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Airport '77 Movie Review

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Actors: Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, George Kennedy
Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Airport '77
A prototype, commercial 747, en route for a museum opening in Palm Beach, is hijacked and crashes into the Bermuda Triangle. The pilot (Jack Lemmon) and Chief Executive (Brenda Vacarro) must keep the passengers safe and sane while awaiting rescue. Pilot Don Gallagher (Lemmon) enlists the aid of stalwart a entrepreneur (Christopher Lee) to help him launch a lifeboat to the surface of the water. One of them is successful, one dies in an underwater explosion. The United States Navy attempts to raise the downed plane from the bed of the ocean. Aboard is the estranged daughter of the plane's owner, James Stewart, in a wasted role. George Kennedy returns to the "Airport" franchise as Joe Patroni but his role is so brief, you might blink and miss it.


--Joan C. Sellarole, Resident Scholar

Airport 77 is different from movies of it's kind in the fact that it focusses more on the mode of the rescue operation than on mid-air panic. A Boeing 747 manned by Captain Joe Patroni(George Kennedy) is carrying a bevy of distinguished citizens, who are being flown in by the wealthy Philip Stevens (James Stewart) to the opening of his new art museum. Apart from the celebrities however, the plane is also carrying some invaluable pieces of art - and that is precisely what some hijackers are after. However, things don't go according to plan for the air-pirates for too long. In the melee, the plane goes out of control and dives into the ocean over the Bermuda Triangle. As the aircraft sinks to the ocean floor, the ground staff plan a mammoth rescue operation - attempting what has never been tried before. To lay a huge balloon under the aircraft, inflate it and use the air pressure to bring the aircraft up - in one piece!
--Biswa, Resident Scholar



Analysis of Airport '77
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Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 55%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 25%



Time/Era of Movie: - 1960's-1970's
Disaster, big vehicle Yes
Kind of vehicle: - plane

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - not employed but independently wealthy - pilot, civilian
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Hair color? - brunette (Brown) - brunette (Black)
Hair style - short/standard straight (man)
Body type - average (man)
Events of movie makes character more... - sensitive - irritated
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Secondary Main Character
Identity: - Male - Female
Hair color - brunette (Brown)
Hair style - (man) short/standard wavy - (woman) long wavy
Body type - average build (man) - average (woman)
How much in movie? - 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)

Main Adversary
Identity: - fight for survival
Age: - 40's-50's
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - 90%-100%

Setting
Water? Yes
Water: - drowning - lost at sea
Air? Yes
Air: - passenger plane - skyjacking

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - non-gory references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel... - frustrated - all mixed up
How many deaths in film? - 4-8
How much use of techno gadgets? - 3 (some)
Kind of violence: - mental battles
Unusual forms of death - drowned
Any profanity? - Occasional swearing
Lot of special effects? Yes
Kinds of F/X - exploding vehicles
Is this movie based on a - book
Most similar reviews by Gordonator ranking
Airport '80 starring Alain Delon, George Kennedy, Robert Wagner, Susan Blakely, Sylvia Kristel
Airport '75 starring Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Karen Black
Airport starring Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Helen Hayes, Van Heflin, George Kennedy
The Flight of the Phoenix starring James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, George Kennedy, Ronald Fraser
Alive starring Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano and others




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Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Joan C. Sellarole  

SCHOLARS:
Biswa  


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