Airplane! (1980)

Here’s another film that some people were shocked to learn I never saw before 2013. Spoofing Hollywood’s obsession with disaster flicks in the 1970s, Airplane! still holds its own. My generation has had this film’s brand of sarcastic genre humor played to death thanks to the Scary Movie franchise and countless other one-off attempts at genre spoofing. Younger viewers, those who don’t watch older films, and anyone who tends to look down on silly humor will probably feel like this is a waste of time. If you can put things in context and forget that all the other inferior genre-spoofing films exist, you will have lots of fun.

Despite his fear of flying after a war, Ted Striker (Robert Hays) boards a commercial jetliner to win back the heart of his girlfriend (Julie Hagerty). After the in-flight meal, dozens of passengers grow ill. When the cockpit crew all succumb to food poisoning, the flight crew is desperate for a pilot. Ted begrudgingly volunteers and works through his trauma to save the lives of all on board with the help from control tower staff.

While the structure of the film is straight-up drama, Airplane! infuses every scene with as much humor, irony, and wacky randomness as possible. Many of the background characters portray ludicrous stereotypes or are celebrities playing against type. Some of the jokes are subtle but the zany stuff never stops escalating. Some may complain about this but disaster films have a knack for not lightening up on the tension until the very end. Why should a disaster spoof be any different in its mechanics?

The faux-serious delivery of the film only amplifies the humor. Everyone in this film acts all serious despite the outlandish things they say, do, and see happening around them. I think this is probably where most genre-spoofs lose steam. They tend to go for the obvious references and situational jokes but fail to sustain any kind of mood between jokes. Airplane! builds up a mood and plot and inserts the jokes around that. That is why this film continues to be held in high regard despite all the topical imitators that have followed.

Is this movie for everyone? No. My wife didn’t see what the big deal was and even I have to admit that I can only rate this film as high as I do because I can see past the years of lame spoof films. Though Mel Brooks was making genre comedies for a decade already, this film was a first-of-its-kind in terms of sheer random silliness. In this day and age of genre spoofs and Family Guy randomness, you couldn’t make this kind of film a success anymore. The filmmakers caught stupid-humor lightning in a bottle with this one.

RATING: 4 out of 5