667. AIRPLANE! (1980)

Running Time: 87 minutes
Directed By: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Written By: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Main Cast: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges
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300 TO GO

So "Open Your Eyes" was still on the fritz and wanting something that would be an easy watch and because I had plenty of serious TOP 20 contenders to choose from already, I came across "Airplane!" on the net and decided to make it the final film of this season.

The story really doesn't matter in "Airplane!", but I'll do my best to try and put something together for the people who haven't seen this one. Basically think "Scary Movie" years before that type of film became a dime a dozen. "Airplane!" is a parody of disaster flicks and tells the story of Ted Striker (Hays), a former fighter pilot who has developed a fear of flying due to a traumatic experience during the war. His girlfriend, Elaine (Hagerty), a stewardess, leaves him due to the complications that his fear of flying put on their relationship. When she's about to takeoff on a flight to Chicago, Ted chases her down and ends up boarding the flight, just so he can continue talking to her and beg her to stay with him. During the course of the flight, a bad fish dinner leaves half of the passengers with a severe illness, including the pilot and co-pilot. Now, Ted must face his fear of flying, as he's the only man on board capable of landing the plane. He is talked down by his former commanding officer in the war, Rex Kramer (Robert Stack), whom he still holds a contempt for. Also on board the plane is Dr. Rumack (Nielsen), who is trying to keep the sick passengers at ease, while Ted tries to land the aircraft.

You know, I kind of like ending the seasons with comedies. It's a nice, easy landing (no pun intended) after 99 other potentially serious pictures and usually by now I'm pretty burnt out after watching and reviewing 99 other films. Comedies are easy to sum up and while they're usually nowhere near on par with other films I've watched during a season, they're just easy to review. Now then, I didn't care for "Airplane!" and really, why should I? It's a film that had absolutely no place in the "1001 Movies You Muse See Before You Die" book and is just put in because it and AZZ (Abrahams, Zucker, Zucker) were sort of a big deal at the time of it's release. The only reason this film got the attention that it got is because no one was doing this sort of thing at this time. If you'd release "Airplane!" today, critics and moviegoers would crap all over it and rightfully so. I guess it has a few redeeming qualities, almost all of them beginning and ending with Lloyd Bridges and his cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, amphetamine popping, glue sniffing air traffic controller and some of the gags got a little more than a chuckle out of me, but all in all it's a huge waste of time. I couldn't believe it when I read the BOOK passage and they actually took the time to mention Stephen Stucker as being exceptional. My God, I hated that guy! He was utterly annoying, quite unfunny and got no laughs out of yours truly.

Yet another movie where I can honestly scratch my head and consider it a shame that films like "Dial M for Murder", "Scenes from a Marriage" and "Life Is Beautiful", as well as countless others, got the boot to make room for this garbage.  As far as I'm concerned you can take "Airplane!", as well as all of the "Movie movies" (Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Dance Flick, Superhero Movie, Disaster Movie and Not Another Teen Movie), add them to the list of spoofs made starring Leslie Nielsen (2001: A Space Travesty, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Spy Hard, Wrongfully Accused and An American Carol) and add to that all of the films that Abrahams, Zucker, Zucker and the Wayans Brothers (for good measure) had anything to do with and sink them to the bottom of the ocean, so generations to come will never have to suffer through them. End of story, end of season.

RATING: 3.5/10  Wow! I got a little carried away there at the end, didn't I? I bet you were expecting a '1', but I have to give it SOME credit, because like I said, I loved Lloyd Bridges. Anyway, that does it for another season. Like I mentioned before, I'll be back either later tonight or tomorrow to present the 7th TOP 20 list and I hope you're as excited for it as I am.

MOVIES WATCHED: 701
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 300

June 5, 2013  1:01pm