Airplane! (1980)

Traumatized by a tragedy where the plane he was flying killed several people during the war, an ex-fighter pilot (Robert Hays) is forced to take over flying an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning. Loosely based on the 1957 film ZERO HOUR (a far better film than this parody would lead you to believe) and directed by Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker. This satire of disaster movies was a huge sleeper hit in 1980 and spawned a sequel in 1982. Time has not been kind to the film and what seemed hilarious in 1980 often seems sophomoric today (arguably, it was sophomoric in 1980). It's unlikely younger audiences will recognize some of the references and gags which were topical in 1980 (does anyone under 40 remember Howard Jarvis? Anita Bryant?) and unless one knows who Barbara Billingsley is (the mom in LEAVE IT TO BEAVER), will the jive act seem as funny? Of course, some of the gags still work quite well but overall, it's hit and miss in 2022. Faring best is Leslie Nielsen whose deadpan deliveries ("Don't call me Shirley") opened up a whole new comedy career for him and remains the funniest actor in the picture. The huge cast includes many familiar faces including Julie Hagerty, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Ethel Merman, Kenneth Tobey, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Peter Graves, Maureen McGovern, Joyce Bulifant, James Hong and Stephen Stucker whose performance used to be considered funny.