Airport (1970)

Thanks for the memories!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)USA 1969 English (Colour); Drama/Adventure/Thriller (Universal/Ross Hunter); 137 minutes (PG certificate)Crew includes: George Seaton (Director/Screenwriter, adapting Novel by Arthur Hailey ***½ [7/10]); Ross Hunter (Producer); Ernest Laszlo (Cinematographer); Alexander Golitzen, E. Preston Ames (Art Directors); Stuart Gilmore (Editor); Alfred Newman (Composer)Cast includes: Burt Lancaster (Mel Bakersfeld), Dean Martin (Vernon Demerest), Jean Seberg (Tanya Livingston), Jacqueline Bisset (Gwen Meighen), George Kennedy (Joe Patroni), Helen Hayes (Ada Quonsett), Van Heflin (D.O. Guerrero), Maureen Stapleton (Inez Guerrero), Barry Nelson (Anson Harris), Dana Wynter (Cindy Bakersfeld), Lloyd Nolan (Harry Standish), Barbara Hale (Sarah Demerest), Gary Collins (Cy Jordan), John Findlater (Peter Coakley), Jessie Royce Landis (Mrs Harriet DuBarry Mossman), Larry Gates (Commissioner Ackerman), Peter Turgeon (Marcus Rathbone), Whit Bissell (Mr Davidson)Academy Award (1970): Supporting Actress (Hayes); Academy Award nominations (9): Picture, Supporting Actress (Stapleton), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Film Editing, Original Score, Costume Design (Edith Head), Sound; BAFTA nomination (1970): Supporting Actress (Stapleton); Golden Globe Award (1970): Supporting Actress (Stapleton); Golden Globe nominations (3): Picture - Drama, Supporting Actor (Kennedy), Original Score"The #1 novel of the year - now a motion picture!"A harassed airport manager (Lancaster) must contend with numerous professional and personal crises during one fateful night in the midst of a severe snowstorm, when a bomb is detonated inside a passenger jet, co-piloted by his antagonistic brother-in-law (Martin).The one that started off the 1970s craze for all-star disaster movies, the enormous box-office (if not critical) success of AIRPORT resulted in three more plane-in-peril thrillers, and inspired the classic parody AIRPLANE!, which, by exposing its clichés so mercilessly, more or less killed off the genre it was spoofing.Despite its soap-opera tendencies, it's great, escapist entertainment, with terrific performances from Hayes (delightful as a geriatric stowaway), Stapleton and Kennedy.Blu-ray Extras: None. ½ (1/10)

In seventh Grade I noticed half my gym class was absent. I asked a fellow student where is everyone and he answered Mrs. Lind had a field trip for her three classes to see Airport. Confused I responded, "JFK or LaGuardia?" My classmate said "No silly It's a movie." Still not sinking into my gray matter. A movie about an Airport? Must be boring!" The next day I asked one of the classmate who went to see the movie how it was and he said it was about a Man who is a demolitions expert, down on his luck, who takes out a large life insurance policy smuggling a bomb on a jet liner headed for Rome, plus an old lady giving forged boarding passes and the Airport manager has a blonde girlfriend while his wife bitches on the phone and furthermore The pilot of the plane impregnated his stewardess girlfriend who is also married to the airport manager's sister.A blizzard, snow on the runways Oh by the way the Pilot of the Boeing 707, is Dean Martin. I guess it's not boring. Was Dean Singing and drinking while flying? Was there an up in the clouds movie? Is Jerry Lewis the co-pilot? The classmate said it wasn't a comedy. A few years passed and I finally caught this film on Television. Exceptional all-star cast lead by Burt Lancaster as Mel Bakersfield, Dana Wynter as his fussy wife. Jean Seberg as his girlfriend Tanya Livingston. Van Heflin as the "mad bomber" Guerrero. Maureen Stapleton as Mrs.Guerrero. Familiar faces, the likes of Larry Gates as the Commish deciding to shut down the Airport and Lloyd Nolan as the head of Customs but fails to check for explosives when passengers board flights. Other notables in the film.... Gary Collins, Barbara Hale,Lou Wagner as the brainy nerd and Barry Nelson as Dean Martin's co-pilot. Two stand out performances in the film are the cigar smoking George Kennedy as Joe Patroni who disables a stalled jet on a runway just in the nick of time. Maureen Stapleton as the daunting Wife pleading for someone to stop her suicidal Husband.The shining star in all this controversy is the matriarchal veteran of the stage Helen Hayes. As Ada Quonsett the innocent sweet old trickster of flight tickets is the consummate actress with her mannerisms and timing keeps you fixated waiting for her next line. Jacqueline Bisset as the head stewardess and Dean Martin's Girlfriend who get seriously injured and plays a nice patient. Oh I almost forgot; Dort Clark and Whit Bissel are passengers as well on this bombing expedition in a blizzard outside Chicago. Piece this explanation together and you have the movie Airport which did well at the box office and carried it's name brand franchise for the rest of the decade with horrible sequels one after another all the way to new aircraft called the Concorde SST death flight piloted by Mr Brady (Robert Reed) with Regis Philbin the trademark of a bombed movie. A bit sterile the original, but entertaining and I'll watch it as this movie was lightning in a bottle but bottles run dry by the sequel in most cases.

An airport struggles to remain open during the worst snowstorm in 25 year.Mel Bakersfield is the airport manager who must not only fight the weather, but his pilot/playboy brother-in-law, his divorce seeking wife, a deranged man with a bomb, a plane stuck in the mud and blocking the main runway, and a stowaway........among other things...You can define disaster in many ways, Many will see this film as a straightforward 'Plane is under attack movie' in the same vein as something like the much later 'Executive Decision', but there is so much more to this film than just a bomb on a plane.The disaster could be crumbling relationships, fear of losing a career, fear of not making somewhere on time, just usual everyday things that could cause 'disaster' in someones routine if things don't go to plan for them.This mainly lies on the shoulders of Burt Lancaster, whom is either sitting in an office listening to peers quite concerned, or putting on a lovely looking warm jacket and going out to the runway to look at a stalled plane.On the other hand, we have the dashing crooner Dean Martin suffering the disaster of his hair going slightly off style for a couple of minutes, or trying to deal with the 'disaster' of falling in love with someone over half his age and fathering her unborn child.The problem is, if you saw Airplane! before this, you cannot take the film seriously, and even more so if you've seen the more over the top disaster films that followed this.It has a plethora of sub-plots going on, from a know it all child, to a hilarious old woman who hitches free rides and feigns illness almost every act in the film.It's just too serious for it's own good, and there are a few passengers on board you would gladly punch in the face if you were on the same flight.The film does inject an element of humour into the script in the final third, but it's pretty blasphemous, as it consists of a Nun chugging a bottle of spirit, and a Father slapping a delusional passenger.Kennedy is the best thing about the film, and it's no wonder they bought him back for the three sequels.It's the cinematic equivalent of the picture of food you see on a menu in a chain restaurant, it looks grand, but the finished product is far less palatable.

I guess out of all the 70's "Disaster Movies" Airport is about the most watchable (along with "Towering Inferno") Both have their boring parts and this one some pretty corny dialogue (These days that has morphed into banal so not a lot of change there.) The best feature of this movie is the casting of a real professional actor in Burt Lancaster, I don't like all of his movies but he never gave a poor performance in his life. There is the usual line up of "veterans" who have all seen better days. I'm totally mystified by the Oscar for Helen Hayes as best supporting actress, there is nothing special about her acting and in fact her character is Hollywood at it's most corny. Worth seeing through but don't expect anything very special or you might be very disappointed.