Il pirata dell'aria

Had this been made by Universal Studios instead of MGM, they might well have called it AIRPORT '72, so closely does it follow the template of that popular disaster movie series; it even casts Charlton Heston as a pilot two years prior to his playing a similar role in AIRPORT 1975. The film introduces us to the personal lives of several passengers, including a U.S. Senator (Walter Pidgeon), a jazz cellist (football legend Roosevelt Grier), a smart-mouthed teenage girl (Susan Dey from The Partridge Family), and a very pregnant lady (Mariette Hartley, who used to do those cute Polaroid commercials with James Garner)who probably shouldn't be flying to begin with at this late stage. There's also an unusually twitchy Vietnam vet on board (hammily played by James Brolin) which should remove all doubt as to who is leaving scary notes on the bathroom mirror and threatening to blow up the plane if his demand to be flown to Moscow isn't met. Yvette Mimieux and Leslie Uggams appear as two of the best-looking flight attendants in aviation history (they were called stewardesses back then, but then again that was a time when you could also smoke openly on a commercial airplane.) TV's Claude Akins shows up in the control tower, essentially playing George Kennedy. This sounds pretty ridiculous, and in some ways it is, but director John Guillermin (The Blue Max, The Towering Inferno) keeps up a brisk pace and makes this quite watchable, for what it is.

I first saw this film when it was released at the theatre in 1972, (I was 12yrs old), under the title "Sky Terror". Being an aviation buff, I was in my glory- This film had everything! Some of the best shots of a Boeing 707 in flight, (Most flight scenes today are computer generated and are extremely phony) and Yvette Mimieux, who has never looked more glamourous, as the first Stewardess. What more could an airline buff want. Charlton Heston reprises "Moses" in the cabin, as only he could. James Brolin is the resident bomb-carrying, psycopathic war vet, who's released on a 4F and wants to hijack everyone to Russia so he can be decorated. Mariette Hartley, is a believable "expectant-mother", who boards the flight as she's about to give birth. (How'd she slip past the gate agent?) Then there's Susan Dey, who was suspect immediately, as a Hippie traveling first class! There's a fairly good story here with the usual soap opera flair. (Mimieux's character has had an affair with the Captain and currently dating the 1st Officer). Geat interior and exterior scenes combined with above average acting and good dialogue, makes this all-star film, worth watching.

I give it a: * * 1/2 rating, they lose half a star for being an almost direct rip-off of "Airport".

"Skyjacked," one of many "air disaster" films from "The High and the Mighty" to "Airport", is one of the best in the genre. Featuring a star-studded cast headed by Charlton Heston (as the pilot, of course) and Yvette Mimieux (head stewardess), it's a fast-paced, efficient study in suspense. Basically a story involving the attempted hijacking of a commercial airplane, it focuses on a small group of first class passengers who provide both the drama and occasional (intended) humor. Among them are a middle-aged couple (Ross Elliot and Jeanne Crain) worried about yet another job transfer, a senator and his son (Walter Pidgeon and Nicholas Hammond) a "hippie girl" (Susan Dey, on leave from "The Partridge Family" in her screen debut), a jazz musician (former football great Rosey Grier) and of course, a pregnant woman (Mariette Hartley), who is due any minute (apparently, the nun missed this flight). Also aboard is a young sergeant (James Brolin, who fit this in between seasons of "Marcus Welby MD). Last, but not least is Leslie Uggams making her film debut, as an assistant stewardess.

Despite the occasionally unintentionally funny dialogue and predictable situations which, let's face it, go with the territory, the film has enough action and melodrama to be consistently entertaining. The cast give it their all. Far more interesting than the love triangle between Heston, Mimeux and co-pilot Mike Henry (which is established in a few ludicrous, but mercifully short flashbacks) are the performances of those who play the passengers. Crain, as lovely as ever, (in her first film in five years,and her last) gets to assist in the delivery of Hartley's baby,(neither she, nor ''Co Midwife'' Mimieux can sing, and Grier won't turn his guitar loose, so we are spared an in-flight, improvised ballad) as well as a chance to attack the villain. Pidgeon doesn't have to say much to give his character authority, Hartley is charming, and Susan Dey is both natural and appealing. As for Grier, he displays a genial screen presence while Brolin even evokes a bit of viewer sympathy.

"Skyjacked" was a big hit when it was first released and got a big audience rating when it was shown on television as "Sky Terror". The photography is excellent, the music by Perry Botkin, Jr. ("Nadia's Theme") is unobtrusively effective, and the main theme is beautiful. Although "Airport 1975" was waiting in the wings, so to speak, "Skyjacked" holds it's own. It will be released this June on DVD in it's original Panavision aspect ratio. I for one, can't wait!

Simply put, I enjoyed this 1972 disaster film release even some 50 plus years after its original release. I am a senior citizen so all the film stars were familiar to me and the air disaster plot was reminiscent of the 1970's other disaster films with a cast of past their prime film stars.

What I kept asking myself while watching this film was why isn't air travel as roomy and easy to accomplish today as it was back in the 1970's even with the opportunity for skyjackers? I appreciate that 9/11 can never happen again and robust security measures must be taken and is todays norm, but this film reminds us all of a simpler time when air travel could be a real adventure and enjoyable.

This film explores the personal lives of each of the main characters and how they deal with a stressor such as being in the middle of a skyjacking with a bomb aboard their plane.

I enjoyed watching Skyjaclked and God willing I will most likely want to watch it again if I am still alive in the next few dceades. I give it an admirable and deserving 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.

I was really surprised by this film, one, I had never actually seen it, and two, it was well worth seeing.

I did, however, find it very frustrating. Not through the plot or the acting or anything like that, but it was full of actors and actresses, whose faces were familiar to me, I spent about half the film wondering who had been in what, I couldnt wait to get on here and find out.

Charlton Heston was his always accomplished self, no more and no less, and he is always very good. James Brolin played a military section 8 well indeed, or at least I assume that is a way in which a section 8 would be, not like Klinger in M*A*S*H!

All together a very good film, well worth watching, and in truth probably suffered unfairly against the films of the day, The Godfather and The French Connection to name but two.

Not necessarily one for the collection, but worth seeing all the same.