter), and Van Heflin are all excellent and the primary reasons to see the film, along with the suspenseful final 30 minutes, which are expertly helmed by writer-director George Seaton. By far the best of the series. *** (out of *****) "Airport 1975" (1974!) Dana Andrews has a heart attack and flies his small plane into a 747, wiping out the crew and leaving cross-eyed head stewardess Karen Black to fly the plane. Unfortunately, she's flying it right into the Rocky Mountains (over Salt Lake City), so boyfriend (and ace pilot) Charlton Heston (in a horrid plaid suit and yellow turtleneck) has to attempt a daring mid-air transfer from a helicopter into the cockpit, with the help of the original film's George Kennedy, who has been promoted from chief mechanic to "Vice President of Operations." But all this drama is secondary to the real purpose of this film: to provide a dozen-or-so has-been comics and TV actors a forum to ad-lib quips and portray worthless stereotypes as if they were guest-starring on Hollywood Squares. And then there's the unforgettable sight of folk singer and feminist icon Helen Reddy in full habit as Sister Ruth, a "flying" nun who counts her beads, prays the rosary and, in the infamous camp scene classically parodied in "Airplane!", pulls out a guitar and sings inspirational folk tunes to kidney-transplant patient Linda Blair (who looks like she still hasn't recovered from "The Exorcist"). And how sad it is to see legends like Gloria Swanson, Sid Caesar and Myrna Loy playing worthless stereotypes (in Swanson's case, herself) who are so useless to the story they could have blown out the cockpit hole along with the crew and nobody would even notice. Awful, to say the least. * (out of *****) "Airport '77" (1977) My favorite of the sequels is much-maligned as Jack Lemmon's worst movie but is actually pretty good on its own rather modest terms. Millionaire James Stewart is flying friends and family (and his valuable art collection) to Palm Beach on his plush luxury jet for the opening of his new art museum when art thieves knock out the passengers and crew with nerve gas (their co-pilot partner excepted) and fly into the Bermuda Triangle with the intention of unloading the cargo on an abandoned airstrip before the passengers awaken. Unfortunately things go awry and they crash into the ocean, sinking to the bottom (!) with the pressurized fuselage intact and not crushing since the plane is apparently built like a submarine. It's up to brave pilot Lemmon to somehow save the day by finding a way to the surface and alerting the Navy to their whereabouts. Yes, it's preposterous. Yes, there's no way a plane can stay intact against that much underwater pressure. And, yes, the cast consists of typical stereotypes (the rich b*tch, the resentful daughter, the saintly scientist, the innocent children, the concerned matron, etc.). But it still works since the cast (including Olivia de Havilland, Christopher Lee, Darrin McGavin, Brenda Vaccaro and Kathleen Quinlan) is actually pretty good and each character is actually given some purpose toward advancing the plot. Lemmon is terrific in an unusual heroic role; however, the usually reliable Lee Grant is just awful as the b*tch, who is supposedly comic relief but so nasty you'll be begging to watch her drown. And, yes, George Kennedy is back as Joe Patroni, who acts as cheerleader and sounding-board for Stewart in two brief, pointless scenes. And unlike its tacky immediate predecessor, this film actually has good special effects and is competently filmed by TV hack Jerry Jameson. **1/2 (out of *****) Finally, there's "The Concorde--Airport '79" (1979) which is quite simply one of the absolute worst movies ever committed to celluloid. Tacky, illogically plotted, filled with pointless cameos (including Charo, in an unbelievably stupid walk-on bit), laughably written by "Forrest Gump" Oscar-winner Eric Roth (!!), and atrociously directed by TV hack David Lowell Rich, who should never have been allowed to helm a major studio effort. The plot is so stupid I won't even dignify it with an explanation, let's just say it is so illogical it's amazing noone at Universal pulled the plug before principal photography began and has plot holes so big you can fly a fleet of SSTs through them. The cast is also incredibly lame and filled with TV nonactors who are so far down on the celebrity scale they shall remain nameless. However, I do find it sad watching the wonderful actress Cicely Tyson, who should have won an Oscar for 1972's "Sounder," reduced to picking up a paycheck in this awful dreck. How sad the state of African-American roles were back then. And what can you say about a film that was initially advertised as a suspense thriller until opening night audiences laughed it off the screen, whereas it was immediately re-advertised as a "comedy"! And by the way, George Kennedy is back again as Patroni, who has gone from being a mechanic in the original to Concorde pilot in this (!) 'Nuff said (no stars) out of ***** An additional note: Universal has remastered and restored the films and they are finally available in their original widescreen formats (the first three in 2:35:1 and part four in 1:85:1). So even if they're not great films, at least we can ridicule them in their original pristine state.  Comment (1) | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } (Report this)

Airport Terminal Pack (Airport Airport '75 Airport '77 Airport '79 - The Concord) List Price: $19.98 Available from Amazon Price: $15.49 Updated on 12-6-2008.

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