I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!! - Airport 1975 (1974) Discussion

[–] WarpedRecord 18 years ago

No kidding. Up until this film, the role of women in aviation was "Coffee, Tea or Me?"

Karen Black totally makes this worthwhile. She can make an emergency landing on me anytime she wants.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] rorysa 18 years ago

Perhaps this film's most important contribution was giving cross-eyed girls all over the world the hope that they could be hired as a stewardess.

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[–] FilmEdge 18 years ago

Anyone would be crossed-eyed if they had to look at those purple carpeted walls all day long...

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[–] cluvonj 16 years ago

I get so tickled at reading all the cross eyed comments on Karen Black. I remember as a kid thinking how cross eyed she looked. I also thought she resembled Raquel Welch except with crossed eyes lol. Hmm i wonder when she was looking at the controls to turn the knobs if she saw 4 instead of 2 and that is why she couldnt get the radio to work lol.

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[–] lroy77 13 years ago

Are you kidding, I LOVE the pink and purple.

Guys, your testosterone is showing.

Gals, we have Erik Estrada (yum), Charlton Heston (double yum), and for me personally even George Kennedy even though he's a bit ponchy there. Yeah, I like my men mature and seasoned.

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[–] Woodyanders 18 years ago

Karen Black's remarkable performance is essentially the glue which holds the whole ridiculous movie together; she's totally credible and sympathetic in a very tough and demanding role.

"Warren Oates died for our sins"

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[–] lagodski 18 years ago

I Love this movie also the cockpit scene was AWESOME!!!!!!! when Karen Black flys the 747 and from the Lear jet Mr.Murdock (Charlton Heston) was telling her what to do. Then he has to go through the big gaping hole in the 747, during the AWESOME flying scene through those mountains,those mountains are the Wasatch mountains in Utah. Great stunt work there too.Both Karen and Charlton are in the cockpit together and they kiss,WOW.Then she bandage his hand and he tells her to go do her thing with the passenger.WHAT A FINE SCENE!!
MY FAVORITE KAREN BLACK PART WAS WHEN SHE DISCOVERS THE COCKPIT WITH THE BIG GAPING HOLE AND THINGS ARE FLYING AROUND, THEN SHE FINALLY GETS THE MIC TO TALK TO THE TOWER, THIS IS KAREN BLACK (BEAUITFUL) WHEN SHE CRYS" THERE IS NOBODY LEFT TO FLY THE PLANE, OH MY GOD HELPS US"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HELP US!!!HOLDING THE MIC WITH HER SCARF.I THINK THE CONTROLLER WAS A DORK WHO FIRST GOT HER DISTRESS CALL, LIKE DUHHHHHHHHH CHEWING HIS BUBBLE GUM, SOOOOOOOOOOOO? DUH.
LindaLOU Lagod P30

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] valro 18 years ago

Hey, I actually enjoy these 1970s big-budget disaster movies. They're a guilty pleasure of mine.

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[–] thx2468 17 years ago

Back in the 70's they unleashed a series of disaster films like the Airports, feroucious animals starting with Jaws, king-kong,then Earthquake, Towering Inferno, Poseidon Adventure. I remember seen long lines in the theaters to go and see those films.
That was a good observation of RobbD. Characters like Karen Black on those years where not very common. Also have you noticed that the casting on those films was mainly full of older Hollywood royalty?

I looooove the 70'S !!!!

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[–] rudeboy8080 17 years ago

Airport 197(five)* is one of the most critically reviled films ever made. I dunno...I think it's pretty decent for an unnecessary sequel. I wondered if Linda Blair was going to vomit pea soup on that nun playing the guitat?!

John Cacavas' score for Airport 197(five) was moody and downbeat, but it worked. It wasn't as energetic or whimsical as Alfred Newman's score for the first film.

*The 'five key' on the laptop is broken.

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[–] cluvonj 16 years ago

I didnt think they fleshed out the people in this one like they did in the first one. Yeah Linda Blair is having to get a kidney but lord she didnt do well at playing sick. i kept thinking they needed to make her situation more desperate during the plane crises as if oh my god are we going to land this plane in time to get her a kidney. I wanted her to get sicker and sicker to make it more dramatic but she just kept smiling and going "oh isnt this so exciting" And everyone on these message boards keep making Exorcist Jokes lol

I knew Helen REddy was in the movie but i didnt think when i saw the nun about it being her. It wasnt until she started singing i went oh my god that Helen lol She has such a wonderful singing voice. I love unique voices like that where you hear them and know its them. But the silliness of her saying to the other nun "I think i will go see if i can talk to that girl" Lord the dialogue in this movie was kind of dumb at times. And how many people are allowed to walk around on a plane like that. I agree I wish planes had that much space and walking room lol.

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[–] Scorebird 17 years ago

My stepdad had a this joke about 70's disaster flicks:

Q: What do you call a Towering Inferno in the middle of an Earthquake?

A: Shake n' Bake. ;)

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[–] theflyingcow 17 years ago

I haven't seen this film since it first came out in the 70s. I loved it then (I was only about 12) so wouldn't mind watching it again to see how it fares. Not too well, probably!

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[–] skyb87 17 years ago

I watched it recently for the first time in about 20 years...and was thoroughly entertained. It was always intended as pure entertainment and succeeds on that level as long as you accept it as very much of its time ( dated fashions, dated special effects, etc ).

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[–] dogeatdog7 17 years ago

I love this movie too. It's the kind of bad movie that's so bad, it's good. Now that 30 years have past since it was made, it's total camp. A lot of bad acting and writing, but it's thoroughly entertaining. Karen Black holds the whole thing together and she's wonderful in it. They should have had her land the plane instead of having her do all that work just to have Charleton Heston jump in at the last minute to save the day. It's fun to see all the old Hollywood legends as well as the the new up and coming actors taking small cameos which basically requires them to sit in a seat, look worried and say something stupid. Helen Reddy as a singing nun? It doesn't get more campy than that. I love watching this movie. Let's face it, without this movie, we never would have had Airplane! to laugh at.

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[–] samuri5 17 years ago

You're not alone, RD.

I'm a HUGE fan of the disaster films of the 70's. This one is perhaps the greatest guilty pleasure of mine. There are legitimate great moments in the film. Some of the second unit photography is outstanding -- the shots of the jet skimming the tops of the snow covered peaks are incredible -- no CGI required. In the 70's, like with the car chase films, THEY WENT OUT AND DID IT! And...George Kennedy actually gives a pretty good performance in this!

And who can watch it these days without the laughs generated from the Zucker's Airplane! films, especially the squirm-inducing singing nun sequence with Helen Reddy and Linda Blair? "That's why I am a best friend to myself..." OMG, I almost ruined the couch cringing!

And what pubescent young men did not have a "thang" for Karen Black after seeing this? I remember being too young to see "In Praise of Older Women" when it came out. "Burnt Offerings" freaked me out, but perhaps one of her best was her story in the TV film "Trilogy of Terror," fighting the denomic Voodoo Doll.

These films are what they are, and don't have any pretentions of being anything else. They bring back great memories of $1.25 matinees -- and DOUBLE FEATURES! (Yes, ask your parents what those were, kids...)

I remember seeing Airport 75 on a double bill with Earthquake. Can disaster flickss get any better? I laugh WITH you, RD, not AT you.

Open the pod bay doors, Hal.

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[–] beckbarb123 17 years ago

I agree with you completely. This is a guilty pleasure of mine, too. It makes Airplane! even more hilarious. As a disaster flick from the 1970s, it's not bad at all. Even Roger Ebert gave it **1/2. He thought this one was better than the first Airport, and he liked Karen Black's performance too. I have the Airport Terminal Pack DVD collection, and I think the first two films are the best. After that, it got a little ridiculous, but all four films are kinda fun.

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[–] CromeRose 16 years ago

I'm right with all of you!!! I watched this film on DVD recently for the first time since seeing it as a fourteen-year-old and it blew me away how good it still was. It holds up really well and is, IMHO, the best of the Airport films (especially that first one with Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin, which is just plain boring). Karen Black is the hottest cross-eyed woman that ever lived, and Christopher Norris!! Well, I've had a crush on her ever since I saw this movie. And I have a great story about her: back in the mid-nineties, I ran into a buddy of mine at a bar in West Los Angeles and he introduced me to his girlfriend, saying "hey, this is Chris". She was a gorgeous, older blonde and I said to her "you probably won't know who I'm talking about but you remind me of this actress from the 70s named Christopher Norris." Well, this blonde beauty just smiled and my buddy said "Yeah, this is her!" I couldn't believe it. Of course I told her I'd had a crush on her since Airport 1975 and said she was still just as gorgeous, and she hugged me for about ten minutes. I met her quite a few times after that and she was always gorgeous, wonderful and really nice!! Go Chris Norris!

Watch Bedbug on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QI_1YSXt8Y

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[–] cluvonj 16 years ago

Very cool story about CHristopher Norris. And that she was the girlfriend of a buddy of yours too. THanks for sharing. Always thought interesting for a girl to be named Christopher. I saw her in an episode of Wonderwoman on my DVD set. SHe was always a pretty girl.

I have to disagree with you about the first airport. I loved ths fleshing out of the characters in that one more and the dramatic feel because of the music. ITs still my favorite and best of the airports. It wasnt as disastrous as this one but still I loved it. I dont find it boring at all but riveting. I also liked the Dean Jacqueline storyline for I saw lots of depth there with emotions and feelings they had to deal with and Burts problems with his wife and his job. And the bomber and his wifes reaction to what he did. This was all very dramatic not boring. I liked aspects of 1975 but still love the first one the best. I agree Karen was good in this. CHristopher looked the prettiest in this of any thing ive seen her in with her long hair hanging down. Loved the scene where she is falling apart and Karen tells her you have to get ahold of yourself now and go calm the passengers.

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[–] craviola880 9 years ago

Great story, Crome!!

Myself, I don't have guilty pleasures...only pleasures.

Grew up the son of an airline pilot and former stewardess, total airplane geek, I was 13 in 1974, so it all worked out swell for me. :-)

I too, had such a thing for both Chris Norris and Karen Black...finally got a hold of a copy of "Mr and Mrs Bo-Jo Jones", with Chris & Desi Arnaz, Jr.

It's fun now to pick out the multitude of mistakes (The Cessna T-37 chase plane would have NEVER peeled off like that...would have stayed with the '47 all the way through touchdown to check gear down, etc...that's just one major error), but I love the film just as much now as a 55 year old, as I did when I was 13.

Lastly, all the aerial exterior camera work of all the aircraft was breathtaking!

If you watch closely, there is about a 3 second scene of Heston actually airborne whilst in a 747 cockpit.

The 747, BTW, was leased from American Airlines. The livery was left almost the same, except for changing the red cheat line to blue, and of course the tail logo.

I don't know what they did to simulate the hole in the starboard side of the cockpit, but looks like it was simply painted on.

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