Airplane! (1980)

A man afraid to fly must ensure that a plane lands safely after the pilots become sick.

Directors:

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker

Writers:

Jim Abrahams (written for the screen by), David Zucker (written for the screen by)

Stars:

Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	...	Roger Murdock (as Kareem Abdul-Jabaar)
Lloyd Bridges	...	Steve McCroskey
Peter Graves	...	Captain Clarence Oveur
Julie Hagerty	...	Elaine Dickinson
Robert Hays	...	Ted Striker
Leslie Nielsen	...	Dr. Rumack
Lorna Patterson	...	Randy
Robert Stack	...	Captain Rex Kramer
Stephen Stucker	...	Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs
Otto	...	Otto
Jim Abrahams	...	Religious Zealot #6
Frank Ashmore	...	Victor Basta
Jonathan Banks	...	Gunderson
Craig Berenson	...	Paul Carey
Barbara Billingsley	...	Jive Lady

Storyline

Still craving for the love of his life, Ted Striker follows Elaine onto the flight that she is working on as a member of the cabin crew. Elaine doesn't want to be with Ted anymore, but when the crew and passengers fall ill from food poisoning, all eyes are on Ted.

---

Plot Keywords:

pilot | air traffic controller | airport | airplane | spoof | 

---

Taglines:

What's slower than a speeding bullet, and able to hit tall buildings at a single bound?

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 July 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kentucky Fried Airplane

Filming Locations:

Westward Beach - Westward Beach Road, Malibu, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$83,400,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's title in Argentina was "And where is the pilot?" (in Spanish: "¿Y donde está el piloto?")

---

Goofs

Ted flips a switch after saying, "This must turn on the landing lights," and puts the plane into a nosedive, but the shot showing him turning the switch off is obviously on the radio as it has markings of "FREQ" (frequency) and "KC" (kilocycles). Flipping a switch on a radio won't send a plane into a nosedive. Additionally, the radio is too old for a 1980s aircraft because the frequency displayed is 1710 KHZ, which is an aircraft frequency long before 1980, when VHF frequencies would be used.

---

Quotes

Radio DJ: This is WZAZ in Chicago, where disco lives forever...
[the airplane zooms overhead the building, knocking the radio antenna down, and the signal goes dead]

---

Crazy Credits

Introducing Otto as Himself (over picture of the inflatable autopilot)

---

Connections

Referenced in Particka: Episode #3.10 (2012)

---

Soundtracks

Everything's Coming Up Roses
By Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne

User Reviews

We have clearance, Clarence....

It is my understanding that there are still a few people in the world that haven't seen "Airplane!" yet.

Those people probably are still waiting for electricity, indoor plumbing and all the other great advances in humanity, too.

To see "Airplane!" is to take part in the great move to subvert all self-importance in movies, which this film does with great relish (and plenty of corn).

You get a chance to see such "serious" actors as Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack and Leslie Nielsen subvert themselves and their own personnae into near oblivion thanks to the writing/directing team of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Not to mention visual and verbal send-ups of darn near every movie that ever took place in the air, and a few that didn't, but should have.

Kudos to Leslie Nielsen, who with this movie gave himself the greatest reinvention of any actor this century. At one time, he was the very model of stoic sensibility.

I swear. Seriously.

A looooong time ago.

Ten stars. A laugh riot.

And I STILL think this would make a great in-flight movie.