Word: jabbar
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...plot is an admitted rip-off of an even earlier example of the imperiled-airliner genre, 1957's Zero Hour. What is particular to the new film is its jostling comic inventiveness and pitch-black humor. The pilot and co-pilot (Peter Graves and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) are stricken, in flight, by food poisoning. There is another pilot (Robert Hays) aboard, but having led his squadron into disaster during combat, he is afraid to fly. Before finally agreeing to land the plane, he passes the time telling his sad, tedious story to fellow passengers, many of whom commit suicide...
...romance movie clichés-offering, incidentally, targets ranging from Saturday Night Fever to From Here to Eternity-it is hard to imagine anyone paying him much attention. There is so much more unplanned in-flight entertainment going on elsewhere. Up in the cockpit, a child is criticizing Jabbar for not hustling on defense. The boy himself is being slyly propositioned by marvelously straight-faced Pilot Graves. "Have you ever seen a grownup man naked?" he inquires in the same tone he might use to describe the flight plan. Eliciting no response, he tries a subtler approach: "Do you like...
...court, Abdul-Jabbar and his wife Habiba are getting divorced after seven years of separation. While he still has some connections with the Hanafi Muslims in Washington, D.C., he has rid himself of the house where seven of them were murdered in 1973. Once among the most reclusive of superstars, Abdul-Jabbar is now seen about the town more often, skating at a roller disco or dining with friends...
...relaxed Abdul-Jabbar has emerged as the Lakers' leader in the locker room as well as on the court. After his teammates turned in a lackadaisical first half against the Seattle Supersonics during the playoffs, he delivered "my first-ever locker-room talk. Most of it was a lot of expletives deleted." Whatever the content, it worked; the Lakers won the game by six points. Recalls Magic Johnson, Los Angeles' marvelous rookie guard: "He was E.F. Hutton. Everybody listened...
Thus the rejuvenated superstars headed for their celebrated showdown. In the first two games in the best-of-seven championship series, the men and their teams played to a standoff. With Abdul-Jabbar pouring in 33 points and sweeping up 14 rebounds, the Lakers won the first game, 109-102. Next it was Erving's, and the Sixers', turn. He had 23 points and seven assists with five blocked shots, two of them against Abdul-Jabbar himself. As the teams headed for Philadelphia for the weekend, fans savored the sight of Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook and Erving...