
©1977 Universal Pictures. All rights reserved.

| Mono |
| Pressing Location |
DiscoVision Carson |
| Label Color |
Blue |
| Retail Price |
$15.95 |
| Year Issued |
1978 |
|
| Side |
Frames |
Running Time |
| 1 |
36,151 |
25min 06sec |
| 2 |
31,514 |
21min 53sec |
| 3 |
32,352 |
22min 28sec |
| 4 |
31,458 |
21min 51sec |
| 5 |
33,176 |
23min 02sec |
|
164,651 |
114min 20sec |
| Dead Side |
Various |
|
| Ratings |
| Video Transfer |
  |
| Audio Transfer |
  |
| Replication |
  |
|
| Packaging |
| Large Open-Top |
| Open-Top |
 |
| Side-Open Sticker |
 |
| Printed |
 |
|
Pressing Notes
A highly available title, the quality of the video transfer on Airport '77 is quite good. The colors are
bright and strong, with only minor hints of a contrast problem. The Pan & Scan presentation is terrible however,
making us all sea sick from watching the horrible composition. There is a mastering error in the 3/2 pull-down on
all 5 sides causing nearly every frame to flicker when a still frame is requested. This was typical for many of
DiscoVision's feature film transfers. The audio is quite good as well, containing some interesting frequency
response. There are parts which have quite a dynamic range, and others which sound like a 2-inch AM radio speaker.
Some copies of side 2 have exhibited 20 Frame Skip. At least one
mastering of side 4 has an anamorphic end bumper, where the spiral is the correct height, but is overly wide, cutting
off the sides. There have been reports of a random picture stop near the end of side 5 on some copies. There are
numerous occurrences of random laserlocks during the first 1000 frames of side 1. This particular trouble can vary
from player to player. Sides 3 and 5 are the most difficult to locate good copies of. Side 5 is especially difficult
if it is mated with the infamous "green slime" side.
To illustrate how different some production runs could be, I've included two front cover scans of Airport '77
to document the variance in colors used during a titles production. The greener version is the correct one.
Upon close inspection, it appears that other than the actual title art, there is no red color to the picture at all,
which would account for the overly blue appearance.
Airport '77 was issued in 1987 by MCA Home Video (Catalog #: 10010 / ID5118) in a package deal with several
other titles through Image Entertainment. This edition was pressed by Pioneer.
It is currently out of print, however Good Times Entertainment secured the rights to issue Airport '77 on
DVD. The DVD restores the film to its correct aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Good Times issued the disc in July 1998.
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Updated: May 19, 2001
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