Airplane!

Airplane is a comedy, starring Robert Hays (as Ted Striker) Julie Hagerty (as Elaine Dickinson) and the late, great Leslie Neilsen (as Dr Rumack). Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and jerry Zucker, who double as the writers. And I would like to point out that never in any of the hundreds of movies I have seen, from Clue (1985) to Scary movie (2000) have I seen a comedy that is this funny and silly and stupid that my sides were split and the contents of my chest cavity (though still laughing) spilled all over the floor in a disgustingly hilarious fashion. In other words, the movie is funny.

Still craving the love of his life, Ted Striker follows Elaine onto a flight she is working on to confront her about a note she left for him saying that she wanted to split up. But when the passengers and crew are incapacitated by food poisoning, all eyes are on Ted, the only person on the plane with flight knowledge. And of course hilarious hijinx ensue.

First I would like to state one of the biggest reasons people remember this movie. Leslie Neilsen. Every line this great man says is comedy gold, from the famous “don’t call me Shirley” to the “you can’t take a guess for another 2 hours?” and my personal favourite “I just wanted to tell you both good luck, were all counting on you” and though these may not sound funny now, when Leslie delivers a punch line, he goes for the knockout every time.

Of course that’s not to say that the supporting cast is not funny, as they collectively can be argued to be the funniest thing in the movie, from religious Zealots getting beaten up, to automatic announcers getting into an argument about abortion, every thing about this movie is funny, and it requires several viewing to fully appreciate the comedic genius.

Personally, I loved this film, and every body I know that has seen it, loves this film. Every little detail is well thought through and above all made funny. Overall I give it another 5 airplane crashes out of 5 and would defiantly recommend this movie to anybody who enjoys a good laugh.