Airplane!


doctor Rumack: "Captain, how soon can we land?"
Captain Oveur: "I can't tell."
doctor Rumack: "You can tell me. I'm a doctor."



release year: 1980
genre: comedy
viewing setting: home Bluray 8/2/19 and home DVD, 9/12/05 and home VHS 1/3/98

synopsis: Food poisoning cripples an airliner, and wacky confusion ensues.

impressions: This movie is a spoof of airplane disaster films (with elements from many other non-related films) and it's a good one. It basically consists of a nonstop string of gags, jokes, one-liners, and impressions...several hundred funny bits, one after another - and thus it succeeds in being funny without needing to have any greater meaning whatsoever.

something this movie has that no other movie has: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the co-pilot's seat.

acting: Leslie Nielsen's deadpan humor stands out here - he's hilarious without even breaking a smile. There's also Stephen Stucker as an air traffic controller who injects random comedy into other peoples' conversations. Peter Graves is the odd captain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is his co-pilot. Lloyd Bridges and Robert Stack are in charge of things on the ground. Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty are the couple who rekindle their romance amidst the disaster. Jonathan Banks (from Breaking Bad has an early role here as an air-traffic controller.

final word: Highly re-watchable classic comedy, pretty much guaranteed to make you laugh.

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