Airplane!

What’s the Story?

When the passengers and crew aboard Trans American Airlines flight 209 fall ill from food poisoning, passenger and veteran aviator Ted Striker (Robert Hayes) must put his wartime trauma behind him and take the throttle. As fate would have it, his old flame and flight attendant, Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty) is on board. Elaine's rekindled love for Stryker revitalizes his confidence, and with the help of a couple of hilariously gruff air traffic controllers, he flies the plane to safety.

Is It Any Good?

Without a doubt, AIRPLANE! reigns as king of all 80s parody films. Leslie Nielsen (in a precursor to his turn as Lt. Frank Drebin in the The Naked Gun series), Robert Stack, and Lloyd Bridges appear to enjoy portraying characters that lampoon their previous dramatic roles. And while the dialogue and references to films such as From Here to Eternity and Saturday Night Fever will appeal mainly to adults, site gags like the jive-talking granny (played by Barbara Billingsley of Leave it to Beaver) and lines such as, "Surely you can't be serious?" "I am serious... and don't call me Shirley," will have kids rolling on the floor. Along the way, the film mixes embarrassingly obvious puns and sight gags, as well as surprisingly quick-witted knocks at everyday airport/airplane situations. Parents should note that most of the jokes featured in this film are at the expense of various religious and ethnic groups in this film. They are not especially mean-spirited, yet some might interpret the film's off-color humor as offensive.