Airport 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Airport 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 7, 2025

George Seaton's "Airport" (1970) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics C. Courtney Joyner and Julie Kirgo, and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Viewing a massive project like Airport is a lot like visiting the greatest buffet in Las Vegas. There is plenty that instantly catches the eye, and once you realize that all of it is top quality, it becomes extremely difficult, perhaps even impossible, to stay focused on one particular area. But you do your best, and after sampling as much of the goodness as possible, you inevitably begin questioning whether the presentation should have been different.

If you quickly conclude that the above comparison is bizarre, you should rewatch the original trailer for Airport that Universal cut in 1970. Here are a few samples of what it promises: “Airport, big scale in every way, has the biggest all-star cast ever assembled for a single Universal motion picture.” “Outselling any novel of recent years, translated into fourteen languages, Arthur Hailey’s Airport was written for the screen and directed by Academy Award-winner George Seaton. It has seven stories tied into one.” The greatest buffet in Las Vegas, which is big scale in every way, offers multiple courses tied into one as well. It also has an award-winning chef.

The most prominent critics of Airport have all argued that its seven stories do not form one big, coherent, and impressive story. There is some truth in their claim. However, it is not because Airport was mismanaged in some obvious ways that could have been avoided with a better screenplay and a different director. Airport does not produce one big and impeccably polished story for the same reason visiting the greatest buffet in Las Vegas can never be an ideal dining experience. There is too much going on.

The seven stories mentioned in the trailer have twice as many interesting characters. Burt Lancaster is the overworked manager of a fictional, dangerously congested airport near Chicago, and his marriage to Dana Wynter has collapsed. Both know it, but only he wants to preserve it for the sake of their children. Jean Seberg is the head of customer relations for Trans Global Airlines (TGA) and is in love with him. She is ready to replace his wife, but does not want to further complicate his life. Dean Martin is a veteran pilot and Lancaster’s brother-in-law. They do not like each other. However, it is not because Martin has been cheating on Barbara Hale with Jacqueline Bisset, a stewardess, who has gathered the courage to tell him that she is pregnant. Van Heflin is a miserable military veteran who has hatched a plan to help the woman who married him several decades ago, Maureen Stapleton, escape the nightmare his bad luck has locked her in. His plan involves a miniature bomb and a massive life insurance policy. George Kennedy, an airline technician, is in a much happier place, but he is not happy that Lancaster has just phoned to tell him that he is the only man in Illinois who can help move a stuck Boeing 707 and reopen the main runway at the airport. A massive blizzard has hit the area, and Kennedy has arranged to spend the night with someone special. Helen Hayes is an elderly stowaway who has been busted. However, she has accidentally figured out how to get on the next plane to Rome, which Heflin intends to blow up.

Even though the camera seems to love being around Lancaster, Airport has multiple legitimate stars, and they are all equally good. As odd as it may sound, this is the biggest reason Airport looks less than ideal in quite a few places -- the camera must constantly choose where to go and who to follow, and there is always an alternative, equally good option. In fact, often it seems like there are multiple such options. The split screens that temporarily bring multiple characters together are a nifty trick, but they are not a solution for this problem.

The special effects are unlikely to impress a contemporary audience. However, there is a lot of wonderfully shot material from inside the damaged plane and the congested airport.

Airport 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Airport 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 #1-33 are taken from Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #35-40 are taken from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces a new 4K restoration of Airport sourced from a 35mm interpositive reduction element. In native 4K, the 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with HDR. Also, I viewed different parts of the 4K restoration in 1080p on the Blu-ray.

I could not be happier with how Airport looks now. In native 4K, all visuals, whether featuring ample controlled light or darker tones, boast exceptional delineation, clarity, and depth. The density levels of these visuals also remain superb. So, even on a very large screen, there is always a lot to be impressed with in different areas. The same can be said about the 1080p presentation, which produces similarly great visuals. The primary discrepancy between the native 4K and 1080p presentations lies in the area of color reproduction, which directly impacts the dynamic range of the visuals. Both presentations produce outstanding, perfectly set healthy primaries and supporting nuances. However, the native 4K presentation's expanded color gamut easily reveals greater ranges of supporting nuances, which help the dynamic range a lot. They are not the only factor. For example, the increased resolution contributes as well, but Airport is shot to impress, and in native 4K, the expanded color gamut makes even some seemingly ordinary visuals look striking. Image stability is excellent. I did not notice any traces of problematic digital corrections. From start to finish, Airport looked spotless as well.

Airport 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

I viewed the entire film with the 5.1 track. I think that it is great. It is very active and effective, enhancing the suspense and action incredibly well. In fact, I think that the 5.1 track performs as well as some of the modern Dolby Atmos tracks that can be found on 4K Blu-ray releases of older films restored in 4K by Sony Pictures. All exchanges are clear, sharp, and easy to follow. There are no stability issues.

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

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic C. Courtney Joyner and Julie Kirgo.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Airport. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic C. Courtney Joyner and Julie Kirgo.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Airport. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

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

As conceived, and with the same glamorous cast that Universal secured for it, Airport cannot be the perfectly polished film its critics have argued it should have been. There is too much going on in it, featuring too many interesting characters who are worth following, all contributing to a fast-evolving multilayered drama that could easily fill several different films. I think that Airport is a good film, with various strengths, and, while it is too big a project, it turned out exactly as Universal wanted it. Kino Lorber's combo pack introduces an exclusive new 4K restoration of it that looks terrific on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. A standalone Blu-ray release is available for purchase as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.