Customer Reviews

Airplane! (Widescreen)

5 star:		(133)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

One of the few films, along with some of Monty Python's best stuff, that left me laughing
so hard I was actually in pain.

A brilliantly funny spin on disaster movies in general, airplane disaster movies more
specifically and specifically a serious 1950s B-movie called 'Zero Hour'. Indeed,
whole chunks of this are taken from 'Zero Hour almost verbatim, but just played
with the right warped sensibility to make you realize how funny all those all
cliches can be.

Full of amazing comic performances, including many by actors who had always been
thought of much more as serious dramatic actors (Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen)
clearly having the time of their lives.

So many memorable bits and moments it's hard to even start counting them all.

This edition is also full of fun extra goodies.

If you haven't seen this yet you really, really owe it to yourself to finally get to it.

God this movie is so incredibly hilarious! Few movies have such witty and original jokes as 1980's Airplane! does. This is one of the best comedy movies of all time and is strongly recommended for those struggling with depression or just want a good laugh.

A jetliner is bound for Chicago but when contaminated fish spreads illnesses on most of it's passengers and incapacitates both of it's pilots, it's up to a war veteran to fly and land the airliner and save the passengers before the illness claims their lives.

This movie is so incredibly funny and is highly recommended for comedy audiences. They sure don't make comedy movies like they used to.

Airplane was released in theatres in 1980 and was in production in 1979. Evidently, "Airplane" was a spoof of the 70's disaster film "Airport." This movie was an original concept in comedy at the time that made way for future spoof movies as the Scary Movie series in recent years and the Naked Gun movies in the 90's. Stars Robert Hays, Julia Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen and Peter Graves with a special appearance by Lakers player Kareem Abdul Jabaar. Leslie Nielsen would move on to doing other such comic films, particularily at home with the Nake Gun series and Spy Hard.

The movie was a comic farewell to the 70's, a milieu which this movie holds on to visually- disco music, including a scene ripped off from Saturday Night Fever in which Robert Hays and Julia Hagerty dance while two women fight each other at a disco/bar. The comedy is non-stop and everything is a gag or joke, written into the script. Highlights include an elderly white lady who can speak Jibe or black street slang, Ted and Elaine in an African village as part of a peace corps mission. Ted is teaching the native men how to play basketball while Elaine demonstrates Tupperware to the village women. The movie is cartoonish, over-the-top, silly but lots of fun. Look also for the film's sequel, released in 1982.

Airplane! is most definitely one of the ten greatest comedies of all time, and it's held up well over the past 24 years or so. Normally, this type of parody/slapstick comedy bores me to tears, but I think it's the dry delivery in Airplane! that makes everything work. A classic performance from Leslie Nielsen doesn't hurt, either. Even though this movie spoofed some of the biggest movies of its time period, the fact that Airplane! is remembered just as fondly (if not "fondlier") is testament to how great this film is. Anyone that enjoys comedies must A)Watch this movie, B)Own this movie, and C)Repeat lines from this movie as often as possible.

I have always felt that even the best parodies (like most Mel Brooks' films) tend to run out of gas once the novelty wears off. The reason AIRPLANE does not run out of jet fuel is that it embraces so many different forms and films to sustain its energy and comedy. Obviously, there are parodies of the disaster films that proliferated in the 70s. But AIRPLANE also parodies love stories ("Casablanca", "From Here to Eternity", "Love Story") and countless soap operas. Then there are parodies of individual movie scenes, especially the gut-splitting "Saturday Night Fever" parody.

And the cast is filled with So-called second-tier stars like Leslie Neilsen, Lloyd Bridges, and Robert Stack, all of whom do a great job, and are great sports to poke fun of their usual roles. Cameos abound, but nothing is funnier than Barbara Billingsley (yes, June Cleaver) as a jive-interpretor.

I have no idea how this film will stand with younger viewers who have been inundated with Police Academy movies and the other AIRPLANE spin-offs. All I know is that I just love this MAD magazine on film!

Films simply don't get any funnier than this one. Even if a gag fails for one person, it hits a home run for another. If it didn't make you laugh, just wait, another gag is on the way. After seeing this film as many times as I have I am starting to notice all the comedic detail that makes this a bona-fide classic in the genre. There are gags aplenty, and some literal humor that both made me laugh and roll my eyes skyward. The reason the story holds together is the film's penchant for parody. There is parody of disaster flicks, romance films, and they even mix "Saturday Night Fever" with "Casablanca" complete with a Western bar fight between two Girl Scouts! This is a crazy, fun film! Take it easy.

Hard to believe that this movie is almost 25 years old, but it is still very funny, even if some of the topical gags miss the mark with a more up to date audience.
The movie that seemingly spawned a multitude of imitations, and paved the way for comedies like Police Squad, Naked Gun, and many more, remains a timeless classic of the almost anarchic comedy genre.
A totally implausible story strewn with punny lines, and shameless sideswiping of almost EVERY other disaster movie of the era finds, Robert Hayes, Julie Hagerty, and Leslie Nielsen (prior to his screen rebirth in a comic capacity) aboard flight 209 to Chicago, encumbered with just about every possible disaster from food poisoning to strung out air traffic controllers, they must somehow save the plane and passengers. Subplots a plenty ensue and look out for brilliant cameos from Lloyd Bridges, and Robert Stack playing such ridiculous characters with deadpan sincerity, it's all enough to make you laugh out loud. The sight gags come thick and fast and you will find yourself watching this movie over and over and seeing things you have missed in previous viewings, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Rightfully named in a recent poll of top comedy movies, this is perhaps one of the best offerings from the Abrahams / Zucker / Zucker team, who arguably peeked with this movie, albeit one of their first. Some minor references to drugs and some visual innuendo which is probably tame by today's standards, gave this a PG rather than general audience certificate, but there isn't too much to get offended about. You'll be too busy laughing anyway! Enjoy.

This movie was awesome! Sure the visual effects are corny as hell, but that's not what matters, it's the comedy that does. This movie is, and will probably be for a long time, one of the best comedies I have ever seen.

Since the movie's extremely old, you can probably get it dirt cheap, and I advise you do so. No matter what the price, this movie is definitely without a doubt worth it!

Airplane is one of those movies that was created by people who truly understood the parody process and just plain comic genius. The jokes in the film are funny, delivered well, and when worn out are, for the most part, moved on. The movie does not have to be held together by bad running jokes, because there are so many new, good ones all the time. Not only are the jokes timed so perfectly, but the humor itself is just plain witty, and, my favorite, literal. I mean, the movie is about a sickness that debilitates the pilots and half, or at least whoever ate fish, of the passengers. That is not funny, as it would normally stand, but if you throw in the creativity of the jokes then it is very funny, and should be to anybody. Even the ones that, once we tap into the writer's literal comedic minds, seem obvious are still funny and fresh. Now I admit, that I do not find it perfect in everyway, but that is probably an oversight on my part. I honestly wanted even more laughs, but I maybe am just too hard to please. Either way, it is a good movie to watch. With deserved cult-comedy classic status, Airplane is a movie for the ages, just as Monty Python and the Holy Grail has turned out to be.

I have a hard time deciding which is funnier, Airplane! or Animal House. I bought this DVD for $9.99 at Circuit City and I'm glad I did. I hadn't seen Airplane for 6 years until I saw it yesterday, right after I bought it. Airplane! is a movie filled with outrageous humor and I definetly recommend it to any comedy fan(I must warn you though the only features are trailer and commentary).