‘Airport: The Complete 4-Film Collection’ 4K UHD Review
Disaster films have been thrilling audiences since the earliest days of cinema. From The Great Train Robbery to San Francisco to Titanic, viewers have always been drawn to catastrophe on screen. Maybe it’s morbid curiosity, maybe it’s the fascination with watching ordinary people pushed to their limits. Honestly, it’s probably a bit of both.
The genre exploded in the 1970s with blockbusters like Earthquake, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. Alongside those classics, the Airport series became a major hit in its own right. Now, Kino Lorber is revisiting that legacy with a deluxe 4K Ultra HD release: Airport: The Complete 4-Film Collection.
- Airport (1970) – A bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved. ***
- Airport 1975 (1974) – A 747 in flight collides with a small plane and is rendered pilotless. Somehow the control tower must get a pilot aboard so the jet can land. ***
- Airport ’77 (1977) – Art thieves hijack a 747, hit fog and crash into the ocean, trapping them and the passengers under one hundred feet of water. ***
- The Concorde Airport ’79 (1979) – A supersonic airborne disaster. In order to survive a flight headed for the Moscow Olympics, passengers of the Concorde must endure aerial acrobatics to dodge missiles and survive a device that decompresses the plane. **
Kino Lorber have transferred these four films to 4K in 2160p. The first three films are in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and the last film is in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. There are two English audio tracks: a 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0. Finally, there is the option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The transfers come from brand new HDR/Dolby Vision Masters, from 4K Scans of the 35mm Original Camera Negatives and 35mm Interpositive Reduction Element (Airport). I haven’t seen these films in many years, so seeing them now in 4K is like watching them for the first time. The picture is crisp and clean, the colours are bright and vibrant, and the audio is clear as a bell. Overall, these are wonderful-looking restorations.
In addition to the excellent 4K restorations, Kino Lorber has packaged this set as a DigiBook — and not just any DigiBook. Open it to each film’s section, and you’ll find the original theatrical poster reproduced inside, a fantastic touch for collectors. But that is not all – take a look at what other bonus features are included:
Special Features:
- NEW Audio Commentary for AIRPORT by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo and Author/Screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner
- NEW Audio Commentary for AIRPORT 1975 by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
- NEW Audio Commentary for AIRPORT ’77 by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo and Writer/Filmmaker Peter Hankoff
- NEW Audio Commentary for THE CONCORDE… AIRPORT ’79 by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
- Theatrical Trailers (All 4 Newly Mastered in 2K)
- Airport Quartet: A Booklet Essay by Julie Kirgo
All told, this is one of the most impressive releases that I have seen from Kino Lorber this year. The quality of the discs and the spectacular quality of the DigiBook really make this release not just entertaining, but a deluxe showpiece, and I highly recommend it for fans of disaster films of the 70s.
***** 5/5
Airport: The Complete 4-Film Collection is available to order on Amazon now.
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