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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!
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. ;-)