mark.waltz The alcohol is flowing in this second installment of the "Airport!" series, where Myrna Loy knocks boiler makers and the trio of Norman Fell, Conrad Janis and Jerry Stiller keep their livers working overtime as well. A nervous woman begs the stewardess to keep her filled up, while Gloria Swanson's assistant sophisticatedly orders a martini. Miss Swanson sticks to her tea, complaining about the poisonous food that she refuses to touch.Fans of "Airplane!" will go nuts counting all of the references spoofed in that modern comedy classic, especially the presence of Linda Blair as a young girl in need of a kidney transplant. Try not to think of the passenger's reactions to Lorna Patterson singing when nun Helen Reddy borrows Blair's guitar and breaks out into a folk song. Gloria Swanson's "Sunset Boulevard" co-star Nancy Olson plays Blair's overly concerned mother.The basic storyline has private plane pilot Dana Andrews crashing into the huge two storied passenger plane, killing the pilots and leaving only stewardess Karen Black to frantically fly the plane. While the crash is horrific, I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of a passenger sliding down the circular staircase towards the plane's bar as if he was heading down a pool slide. The only help of landing the plane is Charleton Heston as Black's non-committal boyfriend, and if course, George Kennedy.With this huge cast of veteran and future stars from every medium, including Martha Scott as the older nun who responds to Reddy's inquiry if Swanson is a Hollywood actress with a very judgmental "Or worse!" Sid Caesar adds more subtle comedy than the trio of drunks as the man sitting next to Loy, subtly commenting on her love for bourbon with a beer back chaser. Familiar faces such as Beverly Garland, Terry Lester, Susan Clark, Larry Storch, Ed Nelson and Roy Thinnes pop in and out, with a young Erik Estrada as one of the pilots. When he looks directly at the camera and gives a big goofy grin a la the blonde pilot in "Airplane!", I had my biggest Danny Thomas spit-take in years! Brian Morrison, of TV's " Maude", plays the young son of Susan Clark whose character is ironically married to series perennial George Kennedy! Alice Nunn, memorable in her cameo in "Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure", is funny in a bit as a passenger hiding her dog in her purse.Take away the unintentional comedy of the film, and you will find a magnificently wonderful bail biter. This is a good old fashioned Hollywood crowd pleaser, reminding the audience of all the wonderful talents they had. One thing that is unbelievable is the big hole in the cockpit not consumed with wind pressure, making it unbelievable that anybody entering would not quickly be sucked out as one of the pilots was earlier. Yes, it gets extremely corny at times, even removing the thoughts of everything that was spoofed, but that hardly matters. I will definitely be adding this to my collection at some point because there were so many little details to pick that you would be bound to miss a few.

memorable-name A disaster movie about a Boeing 747 that collides with a smaller plane and is left without a pilot. This film now being viewed 40 yrs after it was made is quite memorable for all the right and wrong reasons. On board we have an array of old time movie stars that if you are under a certain age wont know anything about, Gloria Swanson, Myrna Loy mean anything to you? We have pilots that put women's lib back about 20 yrs with talk that these days would result in a possible sexual harassment suit and we have Linda Exorcist Blair as a girl needing a kidney transplant, being possessed the year before must of played havoc with her organs. Add a singing nun and a passenger list of virtually every cliché you can think of and we are ready for take off!About 40 mins into our perilous flight, disaster strikes and we are left without any pilots, What are we going to do? The first thing I would of done is ask if anyone on board has the required skills but no, head stewardess Karen Black finds her inner action heroine and takes control. The remainder of this daft, corny but at times irresistible and unintentionally funny film is taken up by the attempts to land the plane before Mrs Black smashes it into an on coming mountain. Thankfully for the little lady, Charlton Heston and George Kennedy are on hand to save us and land the plane and send it on it's way into 70's campy greatness.Modern, big budget, special effect blockbusters were just finding their feet when this 'action movie' came out and the film does have some good points Karen Black is good in her role and shows that women on planes can do more than just hand out tea, some of the action scenes although very dated are well handled and the impending doom does keep things fairly interesting. So if you don't expect to much from this old disaster movie you are probably in for a fairly pleasant but windy flight.

utgard14 All-star sequel to the classic disaster movie Airport. Hilariously campy, ridiculous, and silly, but also undeniably fun. This one's the primary basis for the spoof movie, "Airplane!". The leads this time are Charlton Heston and Karen Black. But the real star of any Airport movie is George Kennedy as Joe Patroni. He gets all the best lines. In addition to a job promotion in this film, he gets a younger and prettier wife, too. Among the other cast members are Myrna Loy, Linda Blair, Erik Estrada, Gloria Swanson, Sid Caesar, Norman Fell, Helen Reddy (as a singing nun), and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. This was Swanson's last movie. All of her scenes invite mockery. Every line of dialogue she utters is about herself. Every time someone in the movie talks about her, it's about how great she is. Charlton Heston's Planet of the Apes costar Linda Harrison is also in this, although the two share no scenes. 'Large Marge' from Pee Wee's Big Adventure has a bit part as a passenger who brings a dog on board the plane. Just like the first movie, this one's message is that movie stars of yesteryear are dangerous to air travel. Last time it was Van Heflin; this time it's Dana Andrews.I really like the Aiport movies. They aren't high art but they're great cheesy fun. It's a good series that could do with a revival today, although the cast would probably be made up of the likes of the Kardashians. I shudder at the thought. Anyway, set your brain on auto-pilot for awhile and enjoy this entertaining disaster flick. I doubt you'll regret it.

AaronCapenBanner Unintentionally funny sequel to "Airport" is set(as the helpful subtitle tells us!) in 1975, where a Boeing 747 is disabled when a private airplane crashes into the cockpit(the pilot had a stroke), killing the flight crew and blinding one pilot, forcing a stewardess(Karen Black) to fly the plane, though her boyfriend(also a pilot, played by Charlton Heston) who is helicoptered into the cockpit, and tries desperately to resume control of the plane, before it crashes.Cast also includes returning character Joe Patroni(George Kennedy) along with Susan Clark, Gloria Swanson, Sid Caesar, Myrna Loy, Linda Blair, and Helen Reddy as a singing nun. Unlike the first film, which does hold up, this doesn't, crippled by a contrived plot and laughable scenes(whole film was effectively spoofed later on) that make it an unworthy entry, though there would be more...