AIRPORT '77

(March 1977, U.S.)

When this film was released, the big screen had already seen every kind of disaster imagineable; capsized cruise liner, earthquake, high rise inferno, mid-air collision and a tidal wave. So what was left? Why, crash a 747 into the Bermuda Triangle in AIRPORT '77, of course. You know what? It wasn't a half-bad idea? The plot surrounding the plane's highjack, crash and rescue was far more original than its predecessor, AIRPORT 1975. In this film, the jumbo airliner owned by Jimmy Stewart is carrying priceless works of art which two men attempt to highjack and smuggle to St. George Island in Florida by knocking out the pilots and passengers with sleep gas. Things go wrong when the plane flies too low and hits an offshore drilling platform. The rest is, of course, airport movie thrills. The moments between the highjack and the crash in the water are particularly filled with good suspense and dread, as you wait for the inevitable to happen. John Cacavas' music score adds to the tension.

By the way, while I can't claim to have seen every film that Jack Lemmon ever made, I think this role of the airline captain is perhaps the closest he ever came to any sort of action-type hero.

I remember really wanting to see this movie as a kid from the moment I saw the cool movie poster of the submerged airliner in the water in the newspaper. By the time I did actually see it broadcasted on NBC-TV, there was 70 minutes of extra footage added. I think it was then I first started to realize that there was a REASON extra, unused footage ended up on the cutting room floor. Another thing I can remember is that by the time I took a trip on a plane for the first time in September 1978, I had already been exposed to three "airport" films and the hype that surrounded them. Needless to say, I was a little nervous about my first flight.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Karen Wallace: "Excuse me, I don't mean to intrude, but could you move your ass, dear? Thank you!"