The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)

The Concorde... Airport ’79 is the kind of glossy, high-altitude spectacle that dares you not to grin at its sheer audacity: a disaster movie that piles on missiles, midair mayhem, and international brinkmanship with the confidence of a jet at full throttle. It’s undeniably a B-movie, but that’s the charm—between the earnest performances and the wonderfully overcooked dialogue, the film becomes an unintentional comedy that plays like a time capsule from an era when “bigger” was the only rule. When it leans into action, it delivers brisk, old-school thrills and a steady stream of “you’ve got to be kidding me” set pieces that make it perfect for a fun group watch. If you’re looking for realism or subtlety, this isn’t your flight, but if you want a delightfully flawed, high-energy capper to the Airport series, it’s an entertaining ride worth taking.

The Concorde... Airport ’79 is clearly trying to be a bigger, flashier capper to the Airport series, piling on international intrigue, airborne peril, and glossy “ripped from the headlines” spectacle. The problem is it’s so determined to top itself that the plot turns downright absurd, the dialogue lands with a thud, and the effects now look more like a TV stunt show than a tense thriller. If you’re hoping for grounded disaster drama or convincing suspense, this will feel contrived and unintentionally funny more often than exciting. Still, if you enjoy campy ’70s star-studded chaos and can treat it as a so-bad-it’s-good curiosity, there’s a certain guilty fun in watching it swing wildly and miss.