Airplane! (1980)

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:

Airplane | Pilot | Food Poisoning | Airport | Basketball

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:

The obligatory copyright notice at the end of the film which warns against piracy or unauthorized duplication ends with the comment "So there!"

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When he first begins to tell his story to the old lady, Striker states that he was in the Air Force. In the flashback sequence that immediately follows, he is wearing a U.S. Navy uniform.

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 A Night of Comic Relief 2 (1989) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Respect

A hilarious gem!

This is voted as one of the funniest comedies of all time, and it deserves that honor! The film is filled with hilarious gags! Sure, in every one of these campy farces, there's usually a few gags that are way too silly. In this case, it was the "drinking problem" gag and that annoying gay man who works on Lloyd Bridges' staff. But when I can actually count on my hand how many gags didn't work, that's a good sign. The majority of the film sent me into a frenzy of laughter! One of my favorites is when the blow-up auto-pilot runs out of air and Julie Hagerty blows it back up again. You'll have to see the movie to find out why it was so hilarious! I also got a great kick out of the running gag in which every passenger who listens to Robert Hays ends up killing themselves. This is definitely the Zuckers and Abrahams in top form! Unfortunately, I haven't seen a great spoof in years. The "Scary Movie" films were pretty good, but incredibly lewd and crude. And obviously the Zuckers and Abrahams have much better eyes for satire than the Wayans brothers. I caught "Scary Movie" on cable and watched it a second time, and I didn't laugh nearly as many times as I did the first time. I can watch "Airplane" 200 times and still laugh like there's no tomorrow! The film was made back when comedies didn't go strictly for sex and toilet gags to make an audience laugh. This was back when writers used to employ this quality called "wit." "Kentucky Fried Movie" had some racy gags, but even those were witty for the most part. There is a certain rhythm in every gag that helps make the film work. For example, Lloyd Bridges starts out by saying "I think I picked the wrong day to quit smoking." Then he says he picked the wrong day to quit drinking. And when he finally says "I picked the wrong day to quit amphetamines," I was laughing my head off! So basically, you watch a film like this and feel the urge to mail a copy of the video to the Wayans Brothers and whatever crackheads wrote "Not Another Teen Movie," along with a note saying "THIS is how to make a spoof!"

There are so many other gags worth mentioning, including the "Saturday Night Fever" sendup, which is definitely one of the best comic moments caught on film! That scene also contains my favorite line: "I told the guy next to me to pinch me to make sure I wasn't dreaming." After that voice-over, we see the guy next to Robert Hays repulsed and walking away from him. Another great example of perfect comic timing and delivery!

If you want to get some authentic belly laughs--I'm not talking chuckles, but actual LAUGHS!--you must check out "Airplane." Trust me, movies don't get much more original or funny than this!

My score: 9 (out of 10)