Movie #73 - Airplane!

"You've read the ad, now see the movie!"

One of the earliest entourage spoof films, Airplane is a classic in how bad this film tries to be. Filled with a number of clever cameos, this film even garnered a Golden Globe nomination for best musical or comedy for 1980.

Included in this ensemble cast was Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lloyd Bridges. This combination alone is quite impressive, but all do a wonderful job of being serious throughout this silly movie... especially the famous quote of Nielsen's, "Don't call me Shirley," which was part of a recent revival special edition DVD.

Although not a theatrical success, Airplane did start a phenomenon of spoof films. Some of the worst movies made today are these spoof films, and we can all thank Airplane for doing it so well that so many money hungry producers had to copy the idea.

However, the good thing that came out of this movie is the re-invention of Leslie Nielsen's career path. Known prior to this role as a serious actor on both side roles and in television appearances, Nielsen developed a strong niche as the spoof actor. The Airplane role catapulted Nielsen onto his television show, Police Squad, and eventually, to every one's favourite - Naked Gun franchise.

Some may say, because Airplane was the first spoof film to be made, it ranks up there as one of the best ever as it is definitely groundbreaking from that perspective. I would have to agree because some of the recent ones now are just plain stupid and horribly done. They really do not think highly of their audience and although its a spoof, it doesn't have to be idiotic.