Airport ‘77  

Review: written 2007

Watered down sequel

Airport 77 on the face of it seems the most outlandish of the franchise, and yet in my opinion slightly outperforms ‘75. In this one, a millionaire (James Stewart) owns a lavishly equipped 747 (look out for the optical disc player!) which crashes in the sea as a result of a botched hijack. Jack Lemmon is the pilot this time, and Christopher Lee the character actor looking for a movie to break his stereotype. In fact, they both ham it up satisfyingly, for what requires a very large suspension of belief. On crashing on the sea, we are led to believe the plane sinks and then remains watertight (well, almost..). I do remember seeing this when young and being transfixed by the water starting to trickle down the carpeted stairs.. There is a weighty cast all keen to cash in on the disaster bandwagon, though by now it was starting to look a bit old hat. Nonetheless, with a decent hook, it's good fun, taken with a massive pinch of salt. Did no-one from the oil rig they crashed into, ever notice what had happened and try to contact someone..?