Best “Airport” Movie of the series

Sorry, but nothing will ever beat Airport '75. The campiest camp movie that ever camped.

Karen Black as the cross-eyed stewardess trying to fly a 747 in between getting drinks for hysterical passengers; Linda Blair as a dying child in need of an emergency transplant; Helen Reddy as a singing nun; and of course, Gloria Swanson as Gloria Swanson!

I love ‘77.

Lee Grant as a drunk in perpetual cunt mode. And DL legend Olivia De Havilland gets soaked!

The original Airport is good, but it really is kind of slow. Things don't get going until Van Heflin blows himself up in the bathroom, and that doesn't happen until more than halfway through the movie.

Is Airport '77 the one with the blind singer Tom Sullivan playing a grand piano in the "bubble" section of the 747?

As a comedy, "Airport '75." Otherwise, none of the above.

I’d rank them as:

1/ Airport ‘77 for the ludicrous joy of trapping Old Hollywood stars in a jumbo jet underwater in the Bermuda Triangle.

2/ Airport ‘75 for Karen Black hysterics and hot Erik Estrada. Very close to ‘77.

3/ Airport. It’s just too slow, as r3 points out, Maureen Stapleton outclasses the film and seems like she’s in a better movie than everyone else.

4/ ’79: The Concorde is not watchable.

R6 The best scene in Airport is toward the end as the passengers are coming off the plane and Maureen Stapleton is standing there, realizing her husband is dead and what he's done, becoming hysterical and crying and repeatedly saying, "I'm sorry!"

She had the best performance in the movie.

The one with cockeyed Nancy.

Airport ‘77

Peak Erik Estrada in ‘75

Maureen Stapleton’s scene in the diner with Van Heflin who plays her husband is a crystal clear example of why she was one of the greatest actors America ever produced. That scene between the two of them was heartbreakingly real and uncomfortably sad in a film filled with cardboard dialogue and stiff, movie star performances.

Maureen Stapleton certainly deserved the Oscar more than that twinkly old biddy (whom I’ve heard from people who worked with her in the legitimate theatre. was a royal bitch) who just did a funny walk. Hell, Karen Black, Lee Grant, or Sally Kellerman were all more worthy.

Airplane was hilarious.

R12 Wow. Two of the other supporting actress nominees that year ended up starring in 2 of the sequels, Karen Black in Airport 75, and Lee Grant in Airport 77. I never made that connection before.

I wonder if Sally Kellerman had ever been in the running.

R7-In the NYT review of Airport (1970) they praised Maureen Stapleton’s performance as the highlight of the movie.

I'll stick with "Airplane," and its model, 1957's "Zero Hour!"

It's fun to watch the older movie to see how the Zuckers spoofed it pretty much scene for scene.

Airplane also drew heavily on the Airport movies.

As much as I love the sheer kitsch and stupidity of ‘75, for me the best quality was ‘70.

I binged them with my mom the last time I visited home (I'd never seen any of them before) and we had the most fun with '77 although we might've been totally loopy by then

Joe Patroni is on LinkedIn! (Tap the photo.)

How the fuck did George Kennedy become the only character contiguous from all four films?

He’s practically the star of The Concorde, which speaks volumes about the quality of that final entry in the series.

R18- The orginal is very dignified the ones after are NOT dignified.

The original is my favorite.

What a different role for Jean Seberg compared to the 1959 movie Breathless. From bohemian to mainstream frau with bouffant.

The original was a glossy Ross Hunter soap opera but devoid of the camp and sly social commentary in his classic films. Airport needed Douglas Sirk. And Susan Hayward.

‘75 and ‘77 were far more fun. Better pacing and even more imperiled movie stars. They learned a thing or two from Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno.

I miss seeing this crap on a big screen. I’d love to see the first three movies in a theater.

Airport 1975 was such an inferior ripoff of “Julie” (1956).