Best movie of this year hands down!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The cast is nearly as stellar, and this time we are treated to some good aerial photography, but the dialogue is very corny. That said, the story is rather a good one. Although Karen Black played several characters with angst or anxiety and innocent charm during that the 70s there's no reason to think she couldn't land the damn plane herself like the flight attendant does in the 1997 film, Turbulence.

I seen this movie in the theatre upon its initial release. And though I was only 9 years old at the time, I found it to very intense and exhilarating. But if you're going to compare this movie to the high quality production of the 90's and beyond...imo you're not being honestly fair towards it. It's a 70's disaster movie...and should be assessed as such. Besides, without this movie, the comedy classic "Airplane" wouldn't have resulted.The movie starts out with an introduction of the hotshot pilots and free spirited stewardesses. And we also get a glimpse of the troubled romantic relationship between the two main characters (Heston and Black). Some of the cameo performances were a bit hokey and overacted imo, but there were so many familiar faces that they help to retain the viewers interest. Norman Fell, Sid Caesar, Jerry Stiller, Efrim Zimbalest Jr, George Kennedy, Erik Estrada, Helen Reddy, Linda Blair...to name a few. With that being said, the story probably could have done without the bumbling news reporter (played by Larry Storch).As far as the main body of the movie, the story (for the most part) is believable and suspenseful...with a pretty decent performance by Karen Black. The movie also contains some very cool footage of a 747 flying over mountainous terrain. Despite some of the 70's hokiness, I still found it to be a fairly enjoyable watch (42 years later).

Just about every 1970s disaster cliché and typical cast member is present in this ludicrous, yet entertaining movie. The first of a long line of sequels to the original Airport from 1970, this film raises the bar in terms of ridiculous situations and casting of washed-up actors. One cannot however ignore the interesting scenario of an untrained person having to fly a jumbo jet if the entire crew somehow would become incapacitated.Karen Black (an underrated talent) plays the lead stewardess on a 747 flight who has to take over the flying duties after a Cessna crashes into the cockpit and either kills or severely wounds the pilots. Luckily the script only calls for her having to make adjustments to the plane's course instead of actually bringing it safely into the gate! Instead, the plan is to lower a trained pilot from a jet helicopter into the 747 cockpit so he can make the landing. Of course there are complications involving sick passengers, fuel leaks, mountains, and finding a good rug for Charleton Heston to wear. Can this motley crew of actors bring the plane down safely?? I wonder.You gotta love the casts of these kind of movies. I can take Cid Ceasar, Myrna Loy, Gloria Swanson, and Linda Blair as passengers. I can hold my nose and accept Helen Reddy as a singing nun. The welcome sight of George Kennedy in some sort of administrative role certainly helps. But what in the world was former NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett doing on board? And sitting in coach, yet?? I guess he hadn't won a superbowl yet, so he didn't rate first class! 6 of 10 stars.The Hound.

This film is slightly better than I thought it would be, and I really enjoyed the many guest stars, which are too many to name, but I'll add a few who's appearances I liked in a bit. It almost reminded of a Love Boat episode with all the recognizable faces and the like, but it was campy fun anyway, especially the scenes with the entertaining George Kennedy, Jerry Stiller(Frank Costanza), Myrna Loy, Norman Fell, Erik Estrada, Conrad Janis, Gloria Swanson, Sid Caesar, Karen Black, and Charleton Heston to name quite a few. I was glad the crash didn't occur until about 45 minutes into the movie, so at least we got some character development, although not too much. I thought the performances of Black and Efram Zimbalist, Jr. stood out, and Kennedy added his usual quirkiness as Joe Patroni, who probably has the worst luck of anyone. A few other celebrities included Linda Blair(a few years after the Exorcist), Helen Reddy(guitar playing/singing nun), Susan Clark, Dana Andrews, quarterback Jim Plunkett, Bob Hastings, Larry Storch, and Sharon Gless. Heston's Alan does a decent job of guiding Nancy(Black) to fly the plane while on the radio with her, before he eventually transports from a helicopter to the plane itself to safely land it. During the scenes where one doomed pilot tries to land in the plane buts gets himself tangled, then killed, and when Alan safely enters the plane, watch Black stick her tongue out in a strange way while she's helping both men get inside; wasn't there anyway to edit these silly mannerisms? It's probably the only scenes I remembered from this film before I just watched it again. I would still recommend this for anyone to see many guest stars and a plot which doesn't require much thinking.