Building a franchise on airplane disasters is a crazy idea that would only fly in the 70s as this seemed like the decade where any idea was possible. After covering a mad bomber (Airport) and a mid-air rescue (Airport 1975), the producers of the Airport films had covered the main bases and needed fresh ideas to keep audiences interested. What they came up with in this instalment is a way to incorporate two types of disasters (air and water) into one movie by having a 747 crash into the ocean and sink to the bottom giving the passengers a limited amount of time to figure out how to escape from their watery grave. You have to give it to the producers as the last thing I was expecting in this one was for the plane to drop off the grid when entering The Bermuda Triangle. As with other movies in this subgenre, there is a colorful cast of stereotypical characters with actors ranging from Jack Lemmon to Christopher Lee.

The film opens with a wealthy businessman (Jimmy Stewart) preparing to unveil the opening of his art collection to the public. In grand style, the pieces are being flown on a new prototype executive aircraft to their museum at which they will be housed. Along for the ride is a planeload of VIPs as well as a crew of art thieves who have planned an elaborate heist that will take place while the plane is en route. The plan is set in motion, sleeping gas is released into the cabin, and one of the thieves flies the plane at a low altitude to take them out of radar range. Heavy fog creates dangerous conditions and the plane ends up in the ocean with an opening in the cargo hold causing the plane to be submerged. When the passengers wake up, they find themselves in an unfortunate situation and it is up to pilot Jack Lemmon and the rest of the crew to keep everyone calm and find a way out.

As ridiculous as the idea for this movie is, I am having trouble deciding if it is more plausible than the mid-air antics of Airport 1975. It seems somewhat believable that this situation could actually occur. I don't know why I care as we are watching these movies to be entertained but I guess the purist in me feels that disaster flicks should at least have some shred of truth in them to make them a little more engaging. Watching a flick like this knowing that it could never happen tends to ruin the suspense a bit. While the image of seeing a plane skipping across the ocean like a flat rock is pretty ridiculous, I do believe the characters when they give the explanation that the cabin has remained pressurized. The finale gets quite silly and the rah-rah US Navy patriotism is over the top even by today's standards. I can't recall seeing Jack Lemmon in the hero role and thought he was excellent in this unfamiliar territory that was helped in part by rocking a moustache. Lemmon is rumoured to have called making this flick "a mistake" which is too bad as I was entertained throughout and thought that it was pretty fun. The movie also offers a plethora of 70s style including wacky clothes, tacky designs, a tabletop Pong game, and a terrible blind singer who thankfully gets crushed by his piano.

An Airport movie would not be complete without George Kennedy and he briefly reprises his role as Joe Patroni for the third time. Other notable cast members include Darren McGavin ("Kolchak"), Robert Hooks (Trouble Man) as the token black bartender, Kathleen Quinlan (Warning Sign), Gil Gerard ("Buck Rogers"), M. Emmet Walsh (Blade Runner), Lee Grant (Damien: Omen II), and cult movie regular Michael Pataki as one of the hijackers. Director Jerry Jameson went on to make the epic bomb Raise the Titanic a few years later. On a personal note, Airport '77 brings back memories of my first visit to Universal Studios as a child where they had a show (complete with a water tank as I recall) where they recreated scenes from the movie using audience members. You would never see something like this happen today but it was pretty cool watching it as a kid. The TV version of this flick included an extra 75 minutes (!) of new scenes. (Josh Pasnak, 4/20/14)

Directed By: Jerry Jameson.
Written By: Michael Scheff, David Spector.

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Cotten.