Carry-On's Ending Has A Wild Callback To Burt Lancaster's 54-Year-Old Disaster Movie That Got 3 Sequels

Carry-On is being called the new Die Hard, but the Netflix film is more similar to a movie from the 1970s, which it references during its ending. The 2024 action thriller, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by T.J. Fixman, follows Taron Egerton’s Ethan Kopek, a TSA officer who gets blackmailed at LAX on Christmas Eve. After learning his girlfriend, Nora, is pregnant, Ethan aims to get a promotion. His boss gives him a test run by assigning him to manage a baggage-scanning lane, which, unfortunately, results in Ethan getting mixed up in a terrorist plot.

According to Deadline, Carry-On amassed 97 million views in its first ten days on Netflix, making it the biggest movie launch of 2024 for the streaming service and putting it on track to break into Netflix’s top ten films of all time.

The success of the villains’ plans in Carry-On is dependent on Ethan letting a suspicious carry-on suitcase pass through security without raising any alarms. Later, Egerton’s character learns that the bag contains a nerve agent weapon called Novichok. Ethan then does everything in his power to stop the suitcase from getting on a plane, killing everyone inside, while also protecting Nora. For his last-ditch effort, at the end of Carry-On, Ethan gets on the plane himself to diffuse the weapon, and that is when the clever callback to an iconic disaster film from the 1970s happens.

Carry-On’s “Trans Global Airlines” Is A Reference To Airport 1970

The Airline Is A Fake One In Airport

Towards the end of Carry-On, Ethan and Nora discover that the bag containing Novichok is targeting Trans Global 0610, a flight headed for Washington, D.C. Many would look over this detail and instead focus on the high-stakes action happening on the screen. However, those paying close attention and who have watched the 1970 disaster drama film Airport might recognize the airline, seeing as it’s the fake one used in the 54-year-old movie.

Carry-On Cast

Role

Taron Egerton

Ethan Kopek

Jason Bateman

The Mysterious Traveler

Logan Marshall-Green

Agent Alcott

Sofia Carson

Nora Parisi

Danielle Deadwyler

Elena Cole

Theo Rossi

The Mysterious Watcher

Dean Norris

Phil Sarkowski

Sinqua Walls

Jason Noble

Josh Brener

Herschel

Curtiss Cook

Lionel Williams

Airport follows Burt Lancaster as Mel Bakersfeld, the manager of a fictional airport in Chicago who is trying to keep operations smooth during a snowstorm and stop a suicide bomber from blowing up a plane mid-flight. The flight’s airline is Trans Global, just like the one in the movie Carry-On. Netflix’s 2024 action thriller is undoubtedly referencing Airport by name-dropping the airline (and by presenting a similar frightening situation — a weapon onboard a flight).

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How Airport 1970 Changed The Disaster Film Genre

Airport Has Inspired Many Other Flight-Based Disaster Movies

It makes sense why Carry-On features a callback to Airport since the older film was the blueprint for disaster movies and influenced many that came after it. The 1970 drama was a massive success at the box office as it grossed over $128 million against a $10 million budget, and it was nominated for and won many awards (including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Helen Hayes). Consequently, Airport has been a significant inspiration for flight-based disaster films over the last five decades, from Air Force One to Carry-On.

Source: Deadline