Airplane!
National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
What critics thought
A near-universally loved parody that skewers 1970s disaster films with relentless, gleefully lowbrow gags, Airplane! is regarded as one of the funniest American films ever made. Critics at the time recognized both its silliness and its sharp comic instincts, with the casting of straight-faced dramatic actors — Nielsen, Stack, Bridges — playing the deadpan absurdity completely straight proving central to why it works.
“Airplane! is sophomoric, obvious, predictable, corny, and quite often very funny. And the reason it's funny is frequently because it's sophomoric, predictable, corny, etc.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“Airplane! is more than a pleasant surprise... As a remedy for the bloated self-importance of too many other current efforts, it's just what the doctor ordered”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
Genres
Comedy
Cast & Crew
DirectorJim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker
StarringRobert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lloyd Bridges
ComposerElmer Bernstein
Airplane!
National Film Registry
An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
What critics thought
A near-universally loved parody that skewers 1970s disaster films with relentless, gleefully lowbrow gags, Airplane! is regarded as one of the funniest American films ever made. Critics at the time recognized both its silliness and its sharp comic instincts, with the casting of straight-faced dramatic actors — Nielsen, Stack, Bridges — playing the deadpan absurdity completely straight proving central to why it works.
“Airplane! is sophomoric, obvious, predictable, corny, and quite often very funny. And the reason it's funny is frequently because it's sophomoric, predictable, corny, etc.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“Airplane! is more than a pleasant surprise... As a remedy for the bloated self-importance of too many other current efforts, it's just what the doctor ordered”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
Genres
Comedy
Cast & Crew
DirectorJim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker
StarringRobert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lloyd Bridges
ComposerElmer Bernstein
Rent/Purchase