DVR Drive-In Review: Airport 1975

By now, more people have seen disaster spoof "Airplane!" than the films that inspired it ("Zero Hour" among others).

One of the films parodies in the Abrahams-Zucker Brothers classic is "Airport 1975." This has been airing on HBO lately, so if you spy it on the digital guide, tune in.

First of all, the cast along is worth the watch: Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Myrna Loy, Sid Casesar, Jerry Stiller, Norman Fell, Karen Black, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Gloria Swanson (as herself!!), Linda Blair and Erik Estrada!

The plot is pretty unbelieveable. A businessman (Dana Andrews, who also starred in "Zero Hour") has a heart attack while piloting a small plan en route to a business meeting. His craft smacks the cockpit of a 747 passenger jet killing two of the pilots and blinding the captain.

Even before the crash, drama was unfolding aboard the 747. A child (Blair) is in desperate need of a kidney transplant. An aging fim star (Swanson) is working on her memoirs. A lush (Loy) can't get enough boilermakers. A loudmouth (Caesar) won't shut the hell up. And the head flight attendant (Black) can't get a commitment from her lover (Heston).

All these problems go out the window when the unmanned plane is headed toward mountain country.

It's up to the disaster duo of Heston and Kennedy (who also starred in "Earthquake" together) to try and get this bird on the ground. Someone comes up with the idea of using a jet helicopter to catch up with the runaway jet. Then, some unlucky fool would be lowered into the hole in the cockpit.

Luckily, the plane is stocked with booze to keep passengers from running wild. And it's also fortunate that Chuck Heston can pull off any cinematic miracle: parting the Red Sea in "The Ten Commandments," winning an epic chariot battle in "Ben Hur," kicking ape ass in "Planet of the Apes" and of course, passing as a Latino in "Touch of Evil."

I can't recommend this movie enough. The celebrity cast is worth the watch, but any chance to hear Heston grunt "God dammmit!" while wearing a safari suit and aviator sunglasses is definitely cool. And don't those boilermakers (using Olympia beer) look tasty???