Well, we finally got round to watching the first sequel - Airport 75. This stars Charlton Heston as an expert 747 pilot, and of course features another thrilling mid-air disaster.
As before, there are a variety of interesting and fun characters - a singing nun, an alcoholic Myrna Loy (reminiscent of Nora Charles, as Helena pointed out), a young girl on her way to get a kidney transplant (Linda Blair).
This time, the accident is caused by the pilot of a light aircraft. He is battling difficult weather, and also feeling under the weather himself, but he is eager to get back to his wife and their warm bed.
Unfortunately, he suffers from a heart attack and crashes into the 747. "Is there much damage?", asks someone. "No, not much, just a hole where the pilots usually sit!". So there is a plane load of people flying over Utah with no-one to fly the plane.
Look, no hands!They've got the autopilot, but all that does is keeps them going in a straight line. Unfortunately they're on their way to Salt Lake City, and the straight lines all point to mountains. The autopilot is also not going to be much help with the landing.
Who Put Those In the Way?The chief air hostess, Karen Black, has to save the day. She is given instructions on flying the plane by Charlton Heston. "THE STEWARDESS IS FLYING THE PLANE?" asks one of the suddenly anxious and panic-stricken passengers incredulously.
He'd be a lot more worried if he was in the cockpit. Karen Black's character is not exactly the first person you'd want to rely on in that situation. She's terrified, and manages to knock the radio off the correct frequency. You'd have thought with over 200 people on this plane there would be someone who would be calmer.
Eventually the situation gets so bad that they decide to winch a pilot in through the hole in the cockpit, so that they'll have a fighting chance of getting it on the ground in one piece.
Anyway, Helena's verdict on the film was that it's better than the first one. It's less plausible and most critics would say not as good, but she said that it wasn't as "dull" - it's certainly true that there's a lot more action, and less emphasis on personal relationships, though there's still loads of humour.
Maybe next month we'll get round to Airport 77...
25 comments:
primero !!
all plains should have a parachute under the seat
did you read that knock knock joke we left you on the last post?
they're all over the place this am
why even have an auto pilot if it doesn't automatically pilot the plane?
did they actually cram a new pilot through the hole?
probably a zombie
jean knee said "hole" ::snicker::
These movies sound familiar but I don't remember seeing them.
Yeah, there was an anonymous knock knocker going around our blogs leaving knock knock jokes.
Hmm. I've seen the first one but never knew there was a sequel.
I just watched Snakes On a Plane.
It's even worse than a 1970's air disaster film ;-)
Dan:
I suppose the problem is that the passangers wouldn't know how or when to use them. And how would people get off? Would the plane tip over if everyone queued for the exits?
Maybe they should fit ejector seats.
Jean Knee:
I read, but didn't understand.
I suppose in the 70s autopilots were more primitive than today, but it appears to have been able to keep the plane at a constant alititude and heading, so a bit like cruise control on a car.
SPOILER:
Yes, Charlton Heston managed to get through the hole after the first guy who tried ended up plunging to his death, because although the hole was big enough, it was jagged and his winch release thing got stuck and activated...
Bee:
Anonymous? I don't think so ;-)
Chris:
I haven't seen it. I still have another couple of Airport sequels to watch.
You would use them before the plane crashes Duh !
And I think all parachuts are the same, pull the string thing.
Don't think it would tip over since there would be people on both sides heading for the exit.
ejector seats? sounds dangerous.
What if I fall asleep and start snoring? someone is going to eject me from the plane.
"his winch release thing got stuck and activated..."
I thought that only happened to teenagers
Dan:
Okay, you might jump out. If you're lucky you might pull the string at the right time, though remember if you do it too soon it'll get tangled up in the aircraft, and too late then you splat.
You might be able to land okay.
All of this assuming you're over suitable terrain.
Jean Knee:
I'm (almost) speechless...
why do you put the day before the month?
today is 3-19-08
The North Americans are the only people on the planet who do month/day/year. Everyone else does Day/Month/Year. So you're starting small (days) and progressing to years.
I don't mind Year Month Day too much, though it can be confusing.
My blog is configured in UK English.
They do day/month/year in Mexico too.
Okay, Just for you Dan, I've changed my blog so it has the name of the month, to avoid any confusion.
of course your way makes more sense but it's the American Way to change it how we want it
let's discuss the merits of the metric system and why we won't change.
Jean Knee:
Sense doesn't really have a lot to do with it, to be honest. It's what you're used to.
As far as weights and measures are concerned, when it's on a day-to-day human scale, I don't think there's much to choose between any of the systems.
Metric has the disadvantage that it's easy to be wrong by a factor of 10 when doing sums. Which is seriously bad when it's a doctor or nurse calculating a drug dose...
that's all you got? phew
Jean Knee:
It's really very hard to get excited about weights & measures, I'm afraid. Especially when conversions are easy.
it caused a complete family fight one Christmas
is metric better or not....
My uncle became so enraged he went home before presents.
good times
Brian! There are squiggles were words used to be!!
Thought you should know.
Bee:
I hadn't noticed... I think I'll leave them there. It's all Dan's fault.
I haven't seen either one. I'm such a nut when it comes to flying anyways so I try to avoid those movies. I braved through Red Eye and now I'm worried that the next person I sit by is going to be a psycho who wants to blackmail me for something....what I don't know since I'm not important and hold no power...but it could still happen!
Jean Knee
What did your uncle like better ?
I think the metric system is WAY better then whatever the other one is called.
Thanks for changing your blog date thing, I can sleep now.
Tracy:
Becoming a pyschopathic blackmailer sounds like a good idea - after all, there's not much else to do on a long flight ;-)
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