War pilot Ted Striker boards a flight for the first time since the war in order to stop his relationship with stewardess Elaine breaking up. Unfortunately the fish meal on the flight is bad and causes the crew to go sick leaving the plane on automatic pilot. With Striker the only man on board who can land the plane can he overcome his fears of failure stemming from the war? This without a doubt one of the best comedies of cinema, it is far and away the best spoof ever made - and it was made when this type of humour was still fresh. From the opening moments right down to the closing credits this is hilarious. The plot is a straight spoof of 1970's Airport disaster movies, and is only an excuse for a range of jokes. However the plot is bang on - it's detailed enough that it could be a serious disaster movie and allows the film to poke fun directly at the disasters movies themselves. The cast are perfect. For Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty this represents the best things they've ever done. Both play the straight men for the majority and are relied upon to take it all seriously and drive the plot while jokes occur all round them, that said they deliver many themselves but always straight faced. Nielsen and Bridges are also spot on as stereotypical doctor and traffic control guy who "chose the wrong day to give up drinking"! They are both so straight faced that they make the whole thing seem even more silly. Robert Stack is excellent as the man brought in to talk the plane down, playing the butch masculine figure ignoring all the madness around him. Also on the ground, Stephen Stucker is great as the camp controller who delivers many brilliant one liners as he walks through scenes. Peter Graves and Kareen Abdul Jabbar are great as two of the pilots that almost are in a different movie the things they say! The film is a spot on spoof of disaster movies, making fun of the many clichés of the genre - the nuns on board, the sick child, the "only man who can land the plane", the poisoned food etc. But it does more than just poke fun at these - it is hilarious in it's own right. All the cast deliver their lines brilliantly and the script! The script is excellent - I'm not going to start listing lines but they come so thick and fast that you usually miss something because you're laughing at the last joke.
This is the mould for all spoofs - this is the one to beat. While many spoofs are hit and miss this is almost a total hit. Decades on and many viewings later this is still as fresh and as funny as it ever was. A brilliant, brilliant comedy!
This is the mould for all spoofs - this is the one to beat. While many spoofs are hit and miss this is almost a total hit. Decades on and many viewings later this is still as fresh and as funny as it ever was. A brilliant, brilliant comedy!