Airport '77

The creators of AIRPORT ’77 must have realized what a failure AIRPORT ’75 had been, so they went in a different direction.  Instead of making an airborne disaster movie that tried to recreate how the various part of the Air Safety System work together in a crisis, they made a submarine rescue movie.

You read that right: a submarine rescue movie entitled AIRPORT ’77.  They put the airplane about forty feet underwater, see.  Once it’s there, engineers can look at the bulkheads and exclaim how they’ll buckle under just a little more pressure.  Crewmen can listen for the sounds of ships passing overhead.  A guy can volunteer for a deadly mission that may save the ship but will almost certainly drown him.  You know – submarine movie stuff.

Surprisingly, it works.  Jack Lemmon makes the transition from 747 pilot to submarine commander, as the situation requires, quite admirably.  Christopher Lee, as the volunteer, reminds us why we love him even though he was in the Prequels.  And Darren McGavin makes one hell of an engineer.

I’m not in the submarine rescue business, but I appreciated how the film depicted the use of Navy and Coast Guard search and rescue assets with (what I perceived as) remarkable accuracy.  Rescue swimmers did things like letting the sling touch the water before reaching for the cable.  Divers dressed and acted like divers.  Heck, there was even plenty of egregious hot helo action, to boot.

After AIRPORT ’75, I was ready for the worst.  ’77, however, redeems the franchise.  I can’t believe I’m writing this, but I actually look forward to AIRPORT ’79.