Airport 77 is a movie that should be doomed to failure--coming after the hideous sequel Airport 75, and part of a series that got satirically obliterated by Airplane!, the prospects do not bode well. The premise is certainly goofy--thieves hijack a luxury airliner with art treasures in the cargo hold. Their theft is going according to plan until the plane hits an oil rig and goes down, submerged intact about 100 feet down in the Atlantic. The Navy rushes to save the passengers before the hull caves in and/or everyone runs out of air.
Incredibly, the movie is actually not bad. Airport 77 has some advantages that some of the other sequels do not have. First, it has a really good cast, with Jack Lemmon as an appealing hero/pilot, Brenda Vaccaro as a sympathetic and vulnerable flight attendant, Christopher Lee as a virtuous passenger, and James Stewart lending a bit of class as the worried jet owner. Olivia de Haviland and Joseph Cotten also give this movie a bit of old-fashioned umph, and, lo and behold, there is some real acting acting here.
Add to this the really cool Navy rescue sequences and some really good cliffhangers, and you will actually find yourself absorbed in what is going on. What develops is an interesting cross between Airport and the Poseidon Adventure, as the Navy desperately tries to raise the 747 from the depths. Honestly this is not a bad option if you are looking to escape from your life for a couple of hours. A good disaster movie from the 70s is never looking to achieve cinematic greatness ala Citizen Kane; it only seeks give its watchers a bit of fun.
Incredibly, the movie is actually not bad. Airport 77 has some advantages that some of the other sequels do not have. First, it has a really good cast, with Jack Lemmon as an appealing hero/pilot, Brenda Vaccaro as a sympathetic and vulnerable flight attendant, Christopher Lee as a virtuous passenger, and James Stewart lending a bit of class as the worried jet owner. Olivia de Haviland and Joseph Cotten also give this movie a bit of old-fashioned umph, and, lo and behold, there is some real acting acting here.
Add to this the really cool Navy rescue sequences and some really good cliffhangers, and you will actually find yourself absorbed in what is going on. What develops is an interesting cross between Airport and the Poseidon Adventure, as the Navy desperately tries to raise the 747 from the depths. Honestly this is not a bad option if you are looking to escape from your life for a couple of hours. A good disaster movie from the 70s is never looking to achieve cinematic greatness ala Citizen Kane; it only seeks give its watchers a bit of fun.