Airplane! (1980)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

Jim Abrahams
David Zucker

Writers:

Jim Abrahams (written by) &
David Zucker (written by) ...

Release Date:

2 July 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

You've read the ad, now see the movie!

Plot:

An airplane crew takes ill. Surely the only person capable of landing the plane is an ex-pilot afraid to fly. But don't call him Shirley.

Plot Keywords:

Sick Pilot | Sweating | Bestiality | Hanging | Cult Favorite

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	...	Roger Murdock (as Kareem Abdul-Jabaar)
Lloyd Bridges	...	McCroskey
Peter Graves	...	Captain Oveur
Julie Hagerty	...	Elaine
Robert Hays	...	Ted Striker
Leslie Nielsen	...	Dr. Rumack
Lorna Patterson	...	Randy
Robert Stack	...	Rex Kramer
Stephen Stucker	...	Johnny
Otto	...	Himself
Jim Abrahams	...	Religious zealot #6
Frank Ashmore	...	Victor Basta
Jonathan Banks	...	Gunderson
Craig Berenson	...	Paul Carey
Barbara Billingsley	...	Jive Lady

Also Known As:

Flying High! (New Zealand: English title) (Philippines: English title)
Flying High (Australia)
Kentucky Fried Airplane (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Spain:13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | UK:PG (2001 re-rating) | USA:PG (Certificate #25740) | Sweden:11 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:L | Ireland:12 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 (video rating) | Norway:12 (original rating) | UK:A (original rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's role was originally to be played by Pete Rose.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At the airport, when Oveur gets a call about the "transplantation-girl" (with the white/red/black phones), you can clearly hear a voice laughing in the background.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Male announcer: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.
Female announcer: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

River of Jordan

the greatest comedy of all time

Airplane is simply the funniest movie of all time. It handles the broad range of parody, satire, and plain silliness expertly, and has some of the greatest one-liners and sight gags ever put in a movie. Sure some of the jokes are dated, but great comedies (especially parodies) exist in the moment, and you have to expect that. The fact is, enough jokes hit the bullseye that it really is one of those rare movies where you are laughing constantly. I am, at least. This movie launched Leslie Nielsen's career as a comedy actor, although he still hasn't made anything this good (Naked Gun comes closest, but it's still light years away from this). Do any movies come close to hitting the zenith that this one does? "Young Frankenstein" comes close, but even the best Mel Brooks film doesn't top this. There has simply never been a funnier movie than "Airplane!" and for that, it deserves to be considered one of the greatest MOVIES of all time (I know for many people that's a stretch, but I stand by it; I've been watching it my whole life and there's still nothing I flat-out enjoy watching more).