HEFE'S REVIEW OF:
AIRPLANE! (1980)

OPENING THOUGHTS

    There is a lot of mighty heavy words thrown around when refrencing this movie. Words like: classic, incredible, sexy and boner-rific just to name a few. So, as you can imagine when I finally got around to watching this movie my expectations were sky high, and frankly they were not met. Perhaps it was fate though that I bought the movie without watching it, because now I had the opportunity to watch this movie again, and this time I was expecting to be disappointed... and wasn't.

ACTING

    ROBERT HAYS is kind of a fuck. In fact I think both of this film's main actors (and coincidentally the only two to receive a box credit) are absolutely awful. Hays tries hard, but he just doesn't have any kind of natural comedic timing. In fact if anything I would say his biggest problem is that it looks like he is trying too hard, which makes his epic fail all the harder to swallow. It also probably doesn't help that he is surrounded by a lot of really good actors, so the contrast is even more obvious.
    JULIE HAGERTY is the second star of this film, and is just as terrible if not worse than Hays is. She too has no comedic timing and that voice of hers is like listening to nails on a chalk board. It's not enough to make my testicles jump up inside of me like Fran Drescher's voice or anything, but it is still pretty terrible to listen to. I could understand if they picked someone who was not good at comedic acting with a terrible voice if she at least had a rockin' bod, but she is really kind of a plain jane too. I just can't understand the casting choice here.
    THE SUPPORTING CAST was this movie's saving grace. Peter Graves incredibly inappropriate exchanges with the little boy in the cockpit are nothing short of spectacular. I think I might enjoy it more because I am so used to hearing him as the voice of The History Channel, and to hear him trying to seduce a young boy is just about the funniest fucking thing I can imagine. Then of course there is Leslie Nielson. This movie marks his first comedic role and he slid into the part like a tiny penis into an enormous vagina. His timing is perfect, and his serious comedic persona is only matched by Lloyd Bridges, who also makes his comedic debut in the film. I wish I could say that everyone in he supporting cast was good, but I can't. I have to make a special point to say that the effeminate guy in the control tower was just about the worst thing I have ever seen. Every word, every action, even his stupid fucking face made my skin crawl. I have never seen such a shallow, unfunny, or more poorly played character in my life. Seriously fuck that guy.

DIRECTION AND SCRIPT

    JIM ABRAHAMS, DAVID ZUCKER and JERRY ZUCKER are all three credited with both writing and directing this movie. It is unusual now to see three people directing one movie, but it was almost unheard of to see that happen back when this movie was first made. First I need to give this movie credit, this movie set the standard for spoof movies, and everything since this film was made, owes it's success to Airplane!. I admit that, you have to give credit where credit is due. I don't recall ever seeing a movie as crazy, manic and off-the-wall as this flick was prior to it's release. That being said, from the perspective of me, modern man, I have a hard time relating to some of the jokes. I think that however, just comes with my age. This is why I think I relate and enjoy the Hot Shots series so much more, because I get and understand all of the references. This does not make the movie bad, I am completely confident that everything in this movie was totally relevant to it's time, I am just saying that I think this film would be more enjoyable if viewed back in 1980.

THE VERDICT

    There are a lot of great jokes and bits in this movie that are timeless, but there are also a lot of references that I think become lost or not as funny as the film ages. If you were born before 1970 I am willing to bet you will think this is one of the funniest movies ever made, those of you younger folks out there should still find plenty to enjoy, but may not find the movie as laugh-out-loud funny. Any fan of spoof movies however owes it to themselves to see this one though, because all spoofs made after this are just trying to recapture the glory and shocking success of Airplane!
 
 

RATING: B -

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