While a lot of attention is paid to the sci-fi and fantasy genres when it comes to movies, disaster films are popular, too. Movies about some kind of catastrophe, be it a natural disaster or some sort of terrorist attack or even merely a major accident with wide-reaching impact, are often gripping stories with plenty of action and deeply human characters as people seek to either stop the worst-case scenario from happening or survive once it actually has. It’s a kind of movie that’s been around since the silent movie days, but it really became its own genre in the 1970s where disaster films gained major prominence and a wide audience and now, the film that is widely credited for starting it all has made its way to Prime Video.
Released in 1970, Airport is the first in the four-film Airport series and it’s arguably the best. The film, based on Arthur Hailey’s 1968 novel, more or less created the framework that future disaster films would follow with its all-star ensemble cast, high production values, and complex story that connected the various characters and their lives to the emerging disaster that would change everything. A huge critical and commercial success, the film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, with Helen Hayes winning for Best Supporting Actress.
Airport Is A High Stakes Drama More About the People Than The Planes
Airport is set at the fictional Lincoln International Airport in Chicago and follows the airport’s manager, Mel Bakersfield (Burt Lancaster) who is trying to keep things operating during a snowstorm but ends up having to deal with a much larger crisis when a disturbed former demolition expert D. O. Guerrero (Van Heflin) takes out a large life insurance policy and boards a plan headed over the Atlantic with the intent6 on blowing it up. As events unfold, the lives and decisions of various characters both at the airport an on the plane have serious implications.
While most modern disaster films are action (and frequently, explosion) heavy, Airport is a bit different. It’s the people and their drama that is at the center of things and, in a real sense comprises the actual disaster. Airport manager Mel is going through a difficult patch in his marriage and seems to be having an affair with airline passenger relations manager Tanya. One of the married captains of the bomb plane Vernon Demerest (played by Dean Martin) is having an affair with stewardess Gwen (Jacqueline Bisset) and has just discovered she’s pregnant. There’s even a stowaway with her own story as a bit of a thorn in the side of airport staff. Sure, there’s the weather to take into consideration and a doomed plane on the way, but the thing that really draws the viewer in are the more personal disasters. What’s going to happen with Gwen since Vernon is married and not initially thrilled about her pregnancy? What about the plight of the bomber’s wife, who realizes something is very wrong and tries to stop him? It’s over the top and more than a little soap opera-esque, but it’s engaging.
And it’s that engaging, human story that makes Airport such a good movie and helped it redefine what a disaster movie could be. The movie ended up spawning three sequels with Airport 1975, Airport ’77, and The Concorde … Airport ’79. Airport also inspired more character-based disaster films as we started to see more franchise-based offerings, typically featuring start-studded casts. While the genre began to wane in popularity in the 1980s, disaster films have never really been the same. We still see core elements of what Airport did in films like San Andreas, Geostorm, and even Greenland and it’s relatively recent sequel, Greenland 2.
What’s New This Month on Prime Video?
In addition to Airport, Prime Video added a number of exciting new titles for March 2026. Resident Evil, Super 8, all four Shrek movies, Twelve Monkeys, and Teen Wolf are just a handful of movies that arrived on the streamer as of March 1st. More titles are set to debut throughout the month. You can check out a complete listing of what’s coming here.
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