Airplane! (Wide Screen) > Reviews > There is no reason to be alarmed

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Well put together .  An odd humour .
Disadvantages:	Dated by today's standards .  You might very well hate it .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Is Airplane one of the funniest movies ever made?

Ask this question in your local pub and you run the risk of starting a rampant debate. I hated it the first time I watched it - I must have been too young. It just gets better with each viewing.

The film is a parody of every disaster movie ever made. It seems to manage to spoof the disaster films made by 1980 (which, of course, was when it was filmed) such as “Airport” and “Towering Inferno”. It also seems to have been so far ahead of the game that it manages to poke fun at clichés that had yet to be established!

As far as the comedy goes, it is far from sophisticated and this might explain why so many people reacted badly to it.

“This woman needs to be taken to the hospital!” says the doctor after he had examined the sick woman on board. “The hospital!” she replies, armed, “What is it?” To which the doctor says, “It’s a large building with people in it... but that doesn’t matter!”

Pedantic humour. The jokes are packed in, visual as well as the standard one liners. It is silly humour as well, very often cheap shots but because of that, you can often see them coming and laugh even harder when they carry the punch line off so well.

Ted Striker, played by Robert Hays (seen him anyway else) is the nominal hero. The shell shocked fighter pilot who has to take control of the aeroplane after most of the passengers and the crew come down with bad food poisoning. The real hero, though, in terms of acting is Lloyd Bridges down in the control tower. That said, in many ways, this is Leslie Nielson’s best film. He, Nielson, is kept in check and so you only ever get him in small doses - and in many ways that is much better than some of the more recent Nielson-fests which have plagued our screens in the last few years.

The movie is put together very well. You might have trouble dating it if you just sat down and watched in. The people look as if they’re from the 70s - that makes sense, because, as I’ve said before, it was released in 1980. However, the filming techniques are very good, scenes cut together well and never dwell on any given shot for too long. The technique is very similar to the way most music videos are put together these days. Eye Candy. <cut> More Eye Candy <cut> Eye Candy... and so forth. There is never a dull minute. On the other hand, it can be a little hard to follow. It’s also a style that could put your back up.

Get a note to the milkman. No more cheese!