Verdict
Summary
Not as suspenseful or credible as the previous films in the series, however, ‘77 is more of a perfunctory formulaic “type” of movie than even its predecessors, but it’s just the sort of movie I might’ve watched on TV on Sunday afternoon as a kid. Kino Lorber brings Airport ’77 to 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray, and the new 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative looks as sharp and clear as it’s ever going to look this side of heaven.
Plot:
A 747 jumbo jet full of passengers and priceless works of art go down in the ocean, and a rescue mission is launched to save it all.
Review:
A maiden voyage for a jumbo jet 747 is christened by a philanthropist (played by James Stewart) whose priceless works of art are loaded onto the plane for transport, and the media makes a big deal out of it. Lo and behold, three thieves board the plane and make ready for an elaborate in-flight heist, which entails hijacking the plane with the aide of sleeping gas that knocks everyone out – including the pilot (Jack Lemmon) and his co-pilot (Christopher Lee). The plane is massive and comes with a lounge and a grand piano and a blind singer who sings ballads as well, not to mention a fully stocked bar and a gourmet kitchen, which impresses the passengers, who include movie stars from the golden age such as Olivia De Havilland and Joseph Cotten, but also the current stars of the era, including Darren McGavin, Lee Grant, and future Buck Rogers star Gil Gerard, and future Oscar nominee Kathleen Quinlan. When the hijacking goes terribly wrong, the plane crashes into the ocean, settling on the ocean floor, which is remarkable because the pressurized cabin keeps everyone alive but with a limited air supply, and with time running out before everyone dies, a rescue mission from the airport (that’s where George Kennedy, this series’ sole mainstay comes into play) is rushed into action. The Navy is called in to send scuba divers down to the plane to inflate huge balloons to buoy the behemoth back to the surface!
The third film in a four-picture series, Airport ’77 is another all-star cast disaster movie that much more resembles The Poseidon Adventure than an Airport entry with its underwater aspects, and when my wife walked in the room while I was watching this, she immediately thought I was watching The Poseidon Adventure, which is telling. I enjoy these films for their grab-bag big-money casts rather than the dated-feeling disaster and rescue elements, but perhaps I’m a dying breed in that regard. Not as suspenseful or credible as the previous films in the series, however, ‘77 is more of a perfunctory formulaic “type” of movie than even its predecessors, but it’s just the sort of movie I might’ve watched on TV on Sunday afternoon as a kid. Director Jerry Jameson did the same sort of thing with his 1980 picture Raise the Titanic!, which I’ve always been a fan of.
Kino Lorber brings Airport ’77 to 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray, and the new 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative looks as sharp and clear as it’s ever going to look this side of heaven. The two-disc set comes with a new audio commentary by a film historian, plus the trailer and a slipcover.
