4-Movie Set Yields Fine Quality! .... Excellent Bargain!, Feb 18 2004

By	David Von Pein (Mooresville, Indiana; USA) - See all my reviews

All four "Airport" disaster flicks from the 1970s are here, and all featuring crisp-looking widescreen anamorphic DVD transfers. This budget-priced collection comes with two dual-sided discs (one movie per side).

"Airport" (1970), stars Burt Lancaster as Mel Bakersfeld, General Manager of the fictitious "Lincoln International Airport", located in snowy Chicago, Illinois. Many scenes in "Airport" were filmed at an actual U.S. airport -- Minneapolis-St. Paul International.

This initial entry in the series is by far the best (IMO), being nominated, in fact, for a whopping ten 1970 Oscars, including Best Picture.  It was battling some pretty heavyweight company that year for the Best Picture Academy Award -- with the other nominees being: "Patton" (which took the statue), "Five Easy Pieces", "M*A*S*H", and "Love Story".

"Airport" did manage to garner one of the other major Oscar awards however -- with Helen Hayes winning for Best Supporting Actress (besting Karen Black, Lee Grant, Sally Kellerman, and fellow "Airport" co-star Maureen Stapleton).  Ironically, both Black and Grant would themselves go on to co-star in future films in the "Airport" series.

Although clocking in at a fairly-lengthy 2 hours and 17 minutes (2:16:30 to be precise), "Airport" never drags, in my view (even though about half the "action" here takes place on the ground at Bakersfeld's busy and weather-plagued airport).  But, for me, I liked it all the better for this type of "ground-based" storyline -- coupled later in the film, of course, with the intertwined plotline of Van Heflin as a disturbed bomb-carrying Rome-bound passenger.  The combination of on-the-ground and in-the-air sequences form an overall well-balanced story.  And, while the "special effects" are indeed dated (very much so in fact -- the 707 shown climbing out of Chicago is so obviously a toy, complete with alternating blinking lights), they still served their purpose well enough in this movie to convey what needed to be conveyed.

The Boeing 707 aircraft shown in the first "Airport" film was borrowed (leased) from Flying Tigers Airlines, and re-painted to display the livery of "Trans Global Airlines", which also was a name manufactured by the filmmakers. Sadly, that exact 707 crashed in Brazil in 1989, killing three. 

Only one 707 was actually used to make the movie, although the impression of THREE different planes is eluded to in the picture -- one being the aircraft that gets stuck in the snow at the very start of the film; another being the plane Dean Martin pilots on the Chicago-to-Rome flight; and the third being the jet that we see take off early in the movie, which causes a Meadowood resident some grief due to the rattling dishes on the dining-room table as the jet roars overhead. Pretty slick "sleight-of-planes" I've always thought.

One thing that strikes me as very odd concerning the first "Airport" film is the "G" rating that it apparently received from the MPAA.  In my view, the film should have garnered a "PG" for the several instances of mildly foul language, if for no other reason.  Add to this the rather mature subject matter -- involving people being blown to bits by homemade bombs, open conversation regarding abortion, and the THREE separate cases of adultery eluded to in the movie -- and I'd say that a "G" rating was a tad bit on the lenient side.

"Airport 1975" (produced in 1974) is the second of the four films. Charlton Heston saves the day in this "Airport" entry, as he boards a stricken Boeing 747 jetliner in a most unorthodox fashion, via a mid-air transfer, which looks pretty authentic even by today's higher standards.   This film isn't any "Casablanca", but it's still a fun movie nonetheless.  Plus: It's significant for being Gloria Swanson's 73rd and final film role.

The 747 Jumbo Jet we see in "Airport 1975" was leased from American Airlines for the making of the film (you can easily recognize the American red, white, and blue markings). And that plane is still flying today (at least as of January 2004), operating as a freighter for United Parcel Service (with registration # N675UP).

"Airport '77" (1977) gives us another star-laden cast, including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Lee Grant, Christopher Lee, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland, and a very young-looking 22-year-old Kathleen Quinlan.  This time 'round, it's again a Boeing 747 that's in trouble, being hijacked by a band of art thieves into the Bermuda Triangle, with disastrous results.  The footage of the watery crash of the doomed 747 looks stunningly realistic.

"The Concorde -- Airport '79" (1979) is the weak link in the "Airport" chain.  By far.  But it's still good for an (unintentional) laugh or two -- and for George Kennedy's fourth appearance as fiery Joe Patroni (this time as a pilot, "Captain" Patroni).

An additional (and sorrowful) reason you might want to tune in to the '79 "Airport" offering is the fact that the Concorde we see in the movie is the very same aircraft that crashed tragically in Paris on July 25, 2000.  In fact, if you look very closely, you can make out the real-life aircraft registration number (F-BTSC), which was not painted out by the filmmakers. 

"Airport" features two different multi-channel 5.1 Surround soundtracks on this DVD (a Dolby Digital track, plus a DTS one). The last three movies in the series sport simple Mono audio tracks.  They all sound quite nice to my ears.

The 16x9-enhanced widescreen versions we get in this collection all look mighty fine.  We also get each film's Original Aspect Ratio -- 2.35:1 for each of the first three movies; and 1.85:1 for "Airport '79".

Extras .... The only bonus features are the Theatrical Trailers, which are included for each of the four films.

Packaging .... The "Terminal Pack" comes in a fold-out "Digipak" case, with an attractive (and relatively-sturdy) outer slipcase cover, which includes raised lettering for the title. Very nice case.  

In conclusion .... Universal has provided nice, clear anamorphic versions of four films, with pleasing soundtracks, plus the original trailers -- all in one low-priced, space-saving, two-disc package.  Hard to gripe about those stats!  I can recommend the "Airport Terminal Pack" highly!

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Airport Terminal Pack - A Slice of History, Nov 16 2003

By	Trent Nickson "callisto@zip.com.au" - See all my reviews

Now, about the movies...

Airport was a commercial box office success when it was released in 1970, taking over $100 million at the US box office. Based on a novel by Arthur Hailey, the story is set at an international airport with the main plot being about a passenger who sets off a bomb in an airliner. There are a a few intricately woven sub-plots in the film, which keep the viewer entertained throughout. Wonderfully acted by the cast, which includes Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset, and Burt Lancaster. Helen Hayes won the best supporting actress Academy Award for the film, and Maureen Stapleton won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress. The film is also lauded in aviation circles as being one of the most technically accurate "aviation films" in history. A very story oriented film, and fabulous to watch - definitely a must-see!

Airport 1975 is about an airliner that hits a private plane mid-air, incapacitating the pilots. Stewardess Karen Black has to fly the plane - and will they or won't they land safely? This also did well at the US box office, with over $40 million taken. Another all star cast including Charlton Heston, Linda Blair, Gloria Swanson (in her last film role) and Helen Reddy as the singing nun. A lot of the things that happen in this film were spoofed in Airplane, which makes this a must-see so that you get the jokes in that film! A light and fun film, with some unintentionally funny moments - and you won't believe how politically incorrect some of the comments are!

Airport '77 is about a private 747 that ditches in the ocean after criminals try to steal it for the art collection on board. A stellar cast including screen legends James Stewart and Olivia de Havilland, along with Christopher Lee, Lee Grant and Jack Lemmon. Again some technical accuracy as the method to raise the plane is actually used by the US Navy to retrieve submarines. Much more serious than the previous film, it's a delight to watch the cast chewing up the scenery throughout! The acting, set design and costume design (by Edith Head, the costume designer for the first three films) make this film a lot better than it would have been with a lesser cast.

Finally, The Concorde: Airport '79. Suspension of disbelief is required for this one! When I was young I thought it was a great film (kids will think it's quite nail-biting), and now I just find it side-splittingly funny! Great shots of the Concorde throughout (the plane used was the one that crashed in Paris in 2000 in an eerie coincidence), and quite a fun romp of a movie! Cast includes George Kennedy (who was in all the films), Alain Delon, Charo, Robert Wagner and Sylvia Kristel. This pack will mark the first time on DVD for this movie - which is long overdue.

All four movies vary in quality from superb (Airport and Airport '77), above average (Airport 1975), to good or mediocre depending how you look at it (The Concorde: Airport '79).

With the DVD transfers, the quality is excellent for Airport, as it was remastered and received a Dolby 5.1 surround treatment on its 30th anniversary. For the other three films, the picture quality is well above average - my only gripe being that Airport '79 could have done with some restoration as the source print seems a little dirty in places. The sound quality for the latter three films are in Dolby 2.0 mono which is a disappointment, but beggers can't be choosers I suppose!

The extra features in this set are all the theatrical trailers for the movies, which are overall above average in quality. The menu screens have a picture of the aircraft from the movie you're about to see, which I thought was a nice touch!

Definitely an era in movie making to be preserved, and it is fantastic to have these 4 in their own little collection! Congratulations also to Amazon, for having it on my doorstep on the release date of 10 February 2004 - awesome timing considering it had to come from the USA!

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The Collection you may not want to miss...., April 18 2004

By	Patrick Selitrenny (Switzerland a.k.a. Helvetia Felix) - See all my reviews

I gave it five stars, because it merits its historic value, having all four movies reunited in a very affordable, and may I say, for the price, very elegant package.

True, the second and the fourth are not very intelligent sequel