Cast and Crew: David Lowell Rich (Director); Arthur Hailey (Original Novel); Sylvia Kristel, Eddie Albert, Charo, Martha Raye, Cicely Tyson, Jimmie Walker, David Warner, Mercedes McCambridge, Sybil Danning, Avery Schreiber, Ed Begley Jr.

What It’s About: An American airline acquires its first Concorde, a supersonic airliner.  The maiden voyage will take the Concorde from Washington to Paris to Moscow.  Unfortunately for her fellow passengers, reporter Maggie Whelan (Susan Blakely) is aboard with evidence linking her arms magnate boyfriend Kevin Harrison (Robert Wagner) to illegal arms sales, and Harrison will do anything (up to and including sending fighter jets) to blow up the Concorde and Maggie’s information with it.  The only thing that stands in his way are the fearless crew of the Concorde-Captains Metrand (Alain Delon) and Patroni (George Kennedy).

Why Watch it Today?: The Concorde, the world’s first supersonic airliner and the result of a celebrated English-French collaboration, first flew today in 1969.  The Concorde…Airport ’79, the final entry in the four film Airport series, hoped to cash-in on the publicity surrounding this newest, most advanced airliner.  Unfortunately, just as economics and politics stopped the real life Concorde from being widely adopted, the Airport series would die with this ludicrous, over-the-top entry. Successful or not, The Concorde features all of the elements of 1970s disaster cinema, stuffed with stock characters, guest stars, ludicrous situations and dialogue, and goofy special effects.

Where to Get It: Netflix (Instant), iTunes, or  Buy or Rent at Amazon.com