Airplane!

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On Sky Movies Modern Greats 05/12/09 08:30

Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

Stars: Robert Hays, Lloyd Bridges, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen

Year: 1980 Running Time: 86 mins Rating:

The comedy value of this ground-breaking send-up of air disaster movies can be counted in laughs per second, never mind laughs per minute. Robert Hays is the traumatised pilot who teams up with ex-girlfriend/stewardess Julie Hagerty to land a jumbo when Captain Leslie Nielsen and the rest of the crew kark it mid-flight. Not easy with a cabin full of eccentrics and puddled Lloyd Bridges in the control tower. Brothers David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams (aka the ZAZ team) keep the visual and verbal gags flying in the spoof to which all others aspire. Absolutely hysterical.

Review

The spoof of disaster movies that set millions rocking with laughter, thanks to an inventive script and wonderfully poker-faced playing by a star strewn cast, including veterans Lloyd Bridges and Leslie Nielsen, whose careers were revitalised by their appearances in modern-day comedy lampoons. Loosely based on an Arthur Hailey novel originally filmed straight as Zero Hour!