Airplane! (1980)

June 27, 1980 (US) • Comedy • 88m

Overview

An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.

Directors

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

Writers

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

Top Billed

Robert Hays

Keywords

chicago, illinois post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) airplane cataclysm nun guitar alcohol stewardess taxi driver passenger fear of flying pilot medicine air controller landing saxophone autopilot parody spoof food poisoning los angeles, california alcohol abuse aftercreditsstinger disaster movie inflatable life raft anarchic comedy anxious farce dignified

Top Billed Cast

Kitten Natividad

Bouncy Topless Woman on Plane (uncredited)

Henry Wills

Commuter on Baggage Carousel (uncredited)

Crew

Collection

Airplane Collection

Airplane!

Airplane II: The Sequel

Reviews

schoosskyler

⭐ 8/10

November 4, 2017

An American Comedy _**Classic**_ - Everything about this film screams 'American Cinema Comedy'. A lot of the humor is a precursor to modern american humor, including the terribly cheesy pulp humor. This film is an homage to the comedies that came before it, but is innovative in its combination of wordplay and referential humor. I see vestiges of this film in everything from 'The Hangover' to 'The Office'.

If at any point you are watching this… read the rest.

CinemaSerf

⭐ 7/10

July 9, 2022

Right from the "Jaws" (1975) inspired opening titles, this is a treat of comedy that sends up just about every genre of cinema as poor old "Ted" (Robert Hays) has to stave off an airborne disaster aboard his aircraft. Half the folks travelling have been stricken with food poisoning and when the cockpit it wiped-out, it falls to him to bravely take the joystick and try to land in Chicago. Luckily, his ex-girlfriend "Elaine" (Julie Hagerty) is ther… read the rest.

drystyx

⭐ 9/10

April 18, 2023

Surely, this is hilarious.
Surely.
A film that never saw the word "Surely" in the same light again.
This is a total parody, not just of disaster movies, but of all social mores. The "excuse" for the comedy is a plane where the entire flight crew is too sick to fly, so a nerve racked ex pilot needs to fly the plane.
Lots of Monty Python style "unreal" events to make this even funnier, along with the parody of culture, such as the woman who spe… read the rest.

Filipe Manuel Neto

⭐ 9/10

April 4, 2024

**A memorable comedy that deserves to be revisited occasionally.**

I can't say how innovative this film was in its time because I'm not one of those cinema experts who know almost everything (I'd like to know more, and I always learn more, but I'm reduced to the insignificance of knowing little). However, as far as I can understand, I think it was one of the first nonsense American satires, heavily inspired by Monty Python, an English group that was having its biggest successes at that time, and the film “National Lampoon Animal House”, which had also been released at this time.

For this work, Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers (who direct and write all the script) made a hilarious story around a domestic flight in the USA that goes very wrong when almost everyone, including the pilot and co-pilot, eat a spoiled fish. There are some jokes that work better, others worse, but the film's humor is intelligent enough to escape the easy laugh label. The joke where the pilot tries to seduce a child is perhaps the most infamous moment in the film, but I'm not a huge fan of political correctness and I handled it very well. The writers also can't resist the temptation to include some sex jokes, but I didn't see anything that I really think crossed the line of what was acceptable.

For the film, they're called actors with a notable satirical and humorous streak, but who had not always had the opportunity to focus on comedies, or had not made films before. This was the case with Peter Graves, Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty or Lloyd Bridges, but also with Leslie Nielsen. It's quite surprising, considering we remember him for his comedies, but he hadn't done any notable comedies before this film. The cast seems to be having so much fun working that I believe the entire group has great memories of the project. As a technical and aesthetic work, the film stands out for the quality of the cinematography and filming work, but also for the good props and effects achieved.

show less