A dose of food poisoning incapacitates the pilots of an airliner and an ex-military flyer is called upon to save the day.
This is one of my favourite movies of all time.
It is rare for a feature length comedy to sustain the humour for the duration of the running time, but Airplane does it with an incredibly funny script that mixes entertaining characters, brilliant dialogue and hilarious visuals.
The plot is a remake of the 1957 movie 'Zero Hour' and uses the drama associated with a potential airline disaster to generate laughs with deadpan parody, silliness and random, unexpected punchlines.
For me there are so many memorable sight-gags and quotable one-liners from numerous characters that it is impossible to pick a favourite. Scenes that still make me laugh as much today as I did when I first saw them as a child in the 1980s include the flashback sequences to Ted and Elaine's romantic encounters, everything that happens in air traffic control, and every word that come out of Leslie Neilson's mouth.
All performances are outstanding, particularly Neilson, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Stephen Stucker, and Barbara Billingsley.
The production values are exceptionally good, with as much attention to detail given to the disaster movie elements of the production as the humour. Simple practical effects are used to give the appearance of a stricken airliner and nothing makes it look obviously fake (other than the fact it's all played for jokes).
Airplane has not dated in my eyes and I never tire of watching it. However, I appreciate comedy is very much in the eye of the beholder and what is funny to me might not be as much to others.
This is one of my favourite movies of all time.
It is rare for a feature length comedy to sustain the humour for the duration of the running time, but Airplane does it with an incredibly funny script that mixes entertaining characters, brilliant dialogue and hilarious visuals.
The plot is a remake of the 1957 movie 'Zero Hour' and uses the drama associated with a potential airline disaster to generate laughs with deadpan parody, silliness and random, unexpected punchlines.
For me there are so many memorable sight-gags and quotable one-liners from numerous characters that it is impossible to pick a favourite. Scenes that still make me laugh as much today as I did when I first saw them as a child in the 1980s include the flashback sequences to Ted and Elaine's romantic encounters, everything that happens in air traffic control, and every word that come out of Leslie Neilson's mouth.
All performances are outstanding, particularly Neilson, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Stephen Stucker, and Barbara Billingsley.
The production values are exceptionally good, with as much attention to detail given to the disaster movie elements of the production as the humour. Simple practical effects are used to give the appearance of a stricken airliner and nothing makes it look obviously fake (other than the fact it's all played for jokes).
Airplane has not dated in my eyes and I never tire of watching it. However, I appreciate comedy is very much in the eye of the beholder and what is funny to me might not be as much to others.