The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979)

User Rating:

4.0/10   

Director:

David Lowell Rich

Writers:

Arthur Hailey (novel)
Jennings Lang (story)

Release Date:

17 August 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

At twice the speed of sound, can the Concorde evade attack?

Plot:

This film is the last of the 'Airport' genre which stars George Kennedy again in his aviation-disaster...

Plot Keywords:

Missile | Concorde | Airplane | Aviation | Terminal

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Capt. Paul Metrand
Susan Blakely	...	Maggie Whelan
Robert Wagner	...	Dr. Kevin Harrison
Sylvia Kristel	...	Isabelle
George Kennedy	...	Capt. Joe Patroni
Eddie Albert	...	Eli Sands
Bibi Andersson	...	Francine
Charo	...	Margarita
John Davidson	...	Robert Palmer
Andrea Marcovicci	...	Alicia Rogov
Martha Raye	...	Loretta
Cicely Tyson	...	Elaine
Jimmie Walker	...	Boisie
David Warner	...	Peter O'Neill
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Nelli

Also Known As:

Airport '79 (USA) (short title)
Airport '80: The Concorde (Philippines: English title)
Airport 1979 (International: English title) (informal title)
Airport 1980 (International: English title) (informal title)
The Concorde (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

123 min | USA:103 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:A | UK:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Singapore:PG | USA:PG CORRECT: REPLACE WITH: (Certificate #25694) | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Norway:12 | USA:PG (Certificate #25694)

Filming Locations:

Alta, Utah, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

In its initial screening for industry members and press on the Universal studio lot, this film was laughed off screen.

Goofs:

Factual errors: There is no way the hot air balloon at the beginning could have flown intentionally from DC to Dulles. Balloons are subject to wind currents cannot truly navigate to a particular destination.

Quotes:

Capt. Joe Patroni: I've flown just about every type of aircraft through three wars and forty pounds. Only thing I'm afraid of is heights. Are you afraid of anything, Metrand?
Capt. Paul Metrand: American pilots.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Friends: The One with All the Poker (#1.18)" (1995)

Total camp classic

The fourth and last of the calamitous Airport series, The Concorde is undeniably the most wretched of the bunch, but presented with such disregard for intelligence that it's also the funniest. Bubble--headed reporter Susan Blakely finds out that boyfriend Robert Wagner, a duplicitous arms dealer, has been secretly selling weapons to the Russians; when she boards the Concorde bound for Paris, he sends his latest heat-seeking missle after the plane. Pilots Alain Delon and George Kennedy (who started out as just a simple mechanic in the first Airport) turn the plane upside down to avoid it. After the missle is destroyed by some USAF sky jockeys, the plane continues on to Paris (!). Approaching France, a jet fighter starts shooting off missiles again at the Concorde, so Kennedy opens up the window (!!) to shoot off a flare. In Paris, Wagner tells Blakely it's all a mistake, so she gets on the Concorde again (!!!) to jet off to Moscow. A timer opens up the cargo hatch and the plane starts to break apart, but not before Delon lands the plane in the Alps (!!!!). A laugh riot, from start to finish!