Airplane! (1980)

As a parody on disaster films, Airplane! poked fun at everything it could. It was the kind of stupid humor your father laughs at and mother shakes her head. Overall, it was a good-natured funny movie and I would recommend it if you’re looking to kill some time. What I didn’t realize is Leslie Nielsen’s famous line: “I am serious and don’t call me Shirley.” is from this movie. The film was filled with all kinds of puns and play on words that are simple and get a chuckle out of you. At times it was so ridiculous that you can’t help but to find it amusing.

The recycling of jokes throughout the movie is successful because the viewer feels like they’re part of some inside joke. The longer a joke went, the funnier it got. One shot in particular stood out to me when they’re panning over the controls to make it seem like there was so many and it was so complex and then it went on for far too long. The repeated suicides of passengers when Ted would talk about Elaine became recurring. Everyone was stereotypical in a disaster film and the situation worked nicely.

Leslie Nielsen and Julie Hagerty were the true stars of this movie. Hagerty as the straight character and Nielsen constantly misunderstanding everyone’s words made them both hilarious nuggets of gold among chaos and destruction. I was thoroughly entertained by Airplane!.