The Zucker brothers along with Jim Abrahams created this fantastic and iconic comedy that is a must watch. From the slapstick to the one-liners that stick with you and are so usable in everyday life, it makes for a great viewing and you take it with you for a long time.

With this being Abraham's directorial debut he has shown to continue with his other projects like the 'Hot Shots!' duology and his other work 'Top Secret!' (he seems to like exclamation marks). But the take away from this movie to his others are well earned as this movie is just great and filled with jokes both subtle and a right in your face. Plus there is no boring point in this flick, even the airport at the beginning there is so many jokes like the people over the intercom or the many religions that are trying to promote in the lobby. But it can lose its flavour of originality with some time jokes and some that may be considered in poor taste to some after the era of black humour dies. Not to mention that this movie is over the top in a lot of cases.

It is not afraid to shy away from controversial topics such as religion, death, child death, disease and even race. It also has serious actors from the time and even political figures and uses them for comedy by degrading their characters to be stupid, hostile or even a paedophile. This movie is also responsible for creating the comedic careers of the serious actors turned to comedy kings: Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves and Lloyd Bridges who are amazing and flawless.

Basically, the story is what everyone is scared of, being trapped on a plane during a crisis that is happening on board. But giving it a unique twist of comedy, making it appealing to almost everyone as well as teaching us a lot about different lives and people.

A suburb movie that I'd rewatch any day to hear those famous words, "I just want to tell you both, good luck, we're all counting on you. I just want to tell you both, good luck, we're all counting on you. I just want to tell you both, good luck, we're all counting on you."

_"I'm doing everything I can, and stop calling me Shirley."_

Oh, boy. I know this is going to be a _very_ unpopular opinion from the looks of it; here goes, I didn't think this film was that funny. The majority of people seem to think so without a doubt and that it's 'good.' But I disagree. I probably won't be able to present reasons as to why, only that it is, although I'm not going to bother trying because it's a waste of time. I didn't find it _that_ funny, and that's that.

I realize and acknowledge that this film is likely a pioneering sort of film, in the sense that it "brought" the comedy genre "to life," so to speak, and that it did a lot for the comedy genre; that sort of thing. There are no-stop gags, one-liners, jokes, comedic moments, slapstick humor, and all of that was both subtle and in your face, and I probably didn't "get" all of them, but that's beside the point. There's no doubt this film was "revolutionary" for the comedy genre; it had to have been.

Yet I couldn't care less about that. The point was for me to find it hilarious, which seems to be the majority-held consensus, but it didn't come across as _that_ hilarious. For me, anyway. But, hey. At least most people loved the hell of this film and found it hilarious. I hope you (those people) can keep coming back to it and that you continue to find it so.

Storyline-wise, there wasn't a story. Even if there was, I probably wouldn't care less. But as far as the lack thereof of a story is concerned, we all know that doesn't matter. The point of this film was entirely the comedy. It's a shame that "even that" fell somewhat short for me. Everything happening was random and continuously thrown in your face, like being slapped as hard as possible non-stop, for eternity, leaving you with the sentiment: "Thank God this isn't the only film in history."

Of course, I don't consider this a bad film: and I completely understand that it may come across like that. But I don't. There were some bits that I thought were funny or good, like:

- The bit at the beginning with the announcers (?).

- The whole jive thing.


- The entire dance sequence. It went on for a while, too. And 'Stayin' Alive' by the Bee Gees has never sounded so good.

- "I take it black, like my men."

- When Captain Rex Kramer beat up all those people that kept increasing: hounding him and showing up out of nowhere.

- The two-glasses-on gag with Rex Kramer. That was pretty funny.

- [spoiler] Mrs. Oveur, sleeping with a horse; so random and outrageous, yet somewhat funny. [/spoiler] "I've gotta go to the airport. You can let yourself out the back door. There's juice in the refrigerator."

- "I just wanna tell you both, 'Good luck.' We're all counting on you." "I just wanna tell you both, 'Good luck.' We're all counting on you." "I just wanna tell you both, 'Good luck.' We're all counting on you."

- Pretty much Leslie Nielsen's entire performance as Dr. Rumack. Something about his demeanor did a lot, even when what he said wasn't a comedic line or one-liner.

Other thoughts:

- The dramatic tone behind the score was odd. I don't think I hate it or anything like that. It was random, that's all. It didn't go well with the tone of the film. Maybe that was the point.

- At certain times, Robert Hays looked a little like Patrick Dempsey. I thought that was interesting and worth mentioning.

- I was pleasantly surprised to see Jonathan Banks in this film. The only other film I've seen him in so far was _Beverly Hills Cop._ Of course, that's _films._

I went into this film expecting to be better and funnier than it was. As you can imagine: given the outcome, I'm a little disappointed. Good for you if you love(d) this film and find it funny. As much as most people seemed to, I didn't. It was 'just' alright. I thought _The Naked Gun_ trilogy was better.

Right from the "Jaws" (1975) inspired opening titles, this is a treat of comedy that sends up just about every genre of cinema as poor old "Ted" (Robert Hays) has to stave off an airborne disaster aboard his aircraft. Half the folks travelling have been stricken with food poisoning and when the cockpit it wiped-out, it falls to him to bravely take the joystick and try to land in Chicago. Luckily, his ex-girlfriend "Elaine" (Julie Hagerty) is there, as is the always scene stealing inflatable "Otto" pilot. Lloyd Bridges is entertaining as the air traffic controller as is Robert Stack as the man trying to to talk down the stressed wartime pilot whom he used to command. The visual jokes are occasionally a bit too slapstick, but it's the writing that makes this funny - it is a pun writer's wet dream with plenty of risqué double entendres and literal interpretation of language that creates ample enjoyable ambiguity and humour. Clearance Clarence and Roger, Roger - it's quickly paced and unlike so many comedies from the 1970s really does raise a smile 40-odd years later when political correctness would probably throttle this at birth. Yes, it's a bit puerile but it is still well worth a watch.

An American Comedy _**Classic**_ - Everything about this film screams 'American Cinema Comedy'. A lot of the humor is a precursor to modern american humor, including the terribly cheesy pulp humor. This film is an homage to the comedies that came before it, but is innovative in its combination of wordplay and referential humor. I see vestiges of this film in everything from 'The Hangover' to 'The Office'.

If at any point you are watching this and find yourself saying 'This is really stupid', just remember: Relax. It's supposed to be stupid.

Surely, this is hilarious.
Surely.
A film that never saw the word "Surely" in the same light again.
This is a total parody, not just of disaster movies, but of all social mores. The "excuse" for the comedy is a plane where the entire flight crew is too sick to fly, so a nerve racked ex pilot needs to fly the plane.
Lots of Monty Python style "unreal" events to make this even funnier, along with the parody of culture, such as the woman who speaks "Jive". You need someone to interpret "Jive" in life or death situations, you know?
The people who don't find this funny probably don't even like gladiator movies.