Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Starring: Robert Hays, Julie Haggerty, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Lorma Patterson
Release Date: June 27, 1980
Running Time: 88 min
Genre: Comedy
Commentary Airplane! is no doubt one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. It's one of the first of several totally wacky comedy movies by the team Abrahams, Zucker, and Zucker. Airplane! pokes fun at the several Airport films from years earlier. The tagline, "Thank God it's only a movie!", tells you immediately the tone of this movie, which is anything but serious. Just about every kind of gag imaginable is used in this movie, including Jive subtitles, TV commercial spoofs, as well as numerous hilarious puns and sight gags.
Plot Summary The plot is very close to that of Zero Hour, a 1957 movie which I never saw. After his girlfriend (Haggerty) breaks up with him, Ted Stryker (Hays) tries to overcome his fear of flying by boarding the flight in which she is working as a stewardess. Meanwhile, some bad fish is served on the flight, causing everyone who ate it to become dreadfully sick, including the flight crew. Stryker, a former air force pilot, must pilot the crew to safety.
Cultural Significance Airplane! spawned the sequel Airplane 2, a 3D Sci-Fi movie set aboard a space shuttle headed to the moon. This movie had many of the same cast but different writers and directors and wasn't nearly as good. Abrahams, Zucker, and Zucker went on to direct many more hilarious films in the spirit of Airplane!, including Top Secret!, three Naked Gun films, and a couple of Hot Shots films. These are also hilarious.
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Title: Airplane! 
