Michael_Elliott Airport 1975 (1974)** 1/2 (out of 4)A 747 is on its way to Los Angeles when the pilot (Dana Andrews) of a personal plane suffers a heart attack. The small plane crashes into the 747 killing or injuring all of its pilots and leaving a large whole in the plane. The main stewardess (Karen Black) must take control of the plane while her boyfriend (Charlton Heston) tries to tell her how to get the plane down.AIRPORT somehow got an Oscar nomination for Best Picture but in my opinion it was a deadly boring movie with very little going for it outside of its wonderful cast. AIRPORT 1975 is made in the same mold but this one here was smarter in that it threw out a lot of the melodrama and instead focused on the action. The movie certainly isn't a masterpiece and there's no question that it could have been much better but for a mindless popcorn movie there's no doubt that it's entertaining.The film really benefits from its all-star cast with Black leading the way in a strong performance. I thought she was extremely believable in the role of the scared woman forced to take control of the plane. Both Heston and George Kennedy are good in their supporting parts as is Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as the pilot and it's fun seeing Andrews in his small role. As you'd expect, there are all sorts of known faces here including Sid Caesar, Linda Blair, Susan Clark, Helen Reddy, Myrna Loy, Ed Nelson, Nancy Olsen, Norman Fell, Beverly Garland, Erik Estrada and there's even Gloria Swanson playing herself and even giving a nod to Cecil B. DeMille.The film contains some good cinematography and a nice score. For the most part the special effects are good. The biggest problem is the direction, which is a tad bit too loose as it would have been better had there been more drama. There really wasn't a single second where you felt that the plane was in danger of crashing and even worse is that the conclusion of the two planes is done without too much fanfare or build-up. AIRPORT 1975 is a rare sequel that manages to be better than the original but the real star of the series was to follow.

rhiron For anyone who's seen that episode of 'Family Guy' where Peter is sent by Death to kill the cast members of 'Dawson's Creek' on an airliner and Karen Black lands the plane, this is the source of that reference!Now, on to the film!As a disaster movie, 'Airport 1975' is not that bad. It was made at a time when all of those clichéd "there's no one flying the plane" plot lines were still quite fresh. When television shows such as 'Charlie's Angels' and 'The A-Team' began to cash in on the gimmick with their own interpretations, you could tell that the plot device was getting stale!Charlton Heston and George Kennedy reunite in another disaster movie after the also much-lambasted 'Earthquake' (1974) and both of them get quite good roles, with Kennedy reprising his role as Joe Patroni from 'Airport' (1969).The plot is not as complex as that in 'Airport' and the characters are hardly as well-developed. However, this film still has a certain charm. Not only is it the source of that Karen Black joke, which has been much-parodied beyond the realms of 'Family Guy', but the flying scenes were conducted using an actual commercial airliner being piloted low around mountainous terrain! These kinds of films convinced modern luminary directors such as Christopher Nolan to film things for real, even though these films probably earned more in popcorn sales than for actual screen-worthiness.If that is not exciting enough, there are plenty of perilous decisions, stunt work and high-octane situations to keep you busy. Plus, a pleasant combination of well-known and television actors appear in the film, such as Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (long before lending his voice to Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred), Helen Reddy as a singing nun (it's not as bad as it sounds), Linda Blair (post-'Exorcist') and even screen icon Gloria Swanson in her final film role.Certainly not the most complex of the 'Airport' films and certainly not the worst - if you're looking for something to thrill you and you're not taking a flight the next morning, then watch this!!

stones78 This film is slightly better than I thought it would be, and I really enjoyed the many guest stars, which are too many to name, but I'll add a few who's appearances I liked in a bit. It almost reminded of a Love Boat episode with all the recognizable faces and the like, but it was campy fun anyway, especially the scenes with the entertaining George Kennedy, Jerry Stiller(Frank Costanza), Myrna Loy, Norman Fell, Erik Estrada, Conrad Janis, Gloria Swanson, Sid Caesar, Karen Black, and Charleton Heston to name quite a few. I was glad the crash didn't occur until about 45 minutes into the movie, so at least we got some character development, although not too much. I thought the performances of Black and Efram Zimbalist, Jr. stood out, and Kennedy added his usual quirkiness as Joe Patroni, who probably has the worst luck of anyone. A few other celebrities included Linda Blair(a few years after the Exorcist), Helen Reddy(guitar playing/singing nun), Susan Clark, Dana Andrews, quarterback Jim Plunkett, Bob Hastings, Larry Storch, and Sharon Gless. Heston's Alan does a decent job of guiding Nancy(Black) to fly the plane while on the radio with her, before he eventually transports from a helicopter to the plane itself to safely land it. During the scenes where one doomed pilot tries to land in the plane buts gets himself tangled, then killed, and when Alan safely enters the plane, watch Black stick her tongue out in a strange way while she's helping both men get inside; wasn't there anyway to edit these silly mannerisms? It's probably the only scenes I remembered from this film before I just watched it again. I would still recommend this for anyone to see many guest stars and a plot which doesn't require much thinking.

Florida2 Compared to the original version of Airport and later aviation films (The Crash Landing of Flight 243, Flight 93) the sequels to Airport all ranged from silly to terrible - for all their faults perhaps one good thing of films today is that, like Flight 93, they are much more realistic...The acting in this sequel to the 1970 version of Airport was poor to fair - even the acting of George Kennedy, as dependable an actor as he's been, seemed to be automatic, in a sense - his 1970 role of Joe Patroni being the best...Swearing was absent in the 1970 film but not in the sequels - why screenwriters always believe that swearing is essential escapes me - the best television programs and films often "managed" to write award-winning scripts without the need for breaking one of the 10 Commandments - apparently Charlton Heston forgot what was told to him in his role as Moses...Helen Reddy's role as a singing nun (Julie Andrews had nothing to worry about) was ironic, considering she was the author and singer of the highly controversial "I am woman" just one year earlier...The only bright spot was perhaps the comedic acting of Sid Cesar and other comedians of their time, in their role as nervous passengers...Over all, a film not worth the Oscar that the 1970 film earned...