Posted on 08/20/2020 1:10:03 PM PDT by 11th_VA
It would be easy to put “Airplane!” on a no-fly list of offensive films. That would be a mistake because it demonstrates how to push boundaries in the right way.
When it first crash-landed in cinemas 40 years ago, the irreverent “Airplane!” wowed critics and audiences with its fast-and-loose brand of humor. It remains one of the most consistently uproarious laughfests ever filmed, and became an instant comedy classic when it hit screens in 1980. The 40th anniversary Blu-ray reissue arrives Tuesday.
In writing and directing “Airplane!,” the creative triumvirate of Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker (later known as ZAZ) combined vaudevillian humor, oddball non sequiturs, dirty jokes and visual gags into a unique flurry of funny. One can rewatch the film and uncover new visual and verbal jokes because they packed in so many punchlines.
This was a topsy-turvy world where the roughest bar brawlers are feisty Girl Scouts, a military commander fights his way through religious recruiters at LAX, and a Boeing 747 sign features “no smoking” and “no screwing” light displays. And then there was the witty word play: "Surely you can't be serious?" “I am serious — and don’t call me Shirley.” And yes, coming at the beginning of the ’80s, it delved into gratuitous nudity and cursing, though it stopped short of totally overplaying its hand...
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Which is how 99% of all NBA players play today.
That got the biggest cheer in the theater, back in the 70s when I watched it. Perfect first date. Good times, good times. Now I’d kill for disco over the Cardi B garbage these days.
Leslie Nielson was awesome in that movie. I remember when he was in black and white movies as the straight guy, then he appears in this movie.
“A hospital! what is it?...A building with doctors and patients but that’s not important now”
Directed & Written by:
Jim Abrahams
David Zucker
Jerry Zucker
They need replace the captain with Joe “Plugs” Biden.
Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?
I think the Zucker brothers were in the opening scene directing the 747 that crashed into the terminal. Kind of like Hitchcock cameos.
Otto is my hero.
Shirley he knows Abdul-Alcindor is a bigtime racist
“At least I have a husband”. Made the stewardess cry.
Talk about a dated reference....
That’s Howard Jarvis, the mastermind behind California’s Proposition 13. Something of a celebrity at the time, does 1 person in 50 who watches that film now have any clue who he is?
Very funny but I didn’t like the shot at Ronald Reagan. But very funny movie
"I can't tell ..."
"You can tell me, I'm a doctor"
"Not for another two hours"
"You can't tell for another two hours?"
What really made the movie a classic was the insistence by the Zucker bros and Abrahams the dialogue be delivered straight in total seriousness.
They were getting a LOT of pressure from the studio to do it as a “normal” comedy but they stuck to their guns and the rest is history.
Jarvis was the first populist hero. The reason my aged father can still live in his home in Cali.
Will the pre-movie highlights include a lecture on the “outdated and offensive jokes” in order to prep any snowflakes who may get triggered?
I liked that Lorna Patterson was in this movie, as she was one of my TV crushes back when she was on Private Benjamin, lol.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.