KJones131313 Cheesy and common to the times, still there's a nostalgia to watching these old flicks from the 70's, it was worth the watch for that alone. A little snapshot of the bad/campy/predictable TV of the day, but somehow fun anyway. As for holes and errors in the scenes, one could pick apart all the discrepancies, and most been done here. I'd add that I've never been on a flight, nor seen one from those days where all the seats are oriented backwards to the nose of the plane, not to mention the rest of the seat layout, fanning in towards the aisle as they do. Maybe they did, but first class, flying backwards the whole way? Might make some people more ill if they're prone to that. Some mention the variation in quantity of passengers in some scenes (coming and going of passengers), but there's the bathrooms, and not staying in your seat would be normal back in the good old days when a lounge was available, though they showed the lounge mostly empty when shown at all. (I'm all for bringing the lounge back, especially for long flights). "Skyjackings", as they were called, were in the news a fair bit in those days, yet dogs seemed to do just fine in deterring trouble, no need for today's excess. If only people could watch the news these days with as discerning an eye for discrepancies as they do with films, they may notice a few things. At any rate, a good little film if you want the flavor of how that genre of TV was back then....

Leofwine_draca MURDER ON FLIGHT 502 is an Aaron Spelling-production murder mystery TV movie from 1975. It's an ultra-cheesy and dated tale about a flight from New York to London and the situation that arises when it becomes apparent that one of the passengers is intent on committing murder. Like one of those cheesy disaster movies from the decade, this features an all-star cast of faces (B-list this time around) and no less than four red herrings and one real murderer.The convoluted script from veteran TV writer David P. Harmon is the worst thing about this low rent and obscure movie, because it's really long-winded and lacking in interest. You're supposed to care about the characters involved in a film like this but you never do here; the tale is merely episodic, solving one mystery sub-plot before moving on to the next. Director George McCowan had previously made the fun B-movie FROGS but can do little with this film's story.The actors do the best with the material they've been given. Old-timers Ralph Bellamy and Walter Pidgeon supply old-timer advice. Theodore Bikel does shifty and sweaty very well (as anyone who saw his Columbo appearance can testify). Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Brooke Adams supply glamour as the stewardesses. Danny Bonaduce is incredibly annoying as the red-haired joker. George Maharis is the guy on the ground trying to solve things. Sonny Bono plays himself, essentially. The unravelling of the mystery isn't very interesting, but I do have a soft spot for TV movies from this era so it wasn't all bad for me, and the more dated a film is the more fun I find it to sit back and enjoy the fashions and attitudes from the era.

MartinHafer In the 1970s, airplane disaster films were a dime a dozen. So, the fact that they'd make a film like this one isn't a surprise. It has the usual star-studded cast, it has the allure of death and mayhem and it has some very nice acting (at times). What it doesn't have is a decent script!The film plays almost like an old B-mystery film like one from the Charlie Chan series--but without the Chan! A 747 bound for the UK is the setting and it's full of Hollywood greats of the past--folks who by the time this was filmed were all but forgotten (including the likes of Walter Pidgeon, Ralph Bellamy, Dane Clark and Polly Bergen) or who were on Hollywood's B-list (including Sonny Bono and Farrah Fawcett--- just before she became famous). The Captain (Robert Stack) learns that someone issued a death threat--saying that they planned on killing someone during the flight! Who that could be and their intended victim or victims are unknown and apart from some incompetent folks on the ground, the Captain is assisted by an off-duty detective (Hugh O'Brian). Soon, you learn that LOTS of folks had reasons to kill people on this flight and there are at least three folks aboard who might commit murder!! One actually attempts to kill one of the other passengers--and after being subdued, isn't arrested nor is he handcuffed or tied up. In fact, he just goes back to his seat and everyone seems to forget that he just tried to stab someone! However, the real murderer is afoot and soon bodies start piling up--and it's amazing just how easy this all is! And, it's amazing that somehow the Captain knows that one of his crew members is a criminal--even though there is no evidence to support this! The bottom line is that despite some occasionally nice acting (such as that done by Ralph Bellamy), the film is 100% stupid. It NEVER makes sense and seems as if no one cared whether the script was written by a chimp or not....and I can only assume it was! A total waste of talent but perhaps worth watching because it IS so bad!

Lechuguilla An ensemble cast of familiar Hollywood faces act, and attempt to act, in this low-budget whodunit, about a New York to London flight that has a psychopath on board. Polly Bergen hams it up as an alcoholic writer, and is fun to watch. Robert Stack plays the pilot, consistent with his serious, take-charge persona. Danny Bonaduce plays himself, more or less. Laraine Day's acting is fine but she needs more makeup. And hip looking Sonny Bono shows why he was wise to earn his living as a singer.The film's sets look cheap, and the stereotyped characters are too perfunctory to spark much interest. The film's visuals look dated.Given the suspects and the obvious red herrings, the whodunit puzzle is not that hard to solve. However, the plot twist at the end I did not see coming.Even with a couple of obvious plot holes, "Murder On Flight 502" held my interest as a whodunit puzzle. But it has a "Producer Aaron Spelling" look and feel to it, with those cheap sets, bland dialogue, cardboard characters, and nondescript elevator music, all rather typical of assembly-line 1970's made-for-TV movies.