Airplane!

1980
PG
1h 28m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

267K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer3:30

Dark Comedy Farce Parody Slapstick Comedy

After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

267K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

780

122

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 3 wins & 7 nominations total

Trivia
For the argument between announcers concerning the white and red zones at the airport, the producers hired the same voice artists who had made the real-world announcements at Los Angeles International Airport. At the real airport, the white zone is for loading and unloading of passengers only, and there's no stopping in the red zone (except for transit buses). They were also married to each other in real life.

Goofs
During the disco-dance scene, when Elaine tosses Ted up in the air and he (his stunt double) flies into the audience, Robert Hays (Ted) is clearly visible among the spectators, waiting to run back onto the dance floor.

Quotes
Rumack: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

Crazy credits
Author of A Tale of Two Cities ... Charles Dickens

Alternate versions
Some versions do not have subtitles on a part where the Jive Dudes are talking. The original theatrical release had subtitles.

Connections
Edited into The A-Team: The Beast from the Belly of a Boeing (1983)

Soundtracks
Stayin' Alive
Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb
Performed by The Bee Gees
Courtesy of RSO Records
Published by Stigwood Music, Inc.

User reviews627

Review

Featured review

10/10

We have clearance, Clarence....

It is my understanding that there are still a few people in the world that haven't seen "Airplane!" yet.

Those people probably are still waiting for electricity, indoor plumbing and all the other great advances in humanity, too.

To see "Airplane!" is to take part in the great move to subvert all self-importance in movies, which this film does with great relish (and plenty of corn).

You get a chance to see such "serious" actors as Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack and Leslie Nielsen subvert themselves and their own personnae into near oblivion thanks to the writing/directing team of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Not to mention visual and verbal send-ups of darn near every movie that ever took place in the air, and a few that didn't, but should have.

Kudos to Leslie Nielsen, who with this movie gave himself the greatest reinvention of any actor this century. At one time, he was the very model of stoic sensibility.

I swear. Seriously.

A looooong time ago.

Ten stars. A laugh riot.

And I STILL think this would make a great in-flight movie.