Aeroporto 75

Airport 1975 is a silly movie, but it offers a dash of guilty, escapist pleasure for anyone willing to accept its obvious shortcomings. Helmed by veteran small-screen director Jack Smight, the film has the feel of a made-for-TV offering. Despite the myriad irritating subplots and pointless supporting characters, the main storyline -- that of the efforts of a group of men and women to save the plane -- is relatively engrossing, and the special effects are surprisingly effective (albeit sparse). Nancy, the character played by Karen Black, is likable; Murdock is sufficiently heroic and Patroni radiates a mixture of competence and desperation. Also worth noting is that it doesn't take forever for the mid-air collision to happen. Well before the half-way point, the plot is already in full swing. All in all this is a great guilty pleasure film from the mid 70s.

Airport '75 was definitely the funniest of that series. It was not as soap opera-esque as the original, nor was it as cheerless as '77.

Humorous elements abounded: The lewd young navigator (Erik Estrada, who at that point could not speak a word of Spanish, despite his seeming mastery of it here). The three obnoxious business passengers (Conrad Janis, Norman Fell, and Jerry Stiller; who would all later, as we know, go on to co-star in highly successful TV comedies) The hapless Cid Ceasar character, who only attended this flight to see the in-flight movie, which promptly broke right before his favorite scene.

The passenger areas look surprisingly comfortable, with ample space for individual passengers. Much better, it seems, than what we are subjected to today (the mid-seventies decor notwithstanding).

The mirthful subtones aside, this is a serious movie. The pivotal point happens when a small private plane goes astray, hitting the 747 right above the windshield. The navigator is killed, the co-pilot is sucked out through the hole (in a manner reminiscent of the commander of the imperial walker being pulled out by Chewbacca in "Return of the Jedi"; and the captain is incapacitated. Poor Nancy the Stewardess (Karen Black) must seize the controls!

It is up to Charlton Heston (before he became a conservative) and George Kennedy, with some help from friends in the U.S. Air Force, to save the day.

Verdict, hardly a brain challenger (If you want your brain challenged, read a book, I always say!) but worth seeing.

Ahhh, this is delightfully undiluted Hollywood dreck of the most charming and enjoyable kind. Everything.. the dialog, the music, the look has that soap opera look.

It's been said that this project started out as a TV movie but got bumped up to a feature film along the way. The script still sounds like a TV movie and the special effects are very uneven. The large scale airplane shots are great and very cinematic. Some cockpit scenes use badly matched rear projection while others cockpit rear projection scenes look fantastic.

Cliques' abound everywhere, as in the portrayal of Gloria Swanson by... Gloria Swanson. Most of her lines are so delightfully stereotypical it makes Ginger from "Gilligan's Island" look complex. "Of course, I never did anything I was expected to do..."

Then there is Linda Blair who seems to be on a mission with her role as a hopeful kidney transplant patient. That mission is to tell the world "You see, I'm not I'm not a Demon monster, like I played in The Exorcist. I *really am* nice." At the time, the "Hollywood Press" was paranoid with the effect making "The Exorcist" had on Linda Blair.

So, in response to this, Linda plays the Kidney patient with a nose scruntching, smiling sweetness that makes you think she is possessed once again... by a Von Trapp kid.

Still, I thought Linda Blair would end up launching pea soup at Sister Helen Ready as she sang that... song.

Charlton Heston is his ultra macho self and whenever he's in a movie, I'm usually loving it. This is no exception.

I was a kid when this came out and there was this glamourous, sleek mystique to airplanes and airports for me. Flying was a much more exclusive and expensive thing back then, before deregulation. Also, seeing these giant pieces of metal leave the ground was almost like magic and yes, it would be a thrill to be in it but... what if something went wrong?

So, it was with these feelings that I went to see this movie with in early 1976. I really was wanting to see "JAWS" and it was just a happy accident that "JAWS" was double featured with this movie. Seeing one movie in a theater was a special deal for me. Seeing two was practically an event.

I came out of the theater thrilled with both movies, thinking they were cut from the same cloth. Of course, as we come to now, "JAWS" is still an indisputable classic and one of the best movies of it's type ever.

"Airport 1975"... well... provided 90% of the inspiration for one of the best comedies ever: "Airplane!". "Airport 1975" itself is a campy, fun, escapist thriller/adventure. It's cinematic junk food that tastes terrific. It's nostalga to me doesn't hurt it a bit either.

"Airport 1975" has a kinship with "Earthquake", in that both had Charlton Heston and George Kennedy. Both provided Universal television shows (The Incredible Hulk, Battlestar Galactica, etc.)with opportunities to build shows around the stock footage they could use from both films (The Hulk gets stuck on an airplane that is Columibia 409, A simulation of a cylon attack uses Earthquake's scenes of destruction, The Hulk gets stuck in an Earthquake's earthquake too).

Both became "events" when they came to network TV, adding (or even filming) additional scenes to make a full evening (or even a 2 evening) television event.

Both had those 1 sheet posters with several little "mug shots" of all the stars in the movie.

Both are sometimes laughable in terms of characters and story but are remarkably lovable none the less.

This film is laughingly bad. Gloria Swanson looks like she's wearing a makeup factory. Charlton Heston wears some frightening looking outfits. Karen Black, the best actress of the cast, is trying to take it all seriously but you know she's thinking "Just think about the money! Just think about the money!" The effects look like they were shot in someone's garage. George Kennedy says lines like "He dropped his old fashioned wrench," which are apparently supposed to bring down the house. Dana Andrews looks like he's incredibly bored. And Larry Storch in a serious role? Larry Storch? A mistake has been made here. Granted, the shots of the full plane in action are pretty good. But for all of this, I watch it, I am drawn to it like a moth to a flame every time it's on. I even bought the video tape. You know why? Because it's so bad it's good. Gloria Swanson's last line in the movie is the best. Why did they wait until her last line to have a good line in the movie? Myrna Loy is good - actually, she really shines with this crowd.

A mid-air collision leaves a 747 without a pilot. Charlton Heston, Karen Black and George Kennedy star in this campy far fetched adventure. Acting is wooden and unconvincing and the plot ranges from strange to absurd but the air sequences are by far the best in any air disaster film and well worth a look. It is a typical disaster film for it's time but is thankfully one of the good ones unlike The Concorde or The Swarm. People give it a hard time claiming it to be one of the worst films ever made but it obviously isn't as there are many millions of mainstream films worse than this and many worse disaster movies if you want proof watch any of Irwin Allen's late 70's productions.