Airport '77 (1977)

Art thieves hijack a 747, hit fog and crash into the ocean, trapping them and the passengers under 100 feet of water.

Director:

Jerry Jameson

Writers:

Arthur Hailey (novel), Michael Scheff (screenplay),

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, Joseph Cotten

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Lemmon	...	Capt. Don Gallagher
Lee Grant	...	Karen Wallace
Brenda Vaccaro	...	Eve Clayton
Joseph Cotten	...	Nicholas St. Downs III
Olivia de Havilland	...	Emily Livingston
James Stewart	...	Philip Stevens
George Kennedy	...	Joe Patroni
Darren McGavin	...	Stan Buchek
Christopher Lee	...	Martin Wallace
Robert Foxworth	...	Chambers
Robert Hooks	...	Eddie
Monte Markham	...	Banker
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Julie
Gil Gerard	...	Frank Powers
James Booth	...	Ralph Crawford

Storyline

A luxury 747 carrying valuable art work is hijacked and lands in the ocean, submerged in shallow water. Will the crew and passengers make it off before the plane floods with water?

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Plot Keywords:

rescue | underwater | bermuda triangle | pilot | airplane hijack | 

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Taglines:

All new, bigger, and more exciting than AIRPORT 1975!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hungarian

Release Date:

11 March 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aeroporto 77

Filming Locations:

Bob Hope Airport - 2627 Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's closing epilogue states: "The incident portrayed in this film is fictional; the rescue capabilities utilized by the Navy are real".

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Goofs

After submerging in the Atlantic, the captain said the airplane is "Pressurized". Of course, an airliner only pressurizes when the engines are running or when external air is plugged in, which is not the case underwater. It would fill with water in minutes after submerging.

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Quotes

Philip Stevens: Benji, I'm your Grandpa.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Slime People (1990)

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Soundtracks

"Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder"
Composed and sung by Tom Sullivan

User Reviews

Surprisingly appealing rescue movie...

1st watched 8/12/2007 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Jerry Jameson): Surprisingly appealing rescue movie despite some of the silly characterizations and typical goofiness that tends to accompany these type of movies. The thing that the movie does well is hold your attention to the very end. You genuinely care for some of the characters involved primarily because of the good acting by leads like Jack Lemmon, who plays the pilot in this one. The danger also seems very real all the way up to the end which adds to it's believability. The movie starts setting up the story as an airline president and master collector, played by Jimmie Stewart, is promoting the opening of a museum and a new plane that will be sent down to the island paradise with his very special guests. Included on the plane are his daughter and grandson, whom he has not seen for a very long time. A small group including one of the co-pilots decide to capture the plane while it's airborne, putting the passengers to sleep, in hopes to take it's valuables and run off to South America. Their plan goes awry when the pilot crashes in a shallow part of the ocean(wherever that might be) in the Bermuda triangle. The rest of the movie is an underwater rescue movie as the plane drifts to the shallow bottom. There are the usual stupid moments, like allowing the pilot to go nuts but the women passengers can't for some reason, and the attempt to save the plane in-tact with the people is a little far-fetched. These are the moments that get you talking to the screen. But despite this, the overall effect of the movie is satisfying which I honestly didn't expect because these movies usually don't appeal to me. I really think that the strong presence of the believable hero in Jack Lemmon as the pilot really helped the movie become a little more than the typical disaster movie for me.