5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
At twice the speed of sound, the Concorde must evade a vicious attack by a traitorous arms smuggler.
Starring: Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, Sylvia Kristel, George KennedyDrama | 100% |
Thriller | 51% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 2.0 Mono
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 2.0 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Note: 'The Concorde: Airport '79' is currently only available as part of a boxed set with other 'Airport' films.
It's probably wise that Universal put the brakes on the Airport franchise after The Concorde: Airport '79 slogged its
way to critical and box office failure. Coming off the high of the original's character-driven excellence, the sequel's high-flying excitement (a movie that spawned a genre parody film), and a third picture that wasn't exactly sunken treasure but decent enough
entertainment,
the studio green-lit the fourth film, this one focusing on an intercontinental flight on board the then relatively new and shiny Concorde jet, which
has
since been scrapped and left to live in the annals of aviation history. It's too bad that its cinematic namesake can't live up to the legacy of either
the
jet or the Airport franchise. Airport '79 struggles its way through a bland story, a disinterested cast, lousy visual effects, and poor
pacing, easily the worst of an otherwise fun franchise.
Patroni from every direction.
The Concorde: Airport '79's 1080p transfer is a far cry from the other presentations in the series. It's rather soft, with unassuming, poorly defined details. Textures rarely excite, not clothes, not upholstery on the plane, not instrument clusters in the cockpit. Fine detail rarely pushes all that hard at all, leaving viewers with only a little more than basic definition. Colors are a little more flush and healthy. Reds and blues are particularly stout, standing nicely apart from the late 70s-era browns, beiges, and oranges that feature rather prominently throughout. Noise is thick and clumpy throughout, rarely relenting in density. Grain often appears frozen in place. Print wear is obvious, heavier at some junctures than others. The image does tighten up a little bit about an hour into the movie. There's a noticeable uptick in resolution and clarity. Grain sometimes almost appears free from its solid state. While its best scenes never approach the quality of the previous films, they're more than welcome, though short-lived, in a rather unimpressive presentation.
The Concorde: Airport '79's DTS-HD Master Audio Mono soundtrack feels ever-so-slightly more open and fluid than the tracks accompanying its most recent two predecessors. That said, there's precious little sense of spread to the ends of the stage or definition to music. The most raw, basic notes are all that are available. There's a fair, certainly not enticing or engrossing, sense of weight and depth to heavier effects, like jet engine rumbles and explosions. Chaos on the flight -- screams, falling suitcases, and the like -- never stretch the stage nor come across as all that realistically detailed. Basic dialogue is fine, pushing far enough to the center and playing with appreciable clarity.
All that's included is the theatrical trailer for The Concorde: Airport '79 (480i, 2:56). No top menu is included. The special feature, as well as audio, subtitle, and chapter options, must be accessed in-film via the pop-up menu.
The Concorde: Airport '79 is a disappointing way to end an otherwise enjoyable franchise. A Disaster film in the wrong way, the picture limps through its nearly two-hour runtime feeling more like a cut-rate TV movie than a feature film in a prominent franchise. Performances are sluggish to downright silly, visual effects stand out for all the wrong reasons, and tension is practically nil. Universal's Blu-ray is equally disappointing, containing no supplements of value but, more critical to the release, a shoddy 1080p transfer and a drab lossless sound. Since it's currently only available in the box set with the other films, there's no reason to say "skip it," but don't except much after watching the first three.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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