Airport 1975 is processed schlock and it's really beneath the level at which movie criticism might serve a function; one might almost think it had been conceived as a campy joke.

Airport 1975 is good, exciting, corny escapism and the kind of movie you would not want to watch as an in-flight film.

A solid half-hour of this finds Charlton Heston remotely talking a ridiculously overwrought Karen Black through attempts to stabilize the plane over treacherous mountains. Essentially, the film is a studio budget away from what could’ve been a TV movie.

With Karen Black’s harrowing, fully-committed performance in Airport 1975, she was able to solidify her status as a true movie star. It’s a shame Tinseltown had no clue what to do with her unique qualities.