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

Airport Terminal Pack (Airport/Airport '75/Airport '77/Airport '79 - The Concord) | Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin | the "godfather" of disaster movies and 3 of the four are good.

DVDs:

Airport Terminal P...

	Airport Terminal Pack (Airport/Airport '75/Airport '77/Airport '79 - The Concord) Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin Universal Studios, 2004 average customer review:based on 58 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

Nice Box Set But Lacking Some Things

Just before Christmas 2005 we gave ourselves the best present any home theater fan could want, a 32" flat panel LCD HDTV. This completed our home theater as the prior summer my other half got as a gift of 25 years of service, a 5 disc/DVD progressive scan home theater system with Dolby & DTS 5.1 surround capability. I tell you this because I wanted you to know the circumstances for the following reviews. Since we completed our home theater I have been going back and viewing DVDs in our collection and seeing how they look and sound on the new HDTV and home theater system. This happens to be the first one I pulled out of our collection and viewed.

This set, as you know, consists of the 4 films in the "Airport" franchise. I will try and review them indivually if I can. You may have seen my previous reviews of the Good Times releases for the first 3 films. Anyway, I decided to re-review these films as presented in this collection so here goes. Since I had the first three films in this series from Good Times Video I was glad to see that Universal had released all 4 films in a box set. I was surprised and disappointed with the release. Read below for each films review in this set.

"Airport" (1970)
I was surprised to see that Universal had chose to only release this film offering Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround for the audio. Upon viewing this release I chose the DTS 5.1 surround audio and it was fantastic. It sounded as good or better as I remember it when I saw the film in the first theater that exhibited it in my home town in 1970. The theater was the only one in town that offered the 6 track sound presentation of the several that had that capability back then. The aspect ratio was as good as the Good Times widescreen version and the picture quality was excellent. I was very pleased with the presentation.

My disappointment was in the fact that there was no supplemental materials for the film. As in the Good Times versions there was no kind of tribute to the cast and crew that produced and performed in this film (or any of the others for that matter). Many of the actors and crew are no longer with us and it would have been nice to have some kind of feature with the surviving folks being interviewed about the film and its production.

This movie is based on the first novel I read in high school by the same title and written by Arthur Hailey. The book was both engaging and suspenseful and the film brings it to life on the screen (right down to verbatim dialog from the book). When I saw this film in the theater the first time I was blown away.

Veteran film makers Ross Hunter and George Seaton gather an excellent cast and crew to do justice to the book (material not used in this film was developed to create the script for Airport '75). It's no wonder the film, though panned by critics of its time, garnered 10 Academy Award Nominations, including Best Picture (Helen Hayes received the Best Supporting Actress award)!

Like the book there are any number of plots and sub-plots interwoven masterfully in this film. The film captures the gripping and tense situations of the book along with the domestic troubles of a number of its characters (i.e. Mel and Tanya's ongoing affair, Mel's troubled relationship with his wife Cindy, Vernon and flight attendent Gwen's affair and subsequent revelation of her pregnancy, Dom and Inez's financial troubles due to Dom's mental state leading to his suicide).

Then you have the plots revolving around the worst snow storm in the midwest in years and the airport having to close is primary runway due to pilot error. This results in a plane being stuck blocking the runway and Mel having to figure out how to clear it while fighting with the airport commissioner to close the airport. To add insult to injury Dom decides to explode a bomb on a flight to Rome so that his wife can collect the flight insurance and have a good life without him. The disabled plane needs to return to the airport and land on the runway, the airport's longest, where the other aircraft is stuck or people may die.

All of this and more is crammed into a film that runs a little over 2 hours. The film is better than any TV day or nighttime soap opera could ever be! And it is filled with so much excellent talent both in front of and behind the camera. This is a must film for those who are fans of its genre and I think the best of the 4 films in the series. Excellent Academy Award nominated score by the late Alfred Newman who's sons followed in his footsteps and are scoring films today.

Airport 1975 (1974)
For some reason Universal chose to mess with the aspect ratio of this film as it's not quite right as noted by others who reviewed it. Also, I was disappointed at the lack of a 5.1 surround audio track for this film. I know when I saw it in the theater there was a multitrack audio presentation. I am at a loss at it not being presented here in this version. Otherwise the film is presented as best as I guess they chose to present it. Again, no supplemental materials were offered for this film either.

In my mind this sequel should have been the only one done after the success of the original. The script utilizes the material not used from Arthur Haley's novel in the first film (i.e. the chapters about an overworked air traffic controller who deals with his experience with a mid-air collision) and does a different take from the book's chapters.

As is the first film this one is quite suspenseful but slightly dated. It features some hair raising moments when the head stewardess (they are now called flight attendants) has to try to fly the damaged plane after a mid-air collision and the flight crew is either dead or disabled. Next, an attempt is made to place a pilot into the pilotless plane. The film features an all star cast, including Karen Black as the head stewardess and Charlton Heston as her boyfriend and exec of the airlines, and a plausable script with some great special effects (considering it was produced in the mid 1970s). The score was done by John Cacavas who did the scoring for the original Kojak TV series.

All in all, it's the best of all the "Airport" sequels!

Airport '77 (1977)
Again I was disappointed in Universal's lack of a 5.1 surround audio track and no supplemental materials for this film.

This film was gripping but not as good as the original or second sequel. This, the third of the "Airport" films, is weekest in storyline but great in casting. Jack Lemmon gave a very believable performance as chief pilot of the ill-fated 747, as did Christopher Lee as the staunch businessman with the alcholic, "neglected", socialite wife (Lee Grant). Other's in the cast were very supportive in their performances considering what they had to work with. The actual stars of this film were the navy rescuers who's performance was a real exersize of what they would have done if such an accident had occured in the ocean.

Although this film lacks real substance it's fun to watch on a rainy day, especially if you have seen the previous films. The story is about a wealthy, but ill and dying, collector of many things ranging from art to antique autos (James Stewart playing the role comes off looking somewhat ill too, and he could have been as this was his last theatrical film). His grand, custom Boeing 747 is hijacked by crooks who want to steal his art collection being flown to a newly restored old homeplace he is turning into a museum in Florida. Along for the ride are many old friends and his daughter and grandchild being flown in style.

One of the crooks screws up when attempting to land the 747 after gassing everyone unconscious. The plane crashes into the Bermuda Triangle and sinks. All of the passengers on the plane and the chief pilot are faced with how to rescue themselves before they run out of air to breathe while believing no one knows where they have crashed.

Watch for the small cameo role of Chris Lemmon (Jack's son) as a fighter pilot looking for the sunken 747.

Airport '79 - The Concord (1970)
What can I say, this one's the worst of the 4 films. As someone else said here the only redeeming factor in this film is the fact you get to see the Concord and George Kennedy reprising his role as Joe Patroni.

All in all this is a nice collection dispite its failings and if you are a fan of this genre and this series, it's worth adding to your collection.

for more information click here

the "godfather" of disaster movies and 3 of the four are good.

ok sure they are silly and are a little goffy at times but i love these movies and growing up in the 70's they were the "bomb"
1. airport= the first and best of the lot. a great cast and some great thrills at the end. 5 stars
2.airport '75= a nice thrill ride,a little slow at first but still very fun. 4 stars
3. airport '77= silly and goffy but i really like this one also. 4 stars
4.airport '79-the concord=the worst of the bunch and a very bad movie by any standerd. 0 stars
like i said a mixed bag but i really like most of the movies and i like the set even though there are no extras

for more information click here

The original disaster film

This collection has all four original Airport movies on two double sided DVD's. These film range from class to crass.

****Airport - This film was responsible for the "multiple jeopardy" films of the 70's and is by far the best. This film deserved it Best Picture Oscar nomination. And Helen Hayes won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Airport is based on Arthur Hailey's best selling book - a great read. The film starts out about the operation of the airport. Burt Lancaster (Mel) is the Chicago airport manager. Jean Seaberg is the service manager for Trans Global Airline. They are having problems with an airplane that has got mired in snow, the local residents and a feisty stowaway, Ada Quonset (Hayes). The scene with Lancaster, Seaberg and Hayes is deliciously hilarious. Then the film turns to the flight. D.O. Guerro (Van Heflin) is an unemployed construction who has decided to blow up a plane to collect his insurance. Inez (Maureen Stapleton) is his waitress wife, who too late discovers his plans. The flight crew includes the pilot Vern (Dean Martin) who is married to Mel's sister (Barbara Hale) but having an affair with a pregnant Gwen (Jacqueline Bisset). Ida stows away on the flight and of course sits next to DO Guerro. The bomb goes off and now the plane has to land. The problem is the only landing strip has the mired airplane. Enter Joe Patroni (George Kennedy).

This is a well paced film under George Seaton's direction and screenplay. Both Helen Hayes and Maureen Stapleton deservedly received Oscar Nominations for Best Supporting Actress. It should have been a tie! This film alone is worth buying the set.

***Airport 1975 - This is another all star collection on a flight in trouble. This time there is a midair collision killing everyone in the cockpit, leaving flight attendant Karen Black to pilot the plane. When she cannot handle the plane, Denver airport manager Joe Patroni (George Kennedy got promoted) and pilot Charlton Heston come up with a midair pilot transfer. When the first one is unsuccessful, Chucky has to come to the rescue. Guests on the plane include Gloria Swanson as herself, Linda Blair as a girl going to a have a transplant, Helen Reddy as a singing nun and the luminous Myrna Loy.

***Airport '77 - Third in the series. James Stewart is flying down friends, family and press to his private island to view his art collection. Unfortunately, a group has decided to hijack the plane and steal the works of art on the plane. The plane hits an off shore oil platform, crashes into the sea and sinks. Jack Lemmon is on board as the pilot, Lee Grant is an alcoholic shrew and Olivia DeHavilland meets a long lost love Joseph Cotten. Of course, Joe Patroni (Kennedy) is back, this time working for Stewart. This is still better than most "disaster film" but the franchise is definitely showing wear.

*The Concorde: Airport '79 - This laughably bad. The Concorde maiden voyage from NYC to London to Paris. French new wave star Alan Delion is the pilot and there is the usual collection of has beens and never wases. Most probably wish they were as smart as Cicley Tyson and got off the plane in London.

Overall, this is a good collection for a fun evening in.

DVD EXTRAS: None

for more information click here

Great Movies. Well-worth The Money.

The AIRPORT series are brilliant movies. I'm so proud to own them all on DVD and in wide screen at last. All four of these movies are filled with an all-star cast, full of entertainment, greatly directed and acted. I hope to buy the music scores next if I can find them.

My favourite out of the four is AIRPORT 77. The reason why because most of the disaster is when the jumbo jet is underwater.

Buy this DVD box set, it's well-worth the money. MCA Universal presented it very well, too.

Darren Fuge.

the first is great the others are ok

this package has all the airport movies the films that gave birth to the disaster craze of the 70's.airport is great and the best of the lot. airport '75 is ok but a little slow. airport '77 is dumd but i though it was really kind of fun. last and least is the concord airport '79 the worst movie of the bunch and one of the worst films ever.

for more information click here