Airplane! review

 Number 475 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1980 parody Airplane!

Parodying disaster movies especially the 1957 Zero Hour!, Airplane! follows Ted Striker (Robert Hays,) an alcoholic combat pilot with severe PTSD. Still yearning after his lost love, air stewardess Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty) Striker buys a seat on her plane to win her back. But when an epidemic of food poisoning cripples half of the flight crew including the pilot, it is up to Ted to save the day.

They certainly don't make movies like this anymore. They couldn't because they would get cancelled. And that's because Airplane! is as un-PC as you can get. From the white woman translating jive speak to the passengers killing themselves after hearing Ted pine for Elaine to Elaine inflating the autopilot in a rather provocative fashion, Airplane! is as outrageous as can be. And this outrageousness is what made it so funny. In today's day and age, it feels like everybody is so sensitive, so it's nice to see a comedy that does push the envelope.

And this was only complimented by the great cast. From Leslie Nilsen to Peter Graves and Lloyd Bridges, these actors were deliberately cast, because they were well-known serious and not comedic actors. It was great to see well-known tough men play more comical parts and they played them well.

Airplane! is packed full of jokes from the start to the end - from the squabbling tannoy announcers to the inflatable autopilot having an inflatable girlfriend. And Airplane! utilises so many comedy styles from slapstick to surrealism to physical comedy to gallows humour and running gags. This variety helped keep the film fresh, for the most part - more on this later. One of my favourite scenes is when the passengers sing River of Jordan for a terminally ill child only for said child to start convulsing while everybody else sings on.

However, I would also argue the film's greatest strength was also its greatest weakness. With so many jokes, some were bound to flop and flop they did. Some of the jokes were predictable or cheesy. But I have a bigger gripe with the running jokes. Running gags can be funny as long as they're not overused, but the very nature of running jokes means they will be used a lot. Striker is an alcoholic who throws drink anywhere but his mouth. It was funny seeing him throw drink in his face once or twice but after a few times it became very tedious.

All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Yes, at times it was daft and silly, but it was also a refreshing and hilarious comedy, especially for today's stifled climate.