Airplane!

"Flying High!" redirects here. For other uses, see Airplane (disambiguation) and Flying High (disambiguation).

Airplane!
A plane flying in the sky, with its front half being twisted. The top tagline reads "What's slower than a speeding bullet and able to hit tall buildings at a single bound!" The film's title is placed below the aircraft with another tagline reading "Thank God it's only a motion picture!". The films credits are placed below it.
Theatrical release poster by Robert Grossman
Directed by
Written by
  • Jim Abrahams
  • David Zucker
  • Jerry Zucker
Based onZero Hour!
by Arthur Hailey
Hall Bartlett
John Champion
Produced byJon Davison
Starring
CinematographyJoseph Biroc
Edited byPatrick Kennedy
Music byElmer Bernstein
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • June 27, 1980 (1980-06-27) (Toronto and Buffalo[1])
  • July 2, 1980 (1980-07-02) (Wide)
Running time
87 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million[3]
Box office$171 million[4]

Airplane! (alternatively titled Flying High!)[5] is a 1980 American disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker in their directorial debut,[6] and produced by Jon Davison. It stars Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty and features Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lorna Patterson.[6] It is a parody of the disaster film genre, particularly the 1957 Paramount film Zero Hour!, from which it borrows the plot, central characters, and some dialogue.[7][8] It also draws many elements from Airport 1975 and other films in the Airport series. It is known for using surreal humor and fast-paced slapstick comedy, including visual and verbal puns, gags, running jokes, and dark humor.

Released by Paramount Pictures, it was a critical and commercial success, grossing $171 million worldwide against a budget of $3.5 million.[9] The creators received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Comedy, and nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and for the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay.

Since its release, the film’s reputation has grown substantially. It ranked sixth on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies.[10] In a 2007 survey by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, it was judged the second-greatest comedy of all time, behind Monty Python's Life of Brian.[11] In 2008, it was selected by Empire magazine as one of 'The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time', and in 2012 was voted #1 on The 50 Funniest Comedies Ever poll.[12] In 2010, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[13][14][15]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference op was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Airplane!". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  3. ^ "Airplane! (1980) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ww was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Airplane! (1980)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Airplane!". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  7. ^ Abrahams, Jim; Zucker, David; Zucker, Jerry; Davidson, Jon (2000). Airplane! DVD audio commentary (DVD). Paramount Pictures.
  8. ^ "Side-by-side" comparison: Zero Hour! (1957) Vs Airplane! (1980), August 9, 2015, retrieved October 10, 2022
  9. ^ "Movie Airplane! – Box Office Data, News, Cast Information". The Numbers. July 4, 1980. Archived from the original on July 31, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  10. ^ "Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies of All Time". Bravo. December 31, 2013. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  11. ^ "Life of Brian named best comedy". BBC News. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  12. ^ "The 50 Funniest Comedies Ever". Empire. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  13. ^ "Hollywood Blockbusters, Independent Films and Shorts Selected for 2010 National Film Registry". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  14. ^ Barnes, Mike (December 28, 2010). "'Empire Strikes Back,' 'Airplane!' Among 25 Movies Named to National Film Registry". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  15. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2020.