The Cannonball Run (1981) - Needham's major buck race bonanza

♥♥♥

Excitement and star parade on the high-spirited poster for Hal Needham's The Cannonball Run

QUICK REVIEW:

A row of charismatic groups in different cars each wants to win the outlawed Cannonball Run that races across the States.

This silly, nearly plotless crazy comedy/car movie was able to gather a surprising cast, which causes some laughs and entertainment value and in the process salvages the boundlessly pointless film from sinking as dead weight.
Roger Moore (A View to a Kill (1985)), worn out Dean Martin (Rio Bravo (1959)) and Sammy Davis Jr. (Ocean's 11 (1960)), Burt Reynolds (Boogie Nights (1997)) and Dom Deluise (Blazing Saddles (1974)) along with Farrah Fawcett (Logan's Run (1976)) and Jackie Chan (The Legend of Drunken Master (1994)) help to make Cannonball Run, - despite its obvious idiocy, - an enjoyable lowbrow comedy.
It is directed by stunt man legend/director Hal Needham (Cannonball Run II (1984)), produced by the Hong Kong-based Golden Harvest company, and it's based on an actual outlawed race, which was held twice in the 70s.

Related review:

Hal Needham: The Villain/Cactus Jack (1979) or, The Wackadoodle West!

Watch the trailer here

Cost: 16-18 mil. $
Box office: 89.8 mil. $ (USA and Germany only)
= Huge hit
[Despite bad reviews, audiences loved this film: It made 72.1 mil. $ in the US and 17.6 mil. $ in Germany alone. It was the 6th biggest box office hit in America that year.]

What do you think of The Cannonball Run?

Airport (1970) - A genre is born

♥♥♥♥

An original poster for George Seaton's event picture Airport, which flashes its starry cast and for some reason repeats its title 8 times

Chicago Airport: A blizzard, too few landing strips and snow plows, a man with a mysterious attaché briefcase, impending divorce and a stowaway passenger. 

 

These are just some of the obstacles presented in Airport, the film that's called the first disaster movie ever, defining genre conventions for countless disaster movies to follow by combining small-scale melodrama with big-scale disaster aspects. It is written and directed by George Seaton (Diamond Horseshoe (1945)), adapting the same-titled 1968 novel by Arthur Hailey (Overload (1979)). Henry Hathaway (Nob Hill (1945)) directed some winter outdoor scenes.
The film is entertaining and worth watching particularly for its stars; the glorious Jean Seberg (À Bout de Souffle/Breathless (1960)), Dean Martin (Rio Bravo (1959)) as a veteran sky captain who might finally choose love over individual freedom, and Burt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity (1953)), who made millions off the flick but still disparaged it gloriously in public, calling it "the worst piece of junk ever made."
The start of Airport is a bit cardboardy, as characters and their wives and girlfriends are introduced, but later on it gets quite exciting, and the film still works perfectly as a lazy afternoon watch.

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 10.2 mil. $
Box office: 128.4 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 12.58 times its cost)

[Airport was released 5 March (North America) and runs 137 minutes. Through profit participation deals, Martin was paid 7 mil. $ for his performance; Lancaster 5 mil. $. Shooting took place from January - June 1969 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and in California. The film grossed 100.4 mil. $ (78.2 % of the total gross) in North America. It was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning one: Best Supporting Actress (Helen Hayes (Ah, Wilderness! (1959, TV movie)). It lost another Supporting Actress nomination (Maureen Stapleton (Passed Away (1992)), Art/Set Decoration to Patton, Cinematography (Ernest Laszlo (The Last Sunset (1961))) to Freddie Young for Ryan's Daughter, Costume Design to Cromwell, Editing to Patton, Score (Alfred Newman (Bus Stop (1956))) to Francis Lai for Love Story, Picture to Patton, Sound also to Patton and Adapted Screenplay to Ring Lardner Jr. for MASH. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, win 1/4 Golden Globe nominations, 1/2 Grammy nominations and a few other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. The Boeing 707 used in the film was only leased: It later crashed in 1989 in Brazil, killing the 25 people onboard. The film was followed by 4 sequels, the first being Airport 1975 (1974). Seaton returned with Showdown (1973). Lancaster returned in Lawman (1971); Martin in The Red Skelton Hour (1970, TV-series), Swing Out, Sweet Land (1970, TV movie) and theatrically in Something Big (1971). Airport is fresh at 73 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Airport?