AIRPORT in TODD-AO? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Watched Airport yesterday afternoon.

For the most part I was satisfied with the transfer.
I noticed slight flickering in the picture off to the side
at various points of the film.

Been years since I had seen the movie, but I found
myself enjoying it less because of the hour of melodrama
one has to sit through until we actually get into the plane itself.

Still worth having on Blu-ray and I'm happy to see Universal
finally got around to releasing it.

As far as the Airplane references...

I know that Airplane was based on the two movies mentioned
above. I never saw those two films other than specific scenes
that were included in documentary pieces on the film.

So, I may not be entirely correct in saying this....

I see a few Airplane references in Airport:

1. The bomber (actually referenced in the sequel. People may be confused about this)
2. Helen Hayes talking about being nervous
3. Passenger getting hysterical and being slapped
4. Passenger being dragged across floor (I think I remember that)

It's kind of hard not to watch Airport and think, "okay, they
referenced that little piece in Airplane."

Again, the two older movies mentioned are the true inspiration
for the Airplane movie, but I believe the Zucker brothers (and the
writers who followed in the sequel) borrowed from Airport as well.

 

[Eric Vedowski]

"Airplane!" also borrows/sends up the interior monologues from "The Crowded Sky."

 

[NY2LA]

Watched Airport yesterday afternoon.
For the most part I was satisfied with the transfer.
I noticed slight flickering in the picture off to the side
at various points of the film.
Been years since I had seen the movie, but I found
myself enjoying it less because of the hour of melodrama
one has to sit through until we actually get into the plane itself.
Still worth having on Blu-ray and I'm happy to see Universal
finally got around to releasing it.
As far as the Airplane references...
I know that Airplane was based on the two movies mentioned
above.  I never saw those two films other than specific scenes
that were included in documentary pieces on the film.
So, I may not be entirely correct in saying this....
I see a few Airplane references in Airport:
1. The bomber (actually referenced in the sequel. People may be confused about this)
2. Helen Hayes talking about being nervous
3. Passenger getting hysterical and being slapped
4. Passenger being dragged across floor (I think I remember that)
It's kind of hard not to watch Airport and think, "okay, they 
referenced that little piece in Airplane."  
Again, the two older movies mentioned are the true inspiration
for the Airplane movie, but I believe the Zucker brothers (and the
writers who followed in the sequel) borrowed from Airport as well.

Who in Airport gets dragged down the aisle?
Personally I don't think of Airplane at all during Airport because it was done well. Airport 1975 was funny to begin with.

 

[Nelson Au]

I'm confused why all the retailers websites say that today is the release date for Airport, yet you guys were able to buy it last weekend? I tried to look for availability at my local Barnes and Noble and Fry's and they say not available yesterday. And then I realized its because it's not out yet!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Nelson Au /t/319144/airport-in-todd-ao/60#post_3970256
I'm confused why all the retailers websites say that today is the release date for Airport, yet you guys were able to buy it last weekend? I tried to look for availability at my local Barnes and Noble and Fry's and they say not available yesterday. And then I realized its because it's not out yet!

Amazon has August 28th as the release date on their website.







Crawdaddy

 

[rsmithjr]

Been years since I had seen the movie, but I found
myself enjoying it less because of the hour of melodrama
one has to sit through until we actually get into the plane itself.

Ross Hunter was one of the masters of melodrama at Universal (together with director Douglas Sirk who worked with Hunter). The quality of their melodramas is really untouched in cinema history.
I can understand the aversion generally to melodrama but the effort in Airport is really quite special. It is the way that all of the crises and personalities converge together and how the people handle it.

 

[Nelson Au]

I totally agree this film is a really well made piece of entertainment. Not having ever really seen Airplane! It's probably harder for me to be influenced by it and it influencing my viewing experience of Airport. I've seen Airplane maybe once and bits of it a second time. I've seen Airport a dozen times I'd estimate.
Also something that makes this film work for me is the score. It's a great little piece of music. It drives the action and mood. And of course, the all star cast is terrific. I read Lancaster hated this movie because of the soapy nature of it. I have to ask why he did it if he felt that way. I really like his performance. And I like Dean Martin, Jackie Bisset, Jean Seberg and of course Helen Hayes and George Kennedy. The whole cast is terrific.
Without going the Amazon route, I still can't find a copy locally!

 

[Moe Dickstein]

.
Without going the Amazon route, I still can't find a copy locally!

Then... www.amazon.com

 

[Rob_Ray]

Watched Airport yesterday afternoon.
Been years since I had seen the movie, but I found
myself enjoying it less because of the hour of melodrama
one has to sit through until we actually get into the plane itself.

But unlike all the other Airport and Airplane movies, this one truly is about the airport and not the airplane. Arthur Hailey's tales of life in public places where people gather (Hotel, Airport) are unabashed melodramas in which disasters (an elevator falling, a bomb going off on a plane) occur late in the story to allow the various story threads to converge for a riveting climax. This is not a true disaster film. It's more along the lines of Grand Hotel or Stagecoach.
As such, Airport is an expertly made filmization of the Hailey novel.

 

[Stan]

But unlike all the other Airport and Airplane movies, this one truly is about the airport and not the airplane. Arthur Hailey's tales of life in public places where people gather (Hotel, Airport) are unabashed melodramas in which disasters (an elevator falling, a bomb going off on a plane) occur late in the story to allow the various story threads to converge for a riveting climax. This is not a true disaster film. It's more along the lines of Grand Hotel or Stagecoach.
As such, Airport is an expertly made filmization of the Hailey novel.

Completely agree. The other "Airport" films that followed were silly, commercial dreck trying to cash in on the disaster film genre at the time. Airport was classy, well done and dealt much more with the characters and their stories, the "disaster" portion of the story was fairly minor but as mentioned above, allowed all the various threads to converge for a nice climax to the story.
Hailey wrote great novels and it was the characters I was always intrigued by, not the disaster aspect.
Of the other "disaster" films of the time, only "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno" come close, also because they were more character driven, with the disaster itself as background material.
I think that's a lot of why James Cameron's films are so well done, you grow to love and care about the characters and their story, not just a load of CGI and other special effects.

 

[Nelson Au]

Then... www.amazon.com

I actually called Barnes and Noble on Thursday night and a copy arrived today! So I have it now. It was $19.99 and while $5 more then Amazon, I figure it's a wash with shipping charges and sooner gratification.
Edit: one thing I was curious about is pricing of this disc, which is part of the Universal 100th Anniversary. I also picked up Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Both contain the blu ray and DVD copies and a digital copy. The main difference is the A&C disc has a commentary and featurettes on Abbott and Costello meet the monsters. And I see from Amazon's pricing and Barnes and Noble, both sell Airport and A&C meet Frankenstein for the similar difference of about $5 and $6 more for the A&C disc.i guess it's for those extras. I bring this up because i thought there might be a more consistent pricing of these 100 year discs and contents.

 

[Todd J Moore]

Adding one option doesn't mean you should take away another. This disc becomes as annoying as those Fox titles that were authored by someone who thinks having a pop up menu supersedes the regular ones we've had for years. These people seem to view all movies as software and don't seem to be aware how most of us use it. You have to keep jumping for the pause button every time you play one of the supplements. It's like having a puppy that will run outside every single time you open the door. Jaws has a menu. I bet The Sting does too. Airport was another top ranking recordbreaking hit for Uni, though it hasn't been treated that way for a long time.

THE STING also starts up when you put the disc in. Actually, I'm kinda fine with that. No sitting through trailers and commercials, just put the movie in and watch. Seeing as the only bonus extras on AIRPORT are the two Universal at 100 featurettes that are on all their blu rays and the trailer, it's no big deal. And really, how many times are you going to watch the trailer? Personally, I only watch bonus material once anyhow. I primarily buy a movie for the movie itself. A bit old fashioned, perhaps, but there it is.

 

[Douglas R]

THE STING also starts up when you put the disc in. Actually, I'm kinda fine with that. No sitting through trailers and commercials, just put the movie in and watch. Seeing as the only bonus extras on AIRPORT are the two Universal at 100 featurettes that are on all their blu rays and the trailer, it's no big deal. And really, how many times are you going to watch the trailer? Personally, I only watch bonus material once anyhow. I primarily buy a movie for the movie itself. A bit old fashioned, perhaps, but there it is.

I was just watching BLUE VELVET and that starts straight away as well. If a disc does that, surely it's easy enough to hit the menu button if you want to check out the extras first? I'd sooner have that choice than wait for the interminable notices and unnecessary animated graphics before the menu appears.

 

[Nelson Au]

Just like the laserdisc days! Only better as you have a choice to hit the menu button.

 

[NY2LA]

I was just watching BLUE VELVET and that starts straight away as well. If a disc does that, surely it's easy enough to hit the menu button if you want to check out the extras first? I'd sooner have that choice than wait for the interminable notices and unnecessary animated graphics before the menu appears.

You guys seem to be mixing up two issues. forced previews, disclaimers and vanity logos are not the issue here. We all hate those but they are irrelevant to the issue of having NO menus because they don't come attached to every menu. In fact this movie does have one of the forced disclaimers, which is useless because there are no interviews or commentary.
Hitting the menu button does not stop the movie from playing on in the background. It's annoying and distracting, like having a kid blaring music in an adjoining room. And since there is no actual menu, every time one of the extras ends its right back to the feature playing right where it left off. These are not video games we're taliking about, they're movies.
I think it is a step backward in progress to eliminate the basic onscreen menu just because a popup version is available. Again in cases where I want to begin the movie when I'm ready or have a chance to look for a specific scene or any extras, etc. it's annoying to have it running on at every opportunity. It's like having a CD start to play the minute you put it into the player. Thats fine if you're at the beach I guess, or in a car, but we are in a forum called Home Theatre, and this instaplay thing strikes me as primitive. It strikes me as catering to a juvenile audience with an ADD attention span.
One of the selling points of home video has always been the movie starts when you want it to start. Also since Blu rays especially take extra time to load, I am used to putting the disc in before I'm ready to start watching it. these new menus are a runaway train that takes some basic control away from you. I'm not the instant gratification type, I guess. Nor am I the complacent type. If you went to a bakery every day and bought the same jelly donut, then one day they did away with the coating you were used to, there will always be some who say "what's the big deal? there's still jelly inside, right?" the big deal is detail.

 

[ahollis]

Return of the Pause Button. I agree with NY2LA it is annoying and does not allow you to insert disc, grab that drink and settle down in a good chair. You have to hurriedly reach for the pause button and press it as soon as the disc is loaded, which for a Universal title, is pretty quick.

 

[haineshisway]

Return of the Pause Button.  I agree with NY2LA it is annoying and does not allow you to insert disc, grab that drink and settle down in a good chair.  You have to hurriedly reach for the pause button and press it as soon as the disc is loaded, which for a Universal title, is pretty quick. 

Here's what I did: I got that drink (Diet Coke) before I inserted the disc. Then I sat down and enjoyed the hell out of the transfer and the movie

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by haineshisway /t/319144/airport-in-todd-ao/90#post_3972580
Here's what I did: I got that drink (Diet Coke) before I inserted the disc. Then I sat down and enjoyed the hell out of the transfer and the movie

It is one hell of a great transfer and always a strong favorite of mine. It is always a good thing when the complaint is minor.

On a side note it sounds like your next show honoring Marvin Hamlisch is going to be great.

 

[NY2LA]

(insert crickets sound effect here.)