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RETROSPECTIVE
Airplane
Starring: Robert Hays, Julie
Hagerty, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen
Directed by: Jerry Zucker, Jim
Abrahams, David Zucker
Produced by: Joe Davison, Howard W. Koch
Written by: Arthur Hailey
Distributed By: Paramount Pictures |
Airplane!
features the basic storyline of Airport! but added twists at
every turn to form one of the funniest and most entertaining comedic
spoofs of all time. In this great work of a film genius, a plane’s crew
and passengers fall victim to food poisoning. Eventually the captain
and copilot also become affected. The plane’s only hope seems to be the
retired Navy Flyer from “The War.” Ted Striker has not even set foot in
an aircraft since the dreadful accident in which he put the lives of his
men in danger and has never fully recovered. Now the lives of everyone
aboard, including his girlfriend, who has continually attempted to break
up with him, have been placed in his PTSD affected hands. It is up to
him to overcome his fears and constant flashbacks, which prove to be
more enjoyable than one might expect.
Every aspect of
Airplane! adds something to this hysterical tapestry of comedy.
From Girl Scout bar brawls to a drinking problem, in which Ted can’t
allow himself to let a cup of Gatorade find his lips, Airplane!
incorporates each and every type of classic humor to mold it into a
truly ludicrous experience. No matter if your preference is slapstick,
satire, irony or another type of humor, Airplane! is the movie to
see. It is full of surprises and jokes as strange as Michael Jackson’s
strange “skin condition.” The comedy blended into this film is done in
such a way that it doesn’t interrupt plot itself, but rather develops
it. Many modern-day comedies divert themselves from their stories, just
to throw in more unfunny jokes. This makes this movie even more
respectable. Airplane! is quite unique in this sense; this
difference sets distinguishes it amongst all other films in this genre
that do not feature such an attribute.
The characters in
this film are all radically different from each other and all add some
thing unique to the plot, making it much funnier than any of its
predecessors. Striker (Robert Hays) is a retired Navy Aviator suffering
from a number of disabilities, the funniest of which is his drinking
problem, which I previously explained. Because Striker is unable to let
his glasses touch his lips, the contents of them spill all over him.
This makes for a few hysterical scenes of pure comedy. Elaine Dickinson
(Julie Hagerty) plays a stewardess and Ted’s old girlfriend, who is
leaving him. All throughout the movie she tries to put up with
complaining passengers, mysterious cases of food poisoning, and the
added pressure of having her boyfriend, with which she was trying to
break up with, following her on the flight to Chicago. Dr. Rumack
(Leslie Nielson) plays a doctor on board the doomed flight and has the
job of trying to keep the crew and passengers under control. He
diagnoses the food poisoning in the first place and also convinces Ted
that he must fly the plane in order to save everyone aboard when the
pilots get it, too. Lastly, Steven McCrosky (Lloyd Bridges) plays the
part of the chief of the control tower. All his actions and dialog are
so strange and capricious, they make for some of the most hilarious
scenes in all of movie history. His attempts at quitting certain
illegal substances are timeless and will remain forever in the minds of
Airplane!’s viewers.
This movie is
possibly the most influential comedy of all time. It showed filmmakers
everywhere that one can make fun of just about anything. The little
things in Airplane!, such as making the jet plane sound like a
prop, or the fact that Striker’s ticket literally smokes demonstrated
that the writer incorporates small jokes into a plot, it creates a
terrific effect of continual humor.
David Zucker,
responsible for a quarter of Airplane!’s creation, has lately
diverted his attention to projects such as Scary Movie 3, My
Boss’s Daughter, and the thriller Phone Booth. These movies,
especially the comedies, appeal more to what their target audiences,
mainly comprised of teenage boys, want to see, rather than creating
funny, clean, and creative humor. Even after all these years
Airplane! still holds up, even with the dramatic changes in
society’s sense of humor. This symbolizes true magic.
-Steven Cipriano, Bucket Reviews
