Parody of airplane disaster films in which a former pilot gets his nerve back when he has to land a plane on which everyone has food poisoning. Genre: Feature Film-Comedy Rating: PG Release Date: 2-JAN-2007 Media Type: DVD
The quintessential movie spoof that spawned an entire genre of parody films, the original Airplane! still holds up as one of the brightest comedic gems of the '80s, not to mention of cinema itself (it ranked in the top 5 of Entertainment Weekly's list of the 100 funniest movies ever made). The humor may be low and obvious at times, but the jokes keep coming at a rapid-fire clip and its targets--primarily the lesser lights of '70s cinema, from disco films to star-studded disaster epics--are more than worthy for send-up. If you've seen even one of the overblown Airport movies then you know the plot: the crew of a filled-to-capacity jetliner is wiped out and it's up to a plucky stewardess and a shell-shocked fighter pilot to land the plane. Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty are the heroes who have a history that includes a meet-cute à la Saturday Night Fever, a surf scene right out of From Here to Eternity, a Peace Corps trip to Africa to teach the natives the benefits of Tupperware and basketball, a war-ravaged recovery room with a G.I. who thinks he's Ethel Merman (a hilarious cameo)--and those are just the flashbacks! The jokes gleefully skirt the boundaries of bad taste (pilot Peter Graves to a juvenile cockpit visitor: "Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"), with the high (low?) point being Hagerty's intimate involvement with the blow-up automatic pilot doll, but they'll have you rolling on the floor. The film launched the careers of collaborators Jim Abrahams (Big Business), David Zucker (Ruthless People), and Jerry Zucker (Ghost), as well as revitalized such B-movie actors as Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Robert Stack, and Leslie Nielsen, who built a second career on films like this. A vital part of any video collection. --Mark Englehart
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Silly and outrageously funny:
The Godfather of all movie spoofs, every fan of comedy should see this movie. From beginning to end, it is filled with brilliant one-liners and sight gags. Even the more obvious jokes are still funny because of the witty writing and spot-on timing. Especially if you're a fan of movie spoofs and somehow haven't seen it yet, this is a must-see. While the sets may be a bit dated, most of the comedy itself holds up well. What is the plot? It's the main story of a movie... but that's not important right... more info
Super Silliness and Slapstick!:
Silly but funny, and the laughs last through many viewings - even though its now 30 years old. Also like having Kareem as a sidekick instead of O.J.
Great movie!:
This is a movie we've had for years - wore out the VCR tape - had to get it on DVD! Great service and great condition.
Guilty Pleasure:
I hadn't seen Airplane for at least 10 years but decided to buy a used DVD to add to my collection. This kind of movie fits my sense of humor - kinda silly and gross in places, but still a lot of laughs. The humor is definitely 1980s with some pop-culture references that were fun to me, but would probably go over the heads of my grown children. It was also fun to see some of the actors that I hadn't seen in a few years. Even my wife, who wasn't looking forward to it, was laughing in some places. Not a... more info
