Airport (1970) - Film and DVD Review

Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster) is the manager of Lincoln International Airport. On a particularly stressful snowy night, he must deal with an angry wife, a Boeing 707 stuck in the snow, and a bomb-damaged airliner that needs to land as soon as possible. That is the basic plot of Airport, a very entertaining disaster-drama from 1970. It features an all-star cast including Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset and George Kennedy. Helen Hayes is included as a crafty, elderly stowaway who is hilarious (there is actually a lot of comic relief, which in this case isn't really a bad thing).

Airport is a favorite of mine. The acting is melodramatic, yes, but that doesn't really bother me. I would be more annoyed if the actors spoke in monotonous tones. Van Hefflin is pitiful as Guerrero, the one who carries the bomb onto Trans Global Airlines Flight Two, planning to commit suicide so that his struggling wife will receive his life insurance money. There are other subplots that make this film interesting, and suspense sets in as the bomb is discovered. The landing scene is also very dramatic.

My Rating: 5/5

DVD Review   
(Airport is available on DVD and Blu-Ray)         

This DVD of airport was put out recently. The picture and sound quality are both great. Three extras are included. One is the film's

theatrical trailer. The other two are Universal Studios Documentaries - one is about the famous backlot where movies were and are still made, and the other is about various

Universal hits that hit the screen back in the 1970's.

 Review©  2013 by Moviefanguy.blogspot 

Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981) Film & DVD Review

Dark Night of the Scarecrow was a movie I had been wanting to see for a while. It was getting close to Halloween, so I wanted to watch a good scary movie. Dark Night of the Scarecrow did not disappoint. It's a great movie that pays attention to what horror movies need - suspense, creepy atmospheres, and good acting. 

Bubba Ritter, a mentally challenged man, is accused of attacking a child - one of his only friends, young Marylee Williams. He has actually saved her from a vicious dog, but a group of townsmen driven mad by cruelty murder Bubba while he tries to hide from them inside of a scarecrow. 

Through lying, the four killers are set free by the law. But someone - or something - knows about their crime, and begins to avenge Bubba's death.

As Marylee says, "Bubba's not gone... he's just playing the hiding game."

Creepy and well-made, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, a TV movie made over 30 years ago, is still great today and an excellent horror film. It is also noted to be the first horror film to feature a scarecrow as part of the main plot.

My Rating: 5/5

The DVD released by VCI Entertainment is also very great; the picture has been restored to a nice, clear image. As a neat bonus feature we get a commentary track with the director, Frank De Felitta and the writer, J.D. Feigelson. A Blu-Ray of the movie just came out.



                                 Review©  2013 by Moviefanguy.blogspot