A Decade of Disasters, Preserved and Restored

Read Time:5 Minute, 38 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Airport: The Complete 4-Film Collection (4KUHD)
G / –

Genre: Drama, Adventure, Action, Thriller
Year Released: 1970–1979, Kino Lorber 4K 2025
Runtime: 7h 51m
Director(s): George Seaton / Jack Smight / Jerry Jameson / David Lowell Rich
Writer(s): Arthur Hailey / George Seaton / Don Ingalls / Michael Scheff / David Spector / Jennings Lang / Eric Roth
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Charlton Heston, Jack Lemmon, Alain Delon, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Jacqueline Bisset, Karen Black, Susan Blakely
Where to Watch: available now, order your copy here: www.kinolorber.com or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: If there’s one franchise that defines ’70s disaster cinema—all its ambition, excess, sincerity, and unintended comedy—it’s this one. AIRPORT: THE COMPLETE 4-FILM COLLECTION isn’t just a lineup of big-cast thrillers; it’s a snapshot of how the industry embraced spectacle before CGI, leaning entirely on elaborate sets, recognizable faces, and the promise that danger at high altitude automatically meant an event film. Watching the four movies together is like watching the decade itself change: the melodrama, the procedural vibes, the escalation of spectacle, and eventually the unrestrained theatrics of a studio system intent on outdoing itself at any cost.

The collection is more than the sum of its parts. Taken together, they reveal why the disaster genre dominated the era and why it eventually drifted toward parody. Each film reflects a different version of Hollywood’s priorities and a studio mindset that believed scale and stars were the ultimate currency.

The first AIRPORT is the anchor, built on an ensemble that treats crisis as a workplace challenge rather than a cinematic stunt. It’s the most character-driven entry, and the only one that seems genuinely interested in adult lives under pressure. The fact that viewers still recall Helen Hayes, Burt Lancaster, Jacqueline Bisset, and Dean Martin speaks to the film’s balance between emotion and spectacle. Even its procedural elements—logistics, weather, scheduling, infrastructure—feel grounded in a way that modern disaster movies never attempt.

AIRPORT 1975 signals the shift: larger plane, bigger threat, more excessive personalities. It experiments with spectacle and begins loosening the grip on realism. The collision, the pilotless cabin, the midair rescue sequences—these are crafted with enough confidence to hold attention even when logic thins. Karen Black’s performance is the glue, and Charlton Heston’s presence gives the film the authority it needs to keep the scenario from tipping into unintentional parody. This entry lives on momentum, and that momentum is the true engine of its entertainment value.

AIRPORT ’77 is the high point of the series for viewers who prioritize clarity, stakes, and atmosphere. The submerged 747 setup gives it a distinctive identity, and the production design does much of the heavy lifting. Jack Lemmon and James Stewart bring grounded performances that counterbalance the high-concept premise. The underwater setting also introduces a different kind of tension—quiet, methodical, and controlled—making the film feel more tactile and less circus-like than the one before or after. Even when the plot thins out, the environment's physicality pulls the viewer back in.

THE CONCORDE… AIRPORT ’79 is the moment where the franchise fully leans into excess. It becomes more about stunt work, flair, and cameos than about crisis-as-character study. It’s big, brash, and intentionally pitched toward extravaganza over plausibility—not in a cynical way, but in a studio-era “bigger is better” mindset. The film understands itself as entertainment first, logic second, and story somewhere behind that. On its own, it’s uneven; in the context of the set, it’s a fascinating final chapter that shows how the era’s priorities evolved and ultimately splintered.

The standout value of this Special Edition set is the restoration work. Kino Lorber’s new 4K masters make these films easier to appreciate as technical artifacts. The decade’s production styles—the grain, the lighting, the cockpit designs, the model work, the fashion, the color palettes—become a feature rather than a limitation. The restorations don’t just sharpen images; they restore mood, tone, and texture. The audio commentaries add even more value, especially for those who enjoy hearing the behind-the-scenes realities of a franchise built on huge budgets, sprawling casts, and the increasing pressure to escalate spectacle with each installment.

As a complete collection, the set is not flawless. The swings are part of the appeal but also part of the inconsistency. Character depth varies wildly between entries. The franchise’s approach to relationships and gender politics shifts from dated to unintentionally comedic. The spectacle sometimes swallows the sincerity. Yet these films remain compelling time capsules. They show the moment when Hollywood believed star power and engineering were enough to carry tension.

The AIRPORT series is foundational to the disaster genre, not because every installment is perfect, but because the franchise illustrates precisely how large-scale studio entertainment forms its identity—what works, what struggles, and what becomes iconic in hindsight. Watching all four films together is watching the birth, peak, and burnout of an entire trend.

This collection is essential viewing for anyone who cares about film history, genre evolution, and the era when “airborne catastrophe” wasn’t a trope—it was an event. As a set, it earns its place on the shelf as a definitive document of a time when Hollywood believed the sky itself was a stage.

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[photo courtesy of KINO LORBER]

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