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.

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Plot Keywords:

spoof | plane | pilot | stewardess | air traffic controller | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy

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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 USA:

$83,400,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$130,000,000, 31 December 1981

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Howard W. Koch Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The argument between the two P.A. voice-overs about an abortion comes from "a cheap, dime-store novel" according to the trivia track of the DVD version. That "novel" is actually Arthur Hailey's "Airport" (which inspired the movie Airport (1970)).

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Goofs

Elaine says they should begin the plans they made before the war. Elaine and Ted met during the war, but that could simply have been a reference to a previous war.

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Quotes

Ted Striker: Because of my mistake, six men didn't return from that raid.
Elaine Dickinson: Seven. Lieutenant Zip died this morning.

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Crazy Credits

Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" is playing during the music credits, but is not credited.

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Alternate Versions

In another scene added to the broadcast version, the flight crew looks first to the left and then to the right as the plane's jet engines come to life, accompanied by the sound of an old propeller engine sputtering into action.

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Connections

Referenced in Honest Trailers: Despicable Me 1 & 2 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Theme From Jaws
Written by John Williams

User Reviews

Preposterous and smart, very funny and entertaining

I was around ten probably when I first saw this movie. It cracks me up every time I see it; even the trailer. There so much laughing material for grown ups as well as kids. Airplane! and Naked Gun series are my favorite comedy movies. Of course I'm an Leslie Nielsen fan (R.I.P.). These movies are just so much better than nowadays Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and James Franco movies with childish and immature humor.

Now, someone could remark that Airplane! doesn't have sophisticated humor as well. I disagree. I don't think that humor has to be serious in order to be smart. Airplane! (and Naked Gun series) create a world filled with absurdities which protagonists seem to take for granted. Those absurdities are sometimes presented very subtly (nun reading magazine for nuns) but by themselves are not little absurdities. There's much, much more to this humor than to smoking pot, getting laid, cussin' and playing immature and stupid. You don't have to be very bright to enjoy that type of humor. On the other hand, you have to be smart and careful if you want to fully enjoy Airplane!. This movies is *filled* with jokes, lines, facial expressions etc. - that's why Airplane! is so highly re-watchable. It's unlikely you'll notice everything in first watch.

So Jim Abrahams is a genius. He didn't' write a lot, but wrote Naked Gun and Airplane!. He also wrote Top Secret! (notice the exclamation mark) starring Val Kilmer who played Iceman in Top Gun. If you look at Airplane's! cast you'll notice Jim Abrahams playing religious zealot #6. Beautiful Julie Hagerty made this movie extra charming. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar playing co-pilot is funny on it's own. Peter Graves (R.I.P.) was a big gentleman. He started acting back in the 50's! Lloyd Bridges (R.I.P.) started in 40's. They had big on-screen experience before acting in Airplane!. And that's one more reason why Airplane! is so funny; acting is just great. I don't think lesser experienced actors could've done this good job. Leslie Nielsen plays Dr. Rumack. His surprised expression is my favorite one and I believe one of the most famous in the movie history.

You can see that cast and whole film-making crew had a lot of fun while filming Airplane!. The atmosphere is very relaxing, friendly and entertaining. That's why I see this movie every now and then. And so should you - laughing makes you live longer.