Search - Airport Terminal Pack (Airport/Airport '75/Airport '77/Airport '79 - The Concord) on DVD

Airport Terminal Pack - A Slice of History

Trent Nickson | 11/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Airport Terminal Pack is the definitive collection of the Airport series of disaster films produced in the 1970s. The release comes in a beautifully made digi-pack case which looks absolutely fantastic. This is surrounded by an outer box, with the title of the set embossed - definitely a quality much higher than originally expected! Inside has a picture montage from all the films, and a one sheet insert with a blurb about each film.Now, about the movies...Airport was a commercial box office success when it was released in 1970, taking over $100 million at the US box office. Based on a novel by Arthur Hailey, the story is set at an international airport with the main plot being about a passenger who sets off a bomb in an airliner. There are a a few intricately woven sub-plots in the film, which keep the viewer entertained throughout. Wonderfully acted by the cast, which includes Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset, and Burt Lancaster. Helen Hayes won the best supporting actress Academy Award for the film, and Maureen Stapleton won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress. The film is also lauded in aviation circles as being one of the most technically accurate "aviation films" in history. A very story oriented film, and fabulous to watch - definitely a must-see!Airport 1975 is about an airliner that hits a private plane mid-air, incapacitating the pilots. Stewardess Karen Black has to fly the plane - and will they or won't they land safely? This also did well at the US box office, with over $40 million taken. Another all star cast including Charlton Heston, Linda Blair, Gloria Swanson (in her last film role) and Helen Reddy as the singing nun. A lot of the things that happen in this film were spoofed in Airplane, which makes this a must-see so that you get the jokes in that film! A light and fun film, with some unintentionally funny moments - and you won't believe how politically incorrect some of the comments are!Airport '77 is about a private 747 that ditches in the ocean after criminals try to steal it for the art collection on board. A stellar cast including screen legends James Stewart and Olivia de Havilland, along with Christopher Lee, Lee Grant and Jack Lemmon. Again some technical accuracy as the method to raise the plane is actually used by the US Navy to retrieve submarines. Much more serious than the previous film, it's a delight to watch the cast chewing up the scenery throughout! The acting, set design and costume design (by Edith Head, the costume designer for the first three films) make this film a lot better than it would have been with a lesser cast.Finally, The Concorde: Airport '79. Suspension of disbelief is required for this one! When I was young I thought it was a great film (kids will think it's quite nail-biting), and now I just find it side-splittingly funny! Great shots of the Concorde throughout (the plane used was the one that crashed in Paris in 2000 in an eerie coincidence), and quite a fun romp of a movie! Cast includes George Kennedy (who was in all the films), Alain Delon, Charo, Robert Wagner and Sylvia Kristel. This pack will mark the first time on DVD for this movie - which is long overdue.All four movies vary in quality from superb (Airport and Airport '77), above average (Airport 1975), to good or mediocre depending how you look at it (The Concorde: Airport '79). With the DVD transfers, the quality is excellent for Airport, as it was remastered and received a Dolby 5.1 surround treatment on its 30th anniversary. For the other three films, the picture quality is well above average - my only gripe being that Airport '79 could have done with some restoration as the source print seems a little dirty in places. The sound quality for the latter three films are in Dolby 2.0 mono which is a disappointment, but beggers can't be choosers I suppose!The extra features in this set are all the theatrical trailers for the movies, which are overall above average in quality. The menu screens have a picture of the aircraft from the movie you're about to see, which I thought was a nice touch!Definitely an era in movie making to be preserved, and it is fantastic to have these 4 in their own little collection! Congratulations also to Amazon, for having it on my doorstep on the release date of 10 February 2004 - awesome timing considering it had to come from the USA!"

Definite framing/mastering error on Aiport 1975

Trent Nickson | 05/04/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"There is definitely a mastering error on Airport 1975; the picture is nowhere near as wide as it SHOULD be.While it's a bit of an exaggeration to say tires and engines are oval, the image is definitely not mastered properly. I'd say the aspect ratio is either more like 2.2:1 when it should be 2.35:1, or Airport 1975 was actually 2.4:1 or so.This error can easily be seen by comparing the new anamorphic pressing with the earlier GoodTimes DVD or the Universal LaserDisc release. People look very tall and thin as compared to how they should look (and yes, my DVD player is set for 4:3 Letterbox, not 16:9.)Note the other three films in this collection are mastered correctly; only Airport 1975 shows this error (of course, the film I bought the collection for an anamorphic copy of.)I hope Universal corrects this error as they did with the Back to the Future trilogy, and really you probably won't notice it if you aren't aware of it, but once you are the error is very, very obvious and distracting and you'll wonder why the airport has so many short, stubby emergency vehicles. ;-)"

Nice Box Set But Lacking Some Things

Joe Mathews Jr. | Glen Allen, VA | 03/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just before Christmas 2005 we gave ourselves the best present any home theater fan could want, a 32" flat panel LCD HDTV. This completed our home theater as the prior summer my other half got as a gift of 25 years of service, a 5 disc/DVD progressive scan home theater system with Dolby & DTS 5.1 surround capability. I tell you this because I wanted you to know the circumstances for the following reviews. Since we completed our home theater I have been going back and viewing DVDs in our collection and seeing how they look and sound on the new HDTV and home theater system. This happens to be the first one I pulled out of our collection and viewed.



This set, as you know, consists of the 4 films in the "Airport" franchise. I will try and review them indivually if I can. You may have seen my previous reviews of the Good Times releases for the first 3 films (which have since been deleted from this forum). Anyway, I decided to re-review these films as presented in this collection so here goes. Since I had the first three films in this series from Good Times Video I was glad to see that Universal had released all 4 films in a box set. I was surprised and disappointed with the release. Read below for each film's review in this set.



"Airport" (1970)

I was surprised to see that Universal had chose to only release this film offering Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround for the audio. Upon viewing this release I chose the DTS 5.1 surround audio and it was fantastic. It sounded as good or better as I remember it when I saw the film in the first theater that exhibited it in my home town in 1970. The theater was the only one in town that offered the 6 track sound presentation of the several that had that capability back then. The aspect ratio was as good as the Good Times widescreen version and the picture quality was excellent. I was very pleased with the presentation.



My disappointment was in the fact that there was no supplemental materials for the film. As in the Good Times versions there was no kind of tribute to the cast and crew that produced and performed in this film (or any of the others for that matter). Many of the actors and crew are no longer with us and it would have been nice to have some kind of feature with the surviving folks being interviewed about the film and its production.



This movie is based on the first novel I read in high school by the same title and written by Arthur Hailey. The book was both engaging and suspenseful and the film brings it to life on the screen (right down to verbatim dialog from the book). When I saw this film in the theater the first time I was blown away.



Veteran film makers Ross Hunter and George Seaton gather an excellent cast and crew to do justice to the book (material not used in this film was developed to create the script for Airport '75). It's no wonder the film, though panned by critics of its time, garnered 10 Academy Award Nominations, including Best Picture (Helen Hayes received the Best Supporting Actress award)!



Like the book there are any number of plots and sub-plots interwoven masterfully in this film. The film captures the gripping and tense situations of the book along with the domestic troubles of a number of its characters (i.e. Mel and Tanya's ongoing affair, Mel's troubled relationship with his wife Cindy, Vernon and flight attendent Gwen's affair and subsequent revelation of her pregnancy, Dom and Inez's financial troubles due to Dom's mental state leading to his suicide).



Then you have the plots revolving around the worst snow storm in the midwest in years and the airport having to close is primary runway due to pilot error. This results in a plane being stuck blocking the runway and Mel having to figure out how to clear it while fighting with the airport commissioner to close the airport. To add insult to injury Dom decides to explode a bomb on a flight to Rome so that his wife can collect the flight insurance and have a good life without him. The disabled plane needs to return to the airport and land on the runway, the airport's longest, where the other aircraft is stuck or people may die.



All of this and more is crammed into a film that runs a little over 2 hours. The film is better than any daytime or nighttime TV soap opera could ever be! And it is filled with so much excellent talent both in front of and behind the camera. This is a must film for those who are fans of its genre and I think the best of the 4 films in the series. Excellent Academy Award nominated score by the late Alfred Newman who's sons followed in his footsteps and are scoring films today.



Airport 1975 (1974)

For some reason Universal chose to mess with the aspect ratio of this film as it's not quite right as noted by others who reviewed it. Also, I was disappointed at the lack of a 5.1 surround audio track for this film. I know when I saw it in the theater there was a multitrack audio presentation. I am at a loss at it not being presented here in this version. Otherwise the film is presented as best as I guess they chose to present it. Again, no supplemental materials were offered for this film either.



In my mind this sequel should have been the only one done after the success of the original. The script utilizes the material not used from Arthur Haley's novel in the first film (i.e. the chapters about an overworked air traffic controller who deals with his experience with a mid-air collision) and does a different take from the book's chapters.



As is the first film this one is quite suspenseful but slightly dated. It features some hair raising moments when the head stewardess (we all know they are now called flight attendants) has to try to fly the damaged plane after a mid-air collision and the flight crew is either dead or disabled. Next, an attempt is made to place a pilot into the pilotless plane. The film features an all star cast, including Karen Black as the head stewardess and Charlton Heston as her boyfriend and exec of the airlines, and a plausable script with some great special effects (considering it was produced in the mid 1970s). The score was done by John Cacavas who did the scoring for the original Kojak TV series.



All in all, it's the best of all the "Airport" sequels!



Airport '77 (1977)

Again I was disappointed in Universal's lack of a 5.1 surround audio track and no supplemental materials for this film.



This film was gripping but not as good as the original or first sequel. This, the third of the "Airport" films, is weekest in storyline but great in casting. Jack Lemmon gave a very believable performance as chief pilot of the ill-fated 747, as did Christopher Lee as the staunch businessman with the alcholic, "neglected", socialite wife (Lee Grant). Other's in the cast were very supportive in their performances considering what they had to work with. The actual stars of this film were the navy rescuers who's performance was a real exersise of what they would have done if such an accident had occured in the ocean.



Although this film lacks real substance it's fun to watch on a rainy day, especially if you have seen the previous films. The story is about a wealthy, but ill and dying, collector of many things ranging from art to antique autos (James Stewart playing the role comes off looking somewhat ill too, and he could have been as this was his last theatrical film). His grand, custom Boeing 747 is hijacked by crooks who want to steal his art collection being flown to a newly restored old homeplace he is turning into a museum in Florida. Along for the ride are many old friends and his daughter and grandchild being flown in style.



One of the crooks screws up when attempting to land the 747 after gassing everyone unconscious. The plane crashes into the Bermuda Triangle and sinks. All of the passengers on the plane and the chief pilot are faced with how to rescue themselves before they run out of air to breathe while believing no one knows where they have crashed.



Watch for the small cameo role of Chris Lemmon (Jack's son) as a fighter pilot looking for the sunken 747.



Airport '79 - The Concord (1970)

What can I say, this one's the worst of the 4 films. As someone else said here the only redeeming factor in this film is the fact you get to see the Concord and George Kennedy reprising his role as Joe Patroni.



All in all this is a nice collection dispite its failings and if you are a fan of this genre and this series, it's worth adding to your collection."

Airport, Airport 77, and Airport 79 were great transfers

Yarby | Medina, OH United States | 05/02/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Three of the movies in this set look great, and fortunately...the true classic, "Airport", is one of them. With the exception of the hammy George Kennedy, this movie really WAS a classic. However, if someone has a copy of "Airport 75" from this "pack" that is in proper ratio, it can only mean that Universal fixed the problem. My guess is that it is more likely that some aren't as discriminating a viewer as those of us who noticed this problem. It certainly isn't that those with complaints with this DVD have the "aspect ratio on their tv or DVD player is set wrong". How could that be if every other DVD looks fine?Universal is known for shoddy workmanship. Purchase this one at your own risk....as I'm betting they haven't corrected the "Airport 75" transfer problem since the set's initial release."