No, not Bronson or Norris. The O.G. Chuck. Charlton Heston.
Heston was in the middle of a four-film run of Soylent Green, The Three Musketeers, this, and Earthquake. Instead of sharing the spotlight like Dean Martin and Burt Lancaster in the original, our buddy Chuck is front and center. Yes, the film is still essentially an ensemble piece with a group of current, upcoming, and stars of yesteryear all sharing the weight of the story. Though the film falls on Heston in that sort of “I’ll do it my damn self” kind of third-act heroics that many an action drama relies on.
Airport 1975 has a plot that would basically be the centerpiece stunt for Tom Cruise in a Mission Impossible film. A 747’s cockpit and flight crew are ripped apart mid-flight, leaving the remaining crew and passengers helpless. A resourceful stewardess (Karen Black) keeps the plane in the sky as the ground control (led by George Kennedy, reprising his role from the first film) figures out a way to save them. After deliberations, arguments, and other overheated melodramatic speeches, a wild daring mid-air rescue is planned if only everything can go perfectly.
Without me saying much more, you know exactly who’s stepping up to save the day. Would it surprise you that Black’s Stewardess is in a relationship with Heston’s pilot? No, it wouldn’t, or that they have a fight over Heston’s non-committal hipster 70s bachelor ways. The script by Don Ingalls is filled with this sort of histrionic drama plot mechanics. Ingalls’ script even has Gloria Swanson (yes, from Sunset Blvd. fame) showing up as Gloria Swanson. It throws all the clichés at the wall to see what sticks including and not limited to the sexually creepy flight crew member (played by pre-CHiPs Erik Estrada in full creeper mode), the sick child that needs to get to her operation (played by Linda Blair, which would have been more interesting if she was possessed and not sick), to the drunken asshole businessman (played by Jerry Stiller with great aplomb).
It all shouldn’t work, but somehow it does in the over-the-top, ripe melodrama disaster epic sort of way. Director Jack Smight, who directed the truly wonderful Harper and later would go on to direct Midway, puts it all together with the sort of professionalism you come to expect from these entries in the 1970s (but rarely see nowadays). The action scenes are crisp and sharp with a minimum of fuss, and the human scenes of drama are done with enough efficiency that they don’t stick around too long. It’s balanced and not overly long, coming in just under two hours (unlike the original). There’s just enough fun, engaging performances, especially the red-faced anger of Kennedy in the last half, and of course, Charlton Heston to entertain for double the run time, making Airport 1975 a worthy successor to the Academy Award-nominated original.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is an excellent representation of cinematographer Philip H. Lathrop’s 35mm shot film. The 4K UHD disc is astounding in its clarity, depth, and color reproduction. The Dolby Vision imbues the blacks with a level of refined detail that Blu-ray just can’t produce. Airport 1975, in its 4K UHD format is a great example of just the kind of restoration work that Kino Lorber is doing to bring films like this to life for a new generation of film fans.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
Theatrical Trailer (Newly Mastered in 2K)
The all-new Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson begins with a discussion of how this film is a much-loved film of the series. Some of the details include the starring role for Karen Black, which is a glamorous showcase role that was different than her usual roles in the 1970s; a discussion of the development history of this script, which began as a TV script; a discussion of Heston’s filming back-to-back with Earthquake – which leads to a discussion of Sensurround, which Airport 1975 was not mixed for; the casting heavily with TV Stars of the Era; the way that air flight was in the 1970s and how much its changed in the modern era; a great fact that this film stopped Heston from starring in one of the biggest blockbusters of all time; the importance of the production shooting real footage of the 747; a discussion of the romance in the film and the age different between of the two actors; the use of practical FX work and how it helps the film; a larger discussion of the rise of the big budget studio picture in the 1970s and the cultural changes in the era and in the current era; a larger discussion of the various touchstones of air travel and how much has changed; a discussion of the various actors and crew members that appear and worked on the film; a much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Airport [Newly Mastered in 2K] (3:34); Airport 1975 [Newly Mastered in 2K] (2:59); Airport ’77 (2:52); The Concorde… Airport ’79 (3:08); Turbulence(2:00); Airplane II: The Sequel (2:16);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber has brought the Airport series back to life with these 4K UHD upgrades. Highest possible recommendations!
The sequel to the disaster classic Airport, Airport 1975, comes to 4K UHD thanks to Kino with a new 4K restoration.
The Film
How does one top the massive success of Airport?
You get Chuck.
No, not Bronson or Norris. The O.G. Chuck. Charlton Heston.
Heston was in the middle of a four-film run of Soylent Green, The Three Musketeers, this, and Earthquake. Instead of sharing the spotlight like Dean Martin and Burt Lancaster in the original, our buddy Chuck is front and center. Yes, the film is still essentially an ensemble piece with a group of current, upcoming, and stars of yesteryear all sharing the weight of the story. Though the film falls on Heston in that sort of “I’ll do it my damn self” kind of third-act heroics that many an action drama relies on.
Airport 1975 has a plot that would basically be the centerpiece stunt for Tom Cruise in a Mission Impossible film. A 747’s cockpit and flight crew are ripped apart mid-flight, leaving the remaining crew and passengers helpless. A resourceful stewardess (Karen Black) keeps the plane in the sky as the ground control (led by George Kennedy, reprising his role from the first film) figures out a way to save them. After deliberations, arguments, and other overheated melodramatic speeches, a wild daring mid-air rescue is planned if only everything can go perfectly.
Without me saying much more, you know exactly who’s stepping up to save the day. Would it surprise you that Black’s Stewardess is in a relationship with Heston’s pilot? No, it wouldn’t, or that they have a fight over Heston’s non-committal hipster 70s bachelor ways. The script by Don Ingalls is filled with this sort of histrionic drama plot mechanics. Ingalls’ script even has Gloria Swanson (yes, from Sunset Blvd. fame) showing up as Gloria Swanson. It throws all the clichés at the wall to see what sticks including and not limited to the sexually creepy flight crew member (played by pre-CHiPs Erik Estrada in full creeper mode), the sick child that needs to get to her operation (played by Linda Blair, which would have been more interesting if she was possessed and not sick), to the drunken asshole businessman (played by Jerry Stiller with great aplomb).
It all shouldn’t work, but somehow it does in the over-the-top, ripe melodrama disaster epic sort of way. Director Jack Smight, who directed the truly wonderful Harper and later would go on to direct Midway, puts it all together with the sort of professionalism you come to expect from these entries in the 1970s (but rarely see nowadays). The action scenes are crisp and sharp with a minimum of fuss, and the human scenes of drama are done with enough efficiency that they don’t stick around too long. It’s balanced and not overly long, coming in just under two hours (unlike the original). There’s just enough fun, engaging performances, especially the red-faced anger of Kennedy in the last half, and of course, Charlton Heston to entertain for double the run time, making Airport 1975 a worthy successor to the Academy Award-nominated original.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is an excellent representation of cinematographer Philip H. Lathrop’s 35mm shot film. The 4K UHD disc is astounding in its clarity, depth, and color reproduction. The Dolby Vision imbues the blacks with a level of refined detail that Blu-ray just can’t produce. Airport 1975, in its 4K UHD format is a great example of just the kind of restoration work that Kino Lorber is doing to bring films like this to life for a new generation of film fans.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
The all-new Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson begins with a discussion of how this film is a much-loved film of the series. Some of the details include the starring role for Karen Black, which is a glamorous showcase role that was different than her usual roles in the 1970s; a discussion of the development history of this script, which began as a TV script; a discussion of Heston’s filming back-to-back with Earthquake – which leads to a discussion of Sensurround, which Airport 1975 was not mixed for; the casting heavily with TV Stars of the Era; the way that air flight was in the 1970s and how much its changed in the modern era; a great fact that this film stopped Heston from starring in one of the biggest blockbusters of all time; the importance of the production shooting real footage of the 747; a discussion of the romance in the film and the age different between of the two actors; the use of practical FX work and how it helps the film; a larger discussion of the rise of the big budget studio picture in the 1970s and the cultural changes in the era and in the current era; a larger discussion of the various touchstones of air travel and how much has changed; a discussion of the various actors and crew members that appear and worked on the film; a much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Airport [Newly Mastered in 2K] (3:34); Airport 1975 [Newly Mastered in 2K] (2:59); Airport ’77 (2:52); The Concorde… Airport ’79 (3:08); Turbulence (2:00); Airplane II: The Sequel (2:16);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber has brought the Airport series back to life with these 4K UHD upgrades. Highest possible recommendations!
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD Edition of Airport 1975 is out September 30th
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