Airplane!
Published 2013-10-16
Film info
- Title Airplane!
- Directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
- Year 1980
- Run time 1hr 28m
- Genre Comedy
- Tagline What's slower than a speeding bullet, and able to hit tall buildings at a single bound?
Robert Hays is an ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning, Julie Hagerty as his girlfriend/stewardess/co-pilot, and a cast of all-stars including Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar... and more! Their hilarious high jinks spoof airplane disaster flicks, religious zealots, television commercials, romantic love... the list whirls by in rapid succession.
Live Blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:25 | Epic use of drop shadow on that text. Love ye olde text graphics. |
| 4:35 | You would think a pilot would stop before the window, even if the glo-sticks say otherwise! |
| 8:47 | Love the idea of the plane having a bonnet. |
| 12:15 | Golly! |
| 14:10 | "We have clearance, Clarence." |
| 22:05 | What is surprising me is the references to films that I didn't realise were that old! |
| 30:30 | The airplane rumble they've got going on sounds more like bees than a plane. |
| 34:12 | Elephant! |
| 35:57 | I wouldn't like that kind of drinking problem. Messy! |
| 38:21 | "A hospital, what is it?" |
| 41:42 | Those fish skeletons are like out of comics or something. |
| 42:50 | The automatic pilot is my favourite bit so far. |
| 45:42 | Seems so weird they could smoke on planes. |
| 47:07 | "By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?" |
| 50:19 | The "surely" line is less impressive in real life, it's much better as a concept. |
| 55:26 | No frills airlines haven't changed then! |
| 1:03:56 | What else can he have picked the wrong week to quit? |
| 1:14:34 | The fancy flotation device is fun. |
| 1:15:29 | I'm sure that stewardess is getting more and more hair each scene. |
| 1:18:14 | The runway bobbing around is like Krypton Factor simulations. |
| 1:20:29 | They didn't need their crash positions after all then. |
| 1:24:58 | Otto the Autopilot. |
Thoughts
This is right up there as one of those that people love, and therefore terrifies me. I don't always like the films that are cult classics, and Airplane! is definitely one of those. I'm vaguely aware of it, through the "don't call me Shirley" line, but I don't really know much of the plots or any other jokes.
Thankfully, it was good. Funnier than I had thought it would be, and a bit shocking in places I really wasn't expecting. I'm glad it was short because I don't think they could have sustained it for much longer than the ninety minutes but having said that, there was a lot in there that I can see has been referenced in other things. So in that sense, it was packed! I do think Otto should have had his own spin-off show though.
Rating: 3 / 5