Airport (1970)

It's cheesy, it's hokey, it's clichéd to the max, but I never get tired of it. When it first came out I was just a kid, and I'll never forget the edge-of-my-seat suspense. Now it's just plain fun, and I'm old enough to appreciate it for its quality.

Van Heflin and Maureen Stapleton, both wonderful acting. Brilliant musical score, too.

Author: Wink23

Oscar Awards & Nominations

Academy Award

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Helen Hayes

Nominated

Oscar Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Maureen Stapleton

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

Best Cinematography

Ernest Laszlo

Best Costume Design

Edith Head

Best Film Editing

Stuart Gilmore

Best Music, Original Score

Alfred Newman

Best Picture

Ross Hunter

Best SoundRonald Pierce, David H. Moriarty

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on

Material from Another Medium

George Seaton

OK, so it's not the greatest movie ever made. In many ways it is, in the words of movie critics everywhere, "a big piece of junk." Nevertheless, on a cold winter night with a tub of microwave popcorn and a cold case of nostalgia, I'd rather watch Airport than, say, Citizen Kane, or Potemkin, or Gone WTW, or any of the other so-called classics of the cinema.

Everyone in this movie is so...tacky! So contrived! And oh so serious! People actually dressed in suits to fly on an airplane. Burt Lancaster never stops working, dammit, cuz running an airport is a full-time job. Dean Martin actually uses the adjective "precious" to describe jet fuel. . .

Burt Lancaster

Dean Martin

Gone is the innocence of the uninspected life, an innocence this movie holds

in spades.

jxejxe from United States

Why watch it now? Watch for the airport exteriors shot at

a real airport---Minneapolis/St. Paul International--which does

not look like this any more. Gone are the open-air parking lot,

the gleaming white concourses, the tin and cheesecloth ticket

counters. Gone with them are the silly notions that

stewardesses are sex kittens in jolly nice uniforms, that real

men smoke tobacco products on any and all occasions, and

that nothing could be more glamorous than a Boeing 707

taking off for Rome. Especially gone is the era when a

passenger could stroll aboard an airplane toting even a

sewing scissors, never mind what D.O. Guerrero was

packing in that briefcase.

I can describe this movie in one word, FUN. A cast of stars, adventure, comedy,

romance, controversy, drama. An all in one package. And all executed so very well.

Helen Hayes shines as the naughty older lady. Every expression and gesture from her

are priceless. If you watch this movie on DVD, make sure you watch the widescreen

version. The pan and scan version is horrible to say the least. It's the last of the true old

Hollywood movie. Excellent entertainment.

mikes0765 from United States

Some people may scoff at the use of split screen and similar techniques that are

used to depict two separate settings, such as the cockpit and the control station.

Sometimes the head of the control tower will appear in between Dino and the other pilot

in a little bubble with a thick, black outline - it almost looks like the little squares in which

the members of the Brady family appear at the beginning of each episode of the Brady

Bunch. However, that technique works quite well. I think, if anything, the film may have

deserved an Oscar for Best Editing.

zetes from Saint Paul, MN:

I first saw "Airport" in 1971. I was a young aviator with about 800 hours of

flight time. I had already read the novel which I also thoroughly enjoyed, and I

had fallen in love with the musical score and even owned the sound track

album. There has never been a movie which had more potential to disappoint

me. I was ecstatic at the realism displayed in this film. I have never seen

another film so technically accurate. The portrayal of the airport and aircraft

operations were flawless. I was intently searching for errors. Although there

were some character combinations from the book they were not disappointing

and were done very well and fit into the story line and the film format extremely

well. All the actors were fabulous; Dean Martin, Burt Lancaster, Helen Hayes,

et al. I was moved at the entire performance. I think I have rarely been equally

satisfied with a cinematic presentation.

Phil Murphy (philmurphy@nfx.net) from Williamsburg Virginia