Ultimate 80s Blogathon Wrap-Up: Airplane! (1980)

I have had such a blast hosting the Ultimate 80s Blogathon with Kim.  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  Earlier today, Kim wrote her blogathon wrap-up and now it is my turn.  For my wrap-up of the blogathon, I am reviewing what is hands down one of the best comedies of all time: Airplane!.

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Synopsis
Ted Striker (Robert Hays) boards an airplane hoping to convince his girlfriend, Elaine (Julie Hagerty), to not leave him. While in the air, many of the passengers and crew get sick and it falls to Striker, an ex-fighter pilot who has become afraid of flying, to land the airplane safely.

Review
I am honestly surprised no one chose Airplane! as their pick for the blogathon. This commonly tops many “best of” comedy lists. And for good reason. Every joke and gag lands perfectly, even after at least a dozen and a half viewings later. My friends and I are constantly spitting quotes from this film. Airplane! blends quick-fire jokes with hilarious visual gags. I wanted to include a favorite quote section in this review but it is really hard to come up with a favorite quote from the film because there are so many great ones to choose from. I’ve always known Leslie Nielsen as a comedic actor but apparently that wasn’t the case at all before Airplane!. This movie completely changed his on-screen persona. He nails every line with his deadpan delivery. The two leads, Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty, play perfectly off each other. There are a slew of cameos, many of which went over my head since I am removed from that era of Hollywood, but that doesn’t matter because they still hit their mark. The whole time writing this review I had to stop regularly because I keep laughing just by thinking about this movie.

I thought Airplane! was GREAT :-D. Airplane! is slapstick at its finest. Every joke is on point and every visual gag is sure to make your sides split. It’s incredible that a spoof written over thirty-five years ago can still garner as many laughs as it does and still constantly gain new fans. That’s the definition of timeless.

Also check out my review for Airplane II: The Sequel.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Jim Abrahams – Director / Writer
David Zucker – Director / Writer
Jerry Zucker – Director / Writer
Elmer Bernstein – Composer

Robert Hays – Ted Striker
Julie Hagerty – Elaine
Leslie Nielsen – Dr. Rumack
Lorna Patterson – Randy
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Murdock
Lloyd Bridges – McCroskey
Peter Graves – Captain Oveur
Robert Stack – Kramer
Stephen Stucker – Johnny
Robert Stack – Rex Kramer
Barbra Billingsley – Jive Lady
Otto – Himself