Cheap Airport 1975 (DVD) (Charlton Heston, Karen Black, George Kennedy) (Jack Smight) Price

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Customer Reviews of Airport 1975

Best of the bunch
My personal favourite of all the Airport movies, Airport 1975 is a camp classic. Right from the opening credits I am whisked away to the 70's and the familiar feeling of snuggling up at the drive-in....I can almost smell the thermos coffee. Airport 1975 doesn't take itself too seriously, yet all the characters play it straight. With a cast that reads like a guest list for a post Oscars party this movie seems to be full of cliches, yet it was this movie that started the said cliches, which I suppose debunks that theory. This is the movie that Airplane (aka Flying High) stuck closest too. With the sick child (Linda Blair), singing nun (Helen Reddy) and commitmentphobe pilot (Charlton Heston) all represented in the direct spoof. The movie however belongs to Karen Black, the poor old flight attendant. The plane is rendered pilotless when a midair collision with a small plane collides with the cockpit. Ms Black then has to take control of the 747 with no experience in flying whatsoever. Entertaining and hilarious.
I was disappointed however in the DVD which was very light on features. I would have loved to see a trailer, a commentary or better yet, a feature on all four Airport movies, but alas, it was not to be. I had to settle for a filmography on the top 2 stars only and that was it.
If you want a blast from the past, or are just fond of the disaster flicks churned out in the 1970's I would heartily recommend Airport 1975.

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3 Stars 'Cause I Already Rated 'Airport' 4 Stars
Like everybody says, it's Karen Black's film, although George Kennedy and Machine-Gun Heston do a pretty good job of almost crashing the film through their own disasterous talents.

'Airport 1975' stars a few screen legends - Gloria Swanson (needs no intro), Dana Andrews (pilot of small private plane and big time movie star from 'While the City Sleeps,' 'Laura,' 'Tha Fallen Angel') and Myrna Loy, whose majority of spoken lines revolve around the subject of alcohol (a major nod to her 'Thin Man' series with William Powell). Magic.

Best line: George Kennedy, while clinging to the outside of an emergency vehicle that's speeding down the runway chasing the landed plane: "he can't stop her!!" (Why he couldn't ride in the cab of the truck, I'll never know).

Also, contrary to popular belief, Charlton Heston did not lose his mind shortly after becoming president of the NRA. He lost it in this film. When he finally gets aboard the 747 - a plane Karen Black has been flying with no experience for the past hour - he gets right into the whining about 'back-up systems' and isn't sure whether the 'wheels are locked' and . . . oh, it goes on. Hard to believe she bothers to walk off the plane with him at the end.

A film to see, particularly for Chuck and George's over-the-top acting.

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Buy this version unless they remaster the Terminal Pack...
I won't comment on the film or the acting; it's hard to take any Airport film seriously after Airplane! skewered the genre.

However, if you appreciate the film for what it is, fun entertainment, this is certainly one of the better in the 70's disaster film genre and the special effects have held up well over the years.

If you're interested in this film, I strongly urge you to buy this copy instead of or in addition to the Airport Terminal Pack; there is a mastering error that does not fully expand the film horizontally in that collection, with the result that objects are somewhat compressed horizontally from their true proportions. Another reviewer's references to "tire ovals" and "stick people" is a bit of an exaggeration, but you'll wonder why the plane is so short and stubby and why the airport's pickup trucks look as if they have 4' beds. :-)

In short, another mastering error on Universal's part and, frankly, a somewhat better transfer on GoodTimes' part make THIS the better transfer of Airport 1975...