The alcohol is flowing in this second installment of the "Airport!" series, where Myrna Loy knocks boiler makers and the trio of Norman Fell, Conrad Janis and Jerry Stiller keep their livers working overtime as well. A nervous woman begs the stewardess to keep her filled up, while Gloria Swanson's assistant sophisticatedly orders a martini. Miss Swanson sticks to her tea, complaining about the poisonous food that she refuses to touch.
Fans of "Airplane!" will go nuts counting all of the references spoofed in that modern comedy classic, especially the presence of Linda Blair as a young girl in need of a kidney transplant. Try not to think of the passenger's reactions to Lorna Patterson singing when nun Helen Reddy borrows Blair's guitar and breaks out into a folk song. Gloria Swanson's "Sunset Boulevard" co-star Nancy Olson plays Blair's overly concerned mother.
The basic storyline has private plane pilot Dana Andrews crashing into the huge two storied passenger plane, killing the pilots and leaving only stewardess Karen Black to frantically fly the plane. While the crash is horrific, I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of a passenger sliding down the circular staircase towards the plane's bar as if he was heading down a pool slide. The only help of landing the plane is Charleton Heston as Black's non-committal boyfriend, and if course, George Kennedy.
With this huge cast of veteran and future stars from every medium, including Martha Scott as the older nun who responds to Reddy's inquiry if Swanson is a Hollywood actress with a very judgmental "Or worse!" Sid Caesar adds more subtle comedy than the trio of drunks as the man sitting next to Loy, subtly commenting on her love for bourbon with a beer back chaser.
Familiar faces such as Beverly Garland, Terry Lester, Susan Clark, Larry Storch, Ed Nelson and Roy Thinnes pop in and out, with a young Erik Estrada as one of the pilots. When he looks directly at the camera and gives a big goofy grin a la the blonde pilot in "Airplane!", I had my biggest Danny Thomas spit-take in years! Brian Morrison, of TV's " Maude", plays the young son of Susan Clark whose character is ironically married to series perennial George Kennedy! Alice Nunn, memorable in her cameo in "Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure", is funny in a bit as a passenger hiding her dog in her purse.
Take away the unintentional comedy of the film, and you will find a magnificently wonderful bail biter. This is a good old fashioned Hollywood crowd pleaser, reminding the audience of all the wonderful talents they had. One thing that is unbelievable is the big hole in the cockpit not consumed with wind pressure, making it unbelievable that anybody entering would not quickly be sucked out as one of the pilots was earlier.
Yes, it gets extremely corny at times, even removing the thoughts of everything that was spoofed, but that hardly matters. I will definitely be adding this to my collection at some point because there were so many little details to pick that you would be bound to miss a few.
Fans of "Airplane!" will go nuts counting all of the references spoofed in that modern comedy classic, especially the presence of Linda Blair as a young girl in need of a kidney transplant. Try not to think of the passenger's reactions to Lorna Patterson singing when nun Helen Reddy borrows Blair's guitar and breaks out into a folk song. Gloria Swanson's "Sunset Boulevard" co-star Nancy Olson plays Blair's overly concerned mother.
The basic storyline has private plane pilot Dana Andrews crashing into the huge two storied passenger plane, killing the pilots and leaving only stewardess Karen Black to frantically fly the plane. While the crash is horrific, I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of a passenger sliding down the circular staircase towards the plane's bar as if he was heading down a pool slide. The only help of landing the plane is Charleton Heston as Black's non-committal boyfriend, and if course, George Kennedy.
With this huge cast of veteran and future stars from every medium, including Martha Scott as the older nun who responds to Reddy's inquiry if Swanson is a Hollywood actress with a very judgmental "Or worse!" Sid Caesar adds more subtle comedy than the trio of drunks as the man sitting next to Loy, subtly commenting on her love for bourbon with a beer back chaser.
Familiar faces such as Beverly Garland, Terry Lester, Susan Clark, Larry Storch, Ed Nelson and Roy Thinnes pop in and out, with a young Erik Estrada as one of the pilots. When he looks directly at the camera and gives a big goofy grin a la the blonde pilot in "Airplane!", I had my biggest Danny Thomas spit-take in years! Brian Morrison, of TV's " Maude", plays the young son of Susan Clark whose character is ironically married to series perennial George Kennedy! Alice Nunn, memorable in her cameo in "Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure", is funny in a bit as a passenger hiding her dog in her purse.
Take away the unintentional comedy of the film, and you will find a magnificently wonderful bail biter. This is a good old fashioned Hollywood crowd pleaser, reminding the audience of all the wonderful talents they had. One thing that is unbelievable is the big hole in the cockpit not consumed with wind pressure, making it unbelievable that anybody entering would not quickly be sucked out as one of the pilots was earlier.
Yes, it gets extremely corny at times, even removing the thoughts of everything that was spoofed, but that hardly matters. I will definitely be adding this to my collection at some point because there were so many little details to pick that you would be bound to miss a few.