Paul Kydd Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)USA 1969 English (Colour); Drama/Adventure/Thriller (Universal/Ross Hunter); 137 minutes (PG certificate)Crew includes: George Seaton (Director/Screenwriter, adapting Novel by Arthur Hailey ***½ [7/10]); Ross Hunter (Producer); Ernest Laszlo (Cinematographer); Alexander Golitzen, E. Preston Ames (Art Directors); Stuart Gilmore (Editor); Alfred Newman (Composer)Cast includes: Burt Lancaster (Mel Bakersfeld), Dean Martin (Vernon Demerest), Jean Seberg (Tanya Livingston), Jacqueline Bisset (Gwen Meighen), George Kennedy (Joe Patroni), Helen Hayes (Ada Quonsett), Van Heflin (D.O. Guerrero), Maureen Stapleton (Inez Guerrero), Barry Nelson (Anson Harris), Dana Wynter (Cindy Bakersfeld), Lloyd Nolan (Harry Standish), Barbara Hale (Sarah Demerest), Gary Collins (Cy Jordan), John Findlater (Peter Coakley), Jessie Royce Landis (Mrs Harriet DuBarry Mossman), Larry Gates (Commissioner Ackerman), Peter Turgeon (Marcus Rathbone), Whit Bissell (Mr Davidson)Academy Award (1970): Supporting Actress (Hayes); Academy Award nominations (9): Picture, Supporting Actress (Stapleton), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Film Editing, Original Score, Costume Design (Edith Head), Sound; BAFTA nomination (1970): Supporting Actress (Stapleton); Golden Globe Award (1970): Supporting Actress (Stapleton); Golden Globe nominations (3): Picture - Drama, Supporting Actor (Kennedy), Original Score"The #1 novel of the year - now a motion picture!"A harassed airport manager (Lancaster) must contend with numerous professional and personal crises during one fateful night in the midst of a severe snowstorm, when a bomb is detonated inside a passenger jet, co-piloted by his antagonistic brother-in-law (Martin).The one that started off the 1970s craze for all-star disaster movies, the enormous box-office (if not critical) success of AIRPORT resulted in three more plane-in-peril thrillers, and inspired the classic parody AIRPLANE!, which, by exposing its clichés so mercilessly, more or less killed off the genre it was spoofing.Despite its soap-opera tendencies, it's great, escapist entertainment, with terrific performances from Hayes (delightful as a geriatric stowaway), Stapleton and Kennedy.Blu-ray Extras: None. ½ (1/10)

ElMaruecan82 As Hitchcock's reign was coming to an end, a new sub-genre popped out of nowhere to become the main provider of thrills for the decade to come. In 1970, "Airport", George Seaton's star- studded Best Picture nominee paved the runway to the disaster genre.From the air to the fire, water to animals living in it, these cinematic instances where mother Nature took the bad role, seemed to fulfill a masochistic craving for mass destruction or their impending doom, and the closer to the audience the characters were, the more heart-pounding the experience was. By the end of the 70's, Lucas, Scott and Spielberg had already reshaped the thrillers, relocating the settings to space or more "exotic" locations, taking viewers back to the outmoded charm of 40's/50's B-movies. And in 1980, the final nail of the disaster's coffin was the spoof movie's "Airplane!": no one would ever take any disaster film seriously after that. But at the dawn of the 70's, while America was caught between the polarizing effects of the Vietnam War and the disillusion of the economical crisis, escapism could only be conveyed by life-threatening situations with a fistful of survivors. Sometimes, there would be more... and on that level "Airport", as the starter, went pretty easy with the protagonists, but what it did and what it should be remembered for is to have defined a sub-genre, one that culminated with "Jaws" and ended with "The China Syndrome". These movies would all obey the same codes: a cast full of big names was the primal requirement and there would be as many stars as intertwining stories and subplots, all affected by a disaster that would either change or terminate their lives. This mix of spectacular terror and mundane banality give these films a unique flavor: you could root for these people because they dealt with similar problems than yours, but because some of them would remind you of a few enemies, you wouldn't mind watching them falling to their death, being drown or crushed. Did I say masochistic? I guess there are some sadistic impulses. And when I started "Airport", I wanted these little guilty impulses of mine to be satisfied; there were a few characters that were made so unlikable I was already jumping at the idea of seeing them sucked out of a hole in the aircraft or having Karma backfiring at them in a way or another. But nothing happened.As a matter of fact, nothing EVER happened, nothing thrilling that could fit in a ten-minute montage. The film is just an assemblage of marital arguments, characters expositions, and promising build-ups without any emotional reward whatsoever. I enjoyed the campiness of these people washing their dirty linen in public; it works on the "so bad it's good" level. Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner in "Earthquake" or that macho duel between McQueen and Newman in "Towering Inferno", were delightfully over the top, but they belonged to movies that could backup the hammy acting with great thrills. Not every film could aspire to be a powerful drama à la "Jaws" or "China Syndrome" but disaster movies were always great thrillers in their own right.And I really expected "Airport", as the one that defined all these archetypes, to be slightly better than its predecessors. As far as acting went, I expected nothing but it was fun to see Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin approach their stories as if their lives depended on it, how overly macho George Kennedy did his 'chief mechanic' shtick and how nervous Van Helfin was and more ridiculous the fact that no one suspected him. But this is nothing compared to the female roles: Helen Hayes' old innocent lady's routine act, the compassionate mistresses played by Jean Seberg and Jacqueline Bisset, and the selfish pompous wife asking for a divorce and giving her husband a free pass for infidelity. These subplots made me wonder what statement about marriage the film wanted to deliver and why did they think we would care enough to see THAT occupying more room than the plane problem.Halfway through the film, I had to check my watch, the plane hadn't even taken off and I spent more time trying to figure out what was going, especially with all these annoying split screens and phone calls. So there's a storm, snow everywhere, planes are blocked, people complain about pollution, the Captain cheat his wife, the manager spent too much time at work, a plane is blocking the runway, and a man wants to explode a bomb so his wife can get the life insurance. I'm pretty sure this could have been handled in less than one hour so we can get directly to the plane part. Once Helfin finally explodes -and off-screen for all that- it's all about landing the plane, and guess what? The plane lands… but there's no suspense whatsoever injected in this, only a race against the clock. To the film's defense, in a plane, it's either everyone dies or everyone survives, so the film was victim of its very premise and didn't convey this life-threatening Adrenalin effect. The only character that brings some deep humanity is Maureen Stapleton but she's so seldom seen in the film that it's not enough. Watching "Airport" under the scope of its influence made me realize how infinitely better the successors were and the day after, they aired "Die Hard 2" on TV, well, I know "Airport" tried to pass as realistic drama and "Die Hard 2" asks a bit too much on the suspension of disbelief department, but I'd take that airport-themed movie over "Airport" any time. "Airport" is enjoyable to some degree, the campy acting and the whole old-fashioned treatment gives a sort of involuntary qualities, but what is unforgivable is that is fails to provide the basic element of a thriller: thrills!

Hitchcoc Many of the airport runway scenes were filmed here in Minneapolis/St. Paul. I recall that some of the bit parts went to local TV people or actors. This movie doesn't wear well because the silly subplots are almost laughable now. First of all, I could never stand Dean Martin as an actor. He did a nice job on those Italian songs and his TV show was OK. The romantic stuff with him is such a diminishing factor in this film. Everyone thought that Helen Hayes was so cute. I just never got it. Anyone could have played this part. The main drawback was the formulaic nature of the whole thing with everyone fitting a particular niche. As I said in my brief comments on "The Towering Inferno" there are people who fit a prescribed pattern and they just happened to show up on this flight. These disaster films were so predictable. Finally, see "Airplane." It is much better and mocks the whole airport milieu.

LeonLouisRicci At Times Anachronistic, the Movie was Dated Even in 1970. Famous Movie Critic Judith Crist Famously Called This..."The Best Movie of 1944". It was Released at the Height of the Generation Gap, The Vietnam War, Richard Nixon, and Right in the Middle of the Hollywood System's Inevitable Demise.The Country at the Time was Divided Right Down the Middle. Simply Stated, Young vs Old, or it Could be Said, Those that THINK YOUNG and Those that THINK OLD. No Doubt What Side This Thing Was On. Anyway, it was Turbulent Times.The Movie is High Gloss and Looks Great. It is So Slick it Almost Slides of the Screen. There are Some Elements Here that Hollywood Had Been Doing Successfully for So Many Years that it is Not Surprising Just How Well Done It Is.But it is More than Well Done, it is Over Baked. The First Third of the Movie is the Most Cringe Inducing with its Marital and Extramarital Affairs Dominating the Dated Dialog Delivered by Aging Stars. There are Many Attractions in the Film. No Not the Name Actors.The Sleek, Slender, and Colorful Cinematography. The Snow Storm. The Airplane. All Add to the Charm as Does the Plot Once it Gets Beyond the Sickly and Soapy Beginning. When Things Finally Get Off the Ground it is an Entertaining Picture.Overall, Listing the Cast and Their Contribution or Lack Thereof to the Ultimate Success, both at the Box Office and the Academy, is the Stuff of Lampoon and Legend. Suffice to Say that the Movie was a Hit Despite Itself. The Most Interesting Thing Might Be How it Managed Such a Feat at a Time When Other Movies were So New, Different, Ground Breaking, and In Touch with its Own Place and Time. In 1970 the "Silent Majority" Still was Managing to be Heard.