Airplane!
1980
****½
Director: David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
Cast: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves, Lorna Patterson, Stephen Stucker, Frank Ashmore, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
On a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, some of the passengers and crew members are hit by food poisoning, and the only person who could conceivably land the plane is a traumatised war veteran. Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker (ZAZ) made their name with this enjoyable disaster film spoof, which spawned its own comedy sub-genre. The film is a loosely plotted and somewhat uneven collection of gags, but the jokes come so thick and fast that you won't have time to notice the flaws. The dialogue features some iconic lines. Followed by Airplane 2: The Sequel (1982).
