Review: Airplane (1980)

People in the Movie: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Leslie Nielsen

Director: Jim Abrahams, Jerry and David Zucker (the Zucker brothers)

Pigeonhole: Comedy / Spoof / Satirical

The Basics: The story is about of a shell-shocked war pilot named Ted Striker (Hayes) who ends up on a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, trying to “win back” his estranged girlfriend Elaine (Hagerty), in which most of the crew and a good number of passengers end up sick from severe food poisoning. So, it is up to Ted with Elaine’s help, to land the plane.  The movie spoofs a typical day in the airport; the flight and its slow crescendo into chaos; plus the mayhem in the tower trying to eventually assist Striker to land the plane safely.

Recommendation: I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys spoof-type comedy.  Many films have attempted to copy the formula put forth in Airplane, because it is that great.  ‘PG’ rating is for language, drug and sexual references.  This would likely be more like a PG-13 if rated today.

My Take: I cannot count how many times I have seen this film, but it is one of a select few movies that I can keep watching it over and over and not get tired of it.  Why I think Airplane has such great appeal lies in the performances of the supporting actors, specifically Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Robert Stack, and Leslie Nielsen.  All of them had previously done dramatic roles and in disaster films, so it made the “deadpan” delivery twice as funny.  Nielsen’s comedy career actually launched, as it were, from Airplane.  Besides those big name actors, a bevy of the passengers on the flight also created forever memorable characters including; the sick girl, the Jive talkers, the religious cult guys, the panicking wife, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Johnny.

This is also probably the single most quotable movie I have ever watched, surely.  Some of the highlights include:

“Joey, do like to watch movies about gladiators?”

“I am serious.  And don’t call me Shirley.”

“Stewardess, I speak Jive.”

“Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.”

“There’s a sale at Penny’s!”

I think that Airplane highlights what can happen when a great script, great directing, excellent comedic acting, and probably a little luck, all come together and hit the bullseye.  The day just does not seem as funny for me when I cannot work an Airplane quote into some situation.

Final Thoughts/ Extras/ For Fun: The jive talk was mostly improvised by the 2 actors… Airplane is based mostly on Zero Hour!, a film from 1957.  The lead characters name in that film is Ted Stryker… Hays and Hagerty practiced the dance routine for the disco scene for over a month… There was a sequel that Abrahams and the Zucker brothers were not involved with…