Airport 1975 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Airport 1975 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 26, 2025

Jack Smight's "Airport 1975" (1974) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson and remastered vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Somewhere over Utah

While thematically very similar to George Seaton’s blockbuster, Jack Smight’s Airport 1975 does a range of different things to impress, virtually all of which have something to do with the quality of its characterizations. Also, the original plan for Airport 1975 was to be a TV production. Executive producer Jennings Lang upgraded it after a final draft of the screenplay Smight was supposed to work with reached his desk.

Shortly after departing Washington Dulles International Airport, a Columbia Airlines Boeing 747 en route to Los Angeles International Airport is diverted to Salt Lake City International Airport due to severe weather across the entire West Coast. However, on the way to its new destination, the Boeing 747 has a head-on collision with a small plane after its pilot suffers a massive heart attack and loses control of it. On the Boeing 747, multiple flight members are instantly killed, while the captain is seriously wounded and blinded.

Moments after the collision, stewardess Nancy Prior (Karen Black) enters the pilot cabin, somehow establishes contact with ground controllers, and, while following their instructions, manages to stabilize the Boeing 747. However, it is not long before it becomes clear that Prior will have to shut off the autopilot system and fly the Boeing 747 through a very tricky mountainous area in Utah, which seems like an impossible task even if she were to be guided by an expert from hundreds of miles away. But this is precisely what Prior’s boyfriend, Alan Murdock (Charlton Heston), a veteran flight inspector and retired test pilot, vows to do until he and his pal Joe Patroni (George Kennedy), Vice President for Operations at Columbia Airlines, figure out what to do to avoid a massive tragedy.

Unlike Seaton’s blockbuster, Airport 1975 does not have a multilayered narrative with various terrific characters that instantly and effectively begin expanding it in different directions. (Some critics have cited this development as a significant flaw of the original film). The camera is firmly focused on the damaged Boeing 747 and Black and Heston’s characters, who are supposed to get it on the ground in Salt Lake City. Several famous actors -- Gloria Swanson, Sid Caesar, Susan Clark, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, and Jerry Stiller -- are in Black and Heston’s orbit, but only Kennedy’s presence is substantial enough.

The change transforms Airport 1975 into a conventional action drama, which is an obvious safe choice for a sequel that was ‘only’ inspired by Arthur Hailey's novel. However, the quality of the characterizations suffers, and it is why various sections begin to look like filler material. For example, all of the material with Swanson and especially Stiller, who plays a rather remarkably annoying drunkard, is instantly forgettable.

Thankfully, the action is well shot and very entertaining. Black looks surprisingly convincing while trying to do the best of a seemingly hopeless situation, and Heston risks his life to get on the Boeing 747 in an improvised operation that is staged very well. Also, all footage of the Boeing 747, internal and external, looks great.

Smight worked with cinematographer Philip Lathrop, who had just finished shooting Heston and Kennedy in another famous disaster film, Mark Robson’s Earthquake.

Airport 1975 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Airport 1975 is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-31 are taken from Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #34-39 are taken from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces an exclusive new 4K restoration of Airport 1975 on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. In native 4K, the 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I viewed it with HDR, but switched to the 1080p presentation of it in multiple areas.

The 4K restoration is excellent, and the quality of its native 4K and 1080p presentations ranges from great to outstanding. Excluding a few obvious inconsistencies affecting delineation and clarity, coupled with minor surface imperfections, during the opening credits/prologue, which could have been addressed with careful manual work, there is nothing that could have been done differently to ensure even more impressive presentations of Airport 1975. The entire film has an enormously attractive organic appearance, and the lushness of its visuals is equally striking in native 4K and 1080p. The HDR grade does have a positive impact on the dynamic range of the visuals, but the 4K restoration is so carefully and effectively graded that I do not think it is the significant factor it should be. I like how several darker sequences look without HDR. Density levels are consistently excellent. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. In summary, if you enjoy Airport 1975 and have been unsure whether to upgrade a previous release of it, you should know that both the 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray bring very strong, very convincing upgrades in quality. My score is 4.75/5.00.

Airport 1975 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I chose to view the entire film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. I was impressed as soon as the music from the prologue flooded my speakers, and from there, a lot of things got better. Unsurprisingly, the action material has the most effective dynamic contrasts. However, there are plenty of fine nuances elsewhere, adding to a wonderfully rich sound design that is ideal for an action drama like Airport 1975. All exchanges are very clear, sharp, and stable. I did not encounter any distracting age-related anomalies to report in our review.

Airport 1975 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson.

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for Airport 1975. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson.

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for Airport 1975. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Airport 1975 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While thematically very similar to George Seaton's blockbuster, Jack Smight's Airport 1975 does a range of different things to impress, virtually all of which have something to do with the quality of its characterizations. However, it is still an enormously safe project of the type that would have done very, very well on TV, which is where it was initially headed. I cannot see how someone who may have enjoyed the original film can be disappointed with it. Kino Lorber's combo pack brings a wonderful 4K restoration of it, recently completed at Universal. A standalone Blu-ray release is available for purchase as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.