The
first Concorde is delivered to a US airline. Meanwhile, investigative
journalist Maggie Whelan is contacted at her house by a man from the
big Harrison Industries company - he claims to have evidence that the
arms company has been illegally selling weapons to third world nations,
but before he can tell her any more, he is shot and killed. Maggie
talks to her friend, and the company owner Dr. Kevin Harrison (Robert
Wagner) who assures her that it was all lies. After they part, Maggie
leaves for Moscow to board the Concorde, but before she boards, is
handed some documents which she discovers are proof of the Harrison
Industries arms sales. Hoping to destroy the plane, Harrison first
targets an unmanned drone at the plane, and then hires a mercenary jet
fighter to shoot it down, but both fail after some creative piloting,
and the plane lands in Paris. Harrison lands in Paris to talk with
Maggie, but they cannot come to an agreement, and as she boards to fly
on to Moscow, he arranges for another sabotage attempt that will open
the cargo bay doors in mid-flight...
The fourth, and unsurprisingly final film in the
Airport series,
Concorde: Airport '79 ranks as one of the most ridiculous 'disaster movies' ever filmed. While
Aiport '77 had taken a rather over-the-top disaster, but played it very ernestly,
Concorde
pushes its story into absurdity. Logic seems to be completely absent
throughout - Harrison seems to be terrified about some pieces of paper
(could he not call them forgeries?), and not of the horrific PR that
would result from his drones shooting down an airliner; he never
considers killing Maggie in Paris when it would be much simpler and
cleaner, and just where do you hire an F-4 jet fighter on short notice?
However, once you see George Kennedy opening the window of Concorde
mid-flight, it is clear that we have entered (unintentional)
self-parody territory, and the film's plot holes stop being of concern.
The characters are a suitably daft mix as well, from a stoned
Jazz musician to a panicky lady who sits in the toilet for most of the
film, and a random group of Russian athletes, and even a woman carrying
an organ transplant for her son (but no Nuns this time). Don't expect
much in the way of characterisation (although there are a couple of
gratuitous love-stories hidden away in there). Somehow, the storyline
does all come together and with its non-stop action, the film is never
dull, building to an exciting climax.
Director David Lowell Rich had already directed a duo of
Aiport inspired films, including the horror movie
Terror at 37,000 Feet (1973) and the earlier Concorde television movie
SST: Death Flight
(1977), starring Doug McClure. He does some decent work here, although
the primative computer-generated special effects look utterly daft (the
occasional model shots look a lot better). Experienced Hollywood
composer Lalo Schifrin gives the film a decent soundtrack.
Showing
up the low budget the most is the complete absence of the all-star
casts that boosted the first three films. American actor Robert Wagner
plays the evil Harrison, but looks rather bored throughout, while
French actor Alain Delon and disaster movie veteran Susan Blakely give
adequate performances. Star of all four
Airport
movies, George Kennedy gets his most important role here as the plane's
captain and really seems to be enjoying himself - indeed he seems to be
the only actor who
gets the absurd nature of the film.
Original
Airport creator Arthur Hailey would doubtless be horrified, but
Concorde: Airport '79 is
a surprisingly enjoyable film. Packed full of dodgy special effects,
and a myriad of plot holes big enough to fly the plane through, it
somehow remains watchable and comes recommended to disaster movies fans
looking for something
bad. Regular film fans should stay far away! Amazingly the film inspired an even lower budget rip-off, the European
Concorde Affair (1979) directed by Ruggero Deodato, that boasts an even more absurd plot.
