80. Airplane!

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, 1980

“Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.”

Ahh. Bask with me, if you will, in the glow of what must be one of the funniest movies of all time. Surely, there isn’t one among you who hasn’t laughed out loud at this film. Oh, and my apologies for calling you Shirley. Really, though, this film set a whole new standard for film comedy, introducing an inspired lunacy to the screen. The film is full of puns, both verbal and visual, and while every actor takes his role with deathly seriousness, the film itself never once takes itself seriously. In the years since, there have been many films which have followed in the same style, from Naked Gun to Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, but Airplane! did it first and it did it best.

Airplane! is, essentially, a parody of the various airplane tragedy/suspense movies of the seventies, like Airport, Airport 1975, Airport ‘77, and The Concorde: Airport ‘79. It is also a parody of a fifties plane tragedy film entitled Zero Hour!, which actually featured the line, “We have to find someone who can not only fly this plane, but who didn’t have fish for dinner.” What I think is really brilliant about Airplane!, though, is how unnecessary it is to have seen those films. Take a more current parody film, like Scary Movie 3. To understand the jokes in Scary Movie 3, one needs to have seen Signs, The Others, The Matrix, and several other films. I say understand because, even if you understand them, the jokes in Scary Movie 3 aren’t funny. At any rate, I’ve never seen any of the Airport movies, but I still find just about every line in Airplane! funny. The same can be said of most people I know. The genius, of course, is that Airplane! contains hundreds of brilliant jokes, but all of them avoid being topical or too closely tied to the films being parodied. Further, Airplane! has a cohesive central plot on which it can hang its jokes, so that the film is easily understood and followed on its own merits. This is why Airplane! has lasted and will last so long: because it is immenent accessible.

Still, I’m finding it pretty difficult to offer any sort of cohesive, whole hearted analysis of Airplane! For one thing, Airplane! just isn’t a film meant for deep analysis and consideration. The joy of Airplane! and the reason I like it so much is the joy we can take in its barrage of ridiculous jokes and puns. As such, I think I’ll close out the post with some of my favorites. “Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” “Johnny, what can you make out of this?” “This? Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl. . .” “You ever been in a cockpit before?” “No sir, I’ve never been up in a plane before.” “You ever seen a grown man naked?” “We had a choice of steak or fish.” “Yes, I remember, I had lasagna.” “No wonder you’re upset. She’s lovely. And a darling figure. . . supple, pouting breasts. . . firm thighs. . .” “Do you know what it’s like to fall in the mud and get kicked. . . in the head. . . with an iron boot? Of course you don’t, no one does. It never happens. It’s a dumb question. . . skip it.” “Just hang loose, bloods.” “Surely you can’t be serious.” “I am serious. . . and don’t call me Shirley.”