I am a big fan of disaster films, with Airport 77' being a personal favourite, which is surprising, as most people credit Airport 75' the best of the series, but I would argue Jack Lemmon in an unusually tough heroic role trumps Karen Black as the panicked stewardess trying to hold it together, because when someone on board yells "Oh My God, the Stewardess is flying the plane", she really wasn't, and Charlton Heston had to climb into the cockpit to land it.
The 1970's were when 747's were the grandest commercial planes. Millionaire Philip Stevens has invited a collection of friends and partners aboard the inaugural flight of his luxurious custom designed private Boeing 747, along with priceless museum pieces enroute to Florida. Veteran pilot Dan Gallagher, along with lead stewardess Eve and the passengers do not know a few of the crew have planned to knock everyone out with sleeping gas and lower the plane off the radar, landing on an island to unload the priceless art cargo. They might have done too, if the plane didn't veer too far off course, and deep in the fog hit a signal tower, sending it careening into the ocean of the Bermuda Triangle. When everyone wakes up, the leaking plane is resting on the ocean floor - they must somehow get a message to the surface and hope rescue arrives, before the oxygen wears out.
I didn't notice when I bought this, but it is a novelization by Michael Scheff and David Spector based on their screenplay, and novelizations of films do not interest me. If this was a novel previous to being a film, I feel it has more merit - there are subtleties that add to a story, whereas this is exactly the same as the film, point for point. However, it's still a terrific story and those who have not seen the film, and/or, for those completists of airplane crisis novels like myself will find a terrific adventure with lots of tension, solid characters, and believable rescue attempts based on actual Navy techniques. It's worth reading, but for me personally, I know the story too well, and this did not divert or expound upon it. Taken on it's own it stands, and overall it's an exciting addition to the airplane-in-distress genre.
1977 / Paperback / 205 pages
Comments