Airplane! (1980)

“Airplane!” is a hilariously bonkers, if slightly dated, comedy disaster spoof that is stuffed fit to burst with witty lines, creative gags and gut-busting jokes.

Reviewing “Airplane!” is extremely difficult because this is the ultimate Marmite film; you either love or hate it. I wouldn’t call it a quality piece of filmmaking but it never tries to be more than it is. The aim of “Airplane!” is to entertain the audience so technicalities such as the cinematography and visual effects are completely irrelevant. The fact that “Airplane!” never attempts to be the greatest comedic masterpiece ever put to film gives it a charm and likeability (there is nothing more aggravating in cinema than a pretentious movie!)

The biggest compliment that I can give “Airplane!” is that it is utterly impossible to be bored by watching it. The endless stream of rapid-fire jokes are breathlessly entertaining, if slightly exhausting. Every form of comedy can be found in “Airplane!”, from visual gags to long running anecdotes, ingenious puns and oddball lines (“Joey, have you ever been in a... in a Turkish prison?”)

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed “Airplane!”, however, I can appreciate that some people won’t be amused by the very bizarre humour and complete lack of political correctness.

The cast of “Airplane!” are surprisingly great. Unlike in most spoofs, the actors in “Airplane!” hardly ever wink to the audience with a knowing look; they instead play every scene with absolute seriousness. This heightens the comedy because as the events of the movie become increasingly more ridiculous; the characters never seem to be bothered by the utter madness surrounding them.

Every actor deserves praise, but if I mentioned every zany character, this review would be 8,000 words long! Leslie Neilson as the scene-stealing Shirley… sorry, Dr Rumack is fantastic (“I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.”) I also loved Rex Kramer, the no-nonsense commander (with has awesome sunglasses) who thoroughly dislikes religious zealots, the insane Captain Oveur with his strange questions and Steve McCroskey, the frazzled tower supervisor who can’t give up his addictions (“Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.”)

But undoubtedly the most majestic character, played by the most phenomenal actor, is Otto, in the role of Otto. The injustice that Otto didn’t win an Oscar for his incredibly moving and deeply sublime performance makes my blood boil. In one scene, Otto conveys an amount of joy, sadness, pain and humour that is unrivalled by any other actor as the audience learn of the deep tragedy in his life. #Oscar4Otto

To summarise, “Airplane!” is genuinely outstanding. It’s no masterwork, but I would be a shameless liar if I said that I didn’t have a blast watching it, therefore, the movie succeeded. The talented cast and brilliant script makes this an amazing comedy and, quite possibly, the best disaster movie ever conceived; I can’t wait to see it again!

You may ask why, after an endless wave of compliments, I have only given “Airplane!” four stars. And to that I say “No... that's just what they'll be expecting us to do.”