Classic: Airplane!
When deciding which classic to write about this time I chuckled to myself when I thought of this one. It’s the effect that the film has: it makes you laugh just thinking about it.
Possibly one of the best comedy films ever made Airplane! is the brainchild of the masters of spoof, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker and Jim Abrahams. These guys are renowned for Airplane! in particular and despite a drop in quality recently they can still be held in high regard for what they have done.
Airplane! is a comical remake of a 50′s film called Zero Hour. Airplane! stars Robert Hays as Ted Stryker, a former fighter pilot who is trying to move on from a terrible accident which saw him inadvertently lead several of his squadron to their deaths. The love of his life, air hostess Elaine (Julie Hagerty), cannot cope with his attempts to overcome the ordeal.
Fighting his fear of flying, he climbs aboard the plane she is on in an attempt to rekindle their dying relationship. However, when the flight crew are incapacitated Stryker must take control and land the plane full of passengers.
Every single performance in this film is comedically perfect, Robert Hays’ in particular as the inch-perfect script gives everybody in the film the chance to shine with witty humorous dialogue, a whole horde of memorable lines and a simple yet effective storyline. The film takes the route of mocking everything it can but it hits every button regardless and the disaster movie premise is just the right basis for the comedic value to shine.
Even the most ridiculous and random scenes in the film don't seem out of place. Everything fits.
It’s hard for me to describe just how great this film is. None of the gags are out-of-place and everything in the 87 minute long running time is brilliant. It’s clear every actor is trying to steal the comedy limelight but unfortunately none can match the comedic aura Leslie Nielsen emanates whenever he’s on screen. He’s not the main character though, playing a doctor who is asked to help when passengers start to get sick. When he appears he delivers sublime one-liners and his acting in general flows gloriously throughout.
On the ground there’s almost a whole other cast who are communicating to the plane’s crew in the film and they really come into their own. There are many gags and laughs had from outside of the plane as well as inside and the dual narratives running together and mixing works perfectly, the exchange of lines between the two is just as good as everything else in the film.
It’s clear that the directors had a right laugh themselves making every second of the film as funny as physically possible. The number of jokes in the film are so high it’s impossible to count but you don’t ever feel like they’re throwaway lines that are clogging up the film.
I can’t honestly pick a fault in the film. It’s a comedy which means it has to be funny and Airplane! is about as funny as they get. If you appreciate comedy regardless of what type, Airplane! is head and shoulders above most. I can’t show just how much I love this film in this review. Jerry and David Zuckers and Jim Abrahams have brought me a few of my absolute favourite films and Airplane! is one of them. It’s an absolutely fantastic comedy film that hits every single note exactly the way it should.
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