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Summary: Classic disaster film, mixed quality DVD- 4 * movie, 3 * DVD
Review: I'll admit it: Airport is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's a classic disaster film, spiritual father to all from the Poseidon Adventure to the present day. We learn the stories of the people aboard a bomb-laden Rome bound flight, and those on the ground fighting a blizzard and blocked runway to get them home. Characters are a little thin, a little soap-opera-y, but better than many modern films. Helen Hayes in particular, is terrific in her Oscar winning role. The DVD is of mixed quality, a nice presentation of an un-remastered copy of the film. Some dirt and scratches are evident, but color and sharpness are fairly good. Screen aspect shifts, usually cropped pan & scan, but occasionally letter-boxed to preserve some wider shots. Film length is misstated on the box, at 136 minutes, not the 91 listed. Recommended for all disaster fans.
Rating: 
Summary: A+ DVD for the GoodTimes
Review: I'm going to do something I thought I'd never do; give GoodTimes Video an A+ for this DVD. They took a step into the 20th century for their Thirtieth Anniversary DVD release of Airport. I held onto my old Airport VHS tape well after I stepped up to DVDs, because no one had released a widescreen DVD of the classic disaster film. GoodTimes had earlier released a DVD of Airport, but it was in standard aspect ration, so I passed on it. Then last week, there it was, Airport, WIDESCREEN, it said. And when I picked it up to look at the features on the back, I couldn't believe my eyes. GoodTimes not only released it in widescreen, but in anamorphic widescreen, AND in Dolby surround. And the price is more than perfect. You get no extras, just the movie. But it's beautiful, and it's the original, shown for the first time as it was on the big screen in perhaps thirty years. If you love classic films, then this movie is probably on your list of must-haves. This is not a perfect film, but it works. From Dean Martin's better than average performance, to Helen Hayes' Oscar winning portrayal of a fiesty trickster that sneaks onto planes. By today's standards the plot may seem to move slowly, but if you view it in it's 70's context, it's actually more like a roller coaster ride that takes off at a slow glide, tops a hill, and flies down the other side into a fairly tense climax. Don't be afraid of this DVD. For ten bucks you could get a real crappy DVD. But in this case, you strike gold. Let's hope this is a new and lasting trend for GoodTimes DVDs. Low prices, good movies. GoodTimes.
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Summary: Airport got its wings.
Review: If you are interested in this film, I would suggest looking into the AIRPORT TERMINAL PACK which includes AIRPORT, AIRPORT 75, AIRPORT 77 and THE CONCORDE AIRPORT 79. There have been some gripes about the cropping of one of these films in that set, but if you're just looking for a quick AIRPORT fix, it clearly fits the bill.
The decade of the seventies gave us many `disaster' films. Top amongst them is AIRPORT, based on the bestselling novel by Arthur Hailey. Although it was not critically loved, it did well with the Academy and Helen Hayes even took home an Oscar for her performance as a professional stowaway. Like other disaster films of the 70s, AIRPORT has an All-Star Cast! Dean Martin, Burt Lancaster and Jacqueline Bisset juggle the impending disaster. Van Heflin is excellent and sympathetic as the bomber, looking to get insurance money to his unknowing wife, another wonderful performance by Maureen Stapleton. And of course, George Kennedy is in as Patroni, who will (maybe unfortunately) become an AIRPORT staple. Also of note is the great musical score by Alfred Newman.
Unlike its sequels, AIRPORT handles the balance between drama, soap opera and entertainment with excellence. Nowadays, the film is a bit sappy, but it is still great fun; especially on those late Saturday nights went you can't get to sleep... this'll do the trick! If you are a fan of the film AIRPLANE, this is must see entertainment. Especially when you see how spot-on those filmmakers were with their parody.
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Summary: When Airports Were Safe
Review: In 1969, who could have imagined what frightful places airports could become? But for its time, Arthur Hailey's best-seller portrayed one metropolitan airport as a quite frenzied place, especially during a severe snowstorm. And, this novel may have been the only one to spawn one movie, three sequels, and two parodies. With an all-star ensemble pitting arrogant pilot (Dean Martin) against the mild-manner Operations Director (Burt Lancaster), the film reveals one full night in which many characters' subplots intertwine while revealing the airport's infrastructure and many tricks of the trade. But the major story is that of financially troubled "D.O. Guerrero" (Van Heflin) who ambles onboard a Rome-bound flight with a simple briefcase bomb poised for his wife to collect insurance. Despite a carefully planned ploy by an elderly stowaway (Helen Hayes), the bomb explodes leaving the 727 seriously crippled and needing to return home. With masterful piloting by Martin, the plane descends, desperately needing the longest runway which is still blocked by a plane that skidded earlier that evening. With 179 souls on board, only Lancaster can give the order for an assembly of tractors to literally shred the obstacle off the needed runway. But the top mechanic (George Kennedy) insists he can rock the stuck plane out of the way.
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Summary: Will we ever see this....
Review: in WIDESCREEN???? I have loved this film for years and have the original MCA videotape, the original MCA laserdisc, and this horrible Goodtimes DVD. CAN'T SOMEONE GET THIS FILM TRANSFERRED TO SEE IN WIDESCREEN? Turner Classic Movies is the only source where I've seen it in widescreen. Thank God for TCM! Perhaps one day...........
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Summary: The Granddaddy of Disasters
Review: Inspired by Arthur Hailey's bestseller, "Airport" delivers a fair share of drama, thrills, and humor. Considering it's age, it is rather tame by today's standards. Standing out among the cast is Helen Hayes as the impish stowaway and Maureen Stapleton as the desparate woman trying to stop her psychotic husband. Both were nominated for supporting actress Oscars, with Hayes winning. Also great are Dean Martin as the womanizing pilot, Jacqueline Bisset as the beautiful stewardess, and George Kennedy as the tough-talking maintenance chief. With it's well drawn characters and multiple plotlines, this old-fashioned thriller is sure to entertain all ages.
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Summary: The dawning of a new age in Hollywood Cinema
Review: It may not have been obvious at the time, but 1970 signaled a landmark change in Hollywood cinema. The release of the movie "Airport" marked the debut of Hollywood's decade-long obsession with disaster. The success of "Airport" established a general formula followed by all disaster flicks and inspired countless imitators (not the least of which involved THREE separate sequels to "Airport"). The basic plot outline involves a suicidal man who just lost his job who decides to end it all by blowing himself and an entire plane out of the sky. He doesn't manage to do destroy the plane, but he does damage it severely and it's up to the plane's captain to land the it safely and the airport director to orchestrate the safe landing in the midst of a driving snow storm. This movie introduced the 'failing marriage and other woman' plot device to the disaster formula as there was not just one, but TWO male leads that experience that phenomenon. Burt Lancaster, as the airport director, ignores his wife while consorting with his secretary during the crisis, and Dean Martin, as the plane's captain, has a very worried wife on the ground while his own concerns (in addition to saving the plane) are directed towards the stewardess he is having an affair with (and who is carrying his child). It also introduced the theory that George Kennedy should be in as many disaster films as possible (as witnessed by the fact that he was in every "Airport" movie as well as "Earthquake"). It certainly did not warrant the 10 Academy Award nominations and 1 Academy Award win (for Support Actress by Helen Hayes as a mousy stowaway). But, the freshness of this type of movie likely swayed audiences and the academy. Yet, this is an entertaining flick and worth the time invested to see it.
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Summary: Widescreen FINALLY!!!!
Review: It's about time!!!! Great movie. I can hardly wait to see the widescreen edition.
Rating:
Summary: Not Perfect, But Solid Entertainment
Review: It's not every day you see a movie that shows Dean Martin as more of an actor than you remembered, and Helen Hayes as rather less of one, but "Airport" is like that. It's a rich, plotty plum pudding of a film that features dozens of performances from actors at every level of competence. Interestingly enough, it all works. Martin is quite credible and good as an airline pilot, even when the dialogue he's given is contrived and movie-ish. Hayes is a little over-the-top in her acclaimed performance as a little-old-lady stowaway; it's nothing Spring Byington couldn't have done just as well, and cheaper. What the heck, Hayes had reached the point in her career where she could do as she pleased. Other people in the film? The late Jean Seberg is in it, looking amazingly like Kim Novak in a Hitchcock film- complete with grey Edith Head suit and a crush on an older man, played dully by Burt Lancaster. Barbara Hale ("Della Street" in the old "Perry Mason" series) is great as an earth mother married to Dean Martin; watch for her little scene toward the end of the movie when she realises her marriage is over. Van Heflin is painfully accurate in his portrayal of a demented loser who wants to suicide-bomb a 707 so his wife will have his flight insurance as compensation for the horrible life she's had as his spouse. And as the wife, Maureen Stapleton is absolutely wonderful. She's uncomprehending, incoherent, and agonisingly aware by turns; everytime she's on-screen, nothing else matters. Other roles involve Jacqueline Bisset as a stewardess- not the highest and best use of her talent- and yes, that's Gary Collins as a navigator. George Kennedy plays a TWA mechanic who saves the day; I don't like his performance, but Kennedy went on to play the same role in this film's sequels, so he must have been pleasing someone with his work. True film buffs will be delighted by one of the bit players- the mother of a teen-aged nerd who is on the ill-fated 707 flight. It's none other than Virginia Grey, Joan Crawford's blonde co-worker at the perfume counter in "The Women". And "Airport" features the last screen appearance of the late, great Jessie Royce Landis; she's a rich woman who tries to do a little diamond smuggling. Her accomplice is her poodle, who travels in- what else?- a Louis Vuitton carrier. The film itself? Well, it's big-time movie-making, circa 1970; everything about it is flossy and expensive and well-done. There is an astounding special effect when the loser sets off a bomb on the plane. It's got enough plot and enough stars for four movies. And in its own way, it's quite good. It'll take your mind off your life for the entire time you're watching it, and what more is a Hollywood epic supposed to do? Chalk this one up as imperfect, but recommended.
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Summary: A classic disaster film worth watching thirty years later.
Review: Most modern movies rely on special effects as their drawing card, and consequently many of the modern Hollywood disaster blockbusters with stunning effects have suffered with a poor plot. Airport is a classic disaster film from the days in which producers had to rely on a suspenseful plot to keep viewers interested. Rather than feed us dramatic images of Titanic disaster, it feeds us with the drama and suspense of a great plot. It doesn't have the special effects, but the plot is one that puts many modern movies to shame. Of course, the plot is taken straight from Arthur Hailey's enormously successful 1968 book "Airport". The great plot not only made the book a success, but it also makes this movie a success. In fact "Airport" spawned a succession of disaster movies, but retains the privilege of being one of the first and greatest. .... Can you believe it - a blockbuster suspense movie with a G rating? Today that's unimaginable. Not to say that "Airport" is completely clean. There were a couple incidences of blasphemy (albeit barely noticeable)/ And although infidelity wasn't shown on screen, it was certainly implied and its consequences (a pregnancy out of wedlock) formed an integral part of the plot. Both of the main male characters had broken marriages, and it was unfortunate that the plot tried to arouse sympathy for the immoral relationship of a pilot with a younger woman at the expense of his moral obligations to his wife. On the other hand, while mature themes such as pregnancy and abortion were raised, yet in the end it was a pro-life alternative that was presented in a positive light. While discerning viewers will want to be aware of these moral ambiguities, you will be pleased to know they are not dominant and do not substantially prevent enjoyment of the movie. Unlike most blockbusters, we are spared any gory scenes or lust for the eyes, and the focus is on the plot. And the plot is a good one, with several subplots. A busy airport manager is faced with blizzard conditions that threaten to force his airport to close. To make matters worse, he has to deal with a bogged plane blocking a runway, angry neighbourhood residents protesting at excessive noise, and an incoming flight with a stowaway ... and a mentally ill suicide bomber. The acting of the stowaway, by the way is superb - Helen Hayes won an Academy Award for her efforts, and the movie is worth seeing alone for her brilliant acting of the little old lady in her seventies. The role of the chief mechanic - an arrogant practical thinker devoid of emotion - was also well played. Sure this movie is dated. It comes from a time where smoking on aircraft was common, and where aircraft security was so lax it was possible for stowaways to practically walk on board. The acting isn't always convincing, and the special effects seem somewhat prehistoric. But nothing can beat a clean movie with a great storyline with a suspenseful ending, and this is one classic disaster film that will keep you riveted. Modern advances in movie making have often been accompanied by a retreat in morals and story-line. This is one good movie that demonstrates that sometimes older is better.
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